TIMELINE

The genre casefile, from Deadline to Obra Dinn

1982

The text adventure Deadline is first released. The game would appear on Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Commodore 64, DOS, Osbourne 1, Amiga and Atari ST.

1985

Déjà Vu sets the template for the many point-and-click-style detective adventures that would follow, using ICOM’S influential Macventure engine.

1987

Sierra’s Police Quest series begins, spawning sequels in 1988, 1991 and 1993 before the series fundamentally switched its style in 1995 with Police Quest: SWAT.

1989

Mean Streets, the first Tex Murphy game, is released. In amongst car flying and shooter sections was an investigative portion that would become the focus of the series.

1996

The first Broken Sword game – followed by sequels in 1997, 2003, 2006 and 2013 – kicks off the investigative adventures of George Stobbart and Nico Collard.

1997

Two legendary detective adventures are released, both experimenting with real-time mechanics: Blade Runner and The Last Express.

1999

Discworld Noir introduces the brilliant notebook mechanic, later to be seen in various forms in the Blackwell series, Kathy Rain and LA Noire.

2006

Wadjet Eye bursts onto the scene and helps spark a revival in pixel point-andclick detective adventures with The Shivah and The Blackwell Legacy.

2007

Arkham Asylum is released. It feels like the game with the most detective DNA in the Arkham series, though investigative aspects would appear in sequels Arkham City, Arkham Origins and Arkham Knight.

2010

Deadly Premonition is met by a mixed reception, both praised as an art piece and denounced as a disaster. Its reputation has grown over time.

2011

LA Noire brings the detective into the triple-a limelight, while Gemini Rue continues the momentum of the genre in the indie space.

2013

Telltale brings its moral choice template to the Fable comic book series’ story about a PI investigating a murder in a community of creatures in The Wolf Among Us.

2015

Going indie pays off for Sam Barlow – who previously worked on Silent Hill: Origins and Silent Hill: Shattered Memories – as

Her Story releases and becomes a big hit.

2016

Indie point-and-click Kathy Rain, social media snooper Orwell, mystery thriller Virginia and Frogware’s latest Holmes game, The Devil’s Daughter, are all released.

2018

Detective games continue going strong with the release of steampunk-inspired Lamplight City and ghost ship murder investigator The Return Of The Obra Dinn.