Detective games
Most games tap into our inner detective in some way. Who hasn’t pushed against the boundaries of even the most linear game to see what they might discover? Who hasn’t wandered off the obvious critical path to investigate something curious, lured by an intriguing sight or sound, or simply following a whim to uncover a new mystery? The medium is inherently suited to indulging our nosiness, and using it to deliver stories in unique ways: think of how Dark Souls parcels out its lore in fragments that only the dedicated will assemble into a cohesive whole, or the way chipping away at the walls in Hollow Knight yields optional encounters and hidden secrets that reveal more about its enigmatic cast.
Games in which you assume the role of detective are often more restrictive in how their mysteries are constructed and the processes by which you solve them. Yet in recent years the genre has undergone something of a creative renaissance. Return Of The Obra Dinn required careful investigation to identify the grisly fates of a ship’s crew: a detective game, in other words, that required actual deduction. Paradise Killer’s total lack of handholding, meanwhile, felt equal parts exhilarating and overwhelming – here was a game as content to let you stumble across mysteries by happy accident as it was to allow revelations to emerge organically through observation and analysis.
You could even throw the cybersleuthing of Hypnospace Outlaw into that mix; indeed, one of next year’s most intriguing detective games will likely involve a bit of Internet study. Chinatown Detective Agency, inspired by one of the most iconic investigators in all videogames, Carmen Sandiego, sees you embark upon a globe-trotting near-future trip in which your research will take you outside the game. You’ll need a pen and paper to hand, with puzzles that require knowledge – or at least a Google search – to solve.
Meanwhile, Eggnut’s Backbone, the first chapter of which is already playable via Steam, puts you in control of raccoon gumshoe Howard. Its crisp pixel-art setting and anthropomorphic cast set it apart, while its story gives you a web of potential leads to untangle. Annapurna Interactive’s gorgeous Stray (pictured) offers a bit of both: in a sleazy cybercity populated by robots, you play an inquisitive cat hoping to solve a strange riddle that will let them find their way home.
Talking of the squalid, there’s the return of Disco Elysium, set to be re-released on PC with full voice acting to coincide with its console debut. Here, the most important threads you unpick are inside the protagonist’s mind as they undergo an existential crisis. If you’re looking for a game where the biggest mystery is the human condition, Revachol is the place to find it.