Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Flatfoots and Fools: A Podcast about Detective Games @flatfootsandfools.bsky.social · 22m

This week I just played through all of Mind Diver. I really enjoyed this game. The narrative is quite wonderful with authentic and relatable characters. The system of solving through objects is excellent too, removing potential for UI to get in the way, or finicky text to be an issue.

Victor Breum (REVIEW MIND DIVER) @breum.bsky.social · 10d

🧠🤿MIND DIVER IS OUT NOW!🧠🤿

“Mind Diver is absolutely captivating”-Lucas Pope

“It's the kind of game that makes you remember why you love games”-heavyeyed

Investigate a broken mind to solve a twisted case. Uncover a story of love and lies.
store.steampowered.com/app/2259330/...
#indiegames #gaming

Flatfoots and Fools: A Podcast about Detective Games @flatfootsandfools.bsky.social · 1d

Our eternal test subject was my bosses dog, a Samoyed. His amazing floof always broke the system, so every new iteration would try to finally get a good model of him. It never worked

1 1

Flatfoots and Fools: A Podcast about Detective Games @flatfootsandfools.bsky.social · 1d

So many of the object here look like things we used to test the scanners, and get hilarious blowouts that needed a lot of manual artist work to clean up.

1 1

Flatfoots and Fools: A Podcast about Detective Games @flatfootsandfools.bsky.social · 1d

I just started properly into the game, and it's giving me flashbacks. from 2016-20, I worked at a company making 3d body scanners to take a 3d "photo" of people, and automatically convert the 180 photos through photogrammetry into an OBJ file. The initial end product was a printable statue,

1 1

Flatfoots and Fools: A Podcast about Detective Games @flatfootsandfools.bsky.social · 7d

I was hoping this would be better, but I am not surprised.

Flatfoots and Fools: A Podcast about Detective Games @flatfootsandfools.bsky.social · 9d

Hello all,

We just released episode 3, on Agatha Christie - Hercule Poirot: The First Cases. This is a hybrid of an adventure game and a significant clue-deduction-conclusion system.

Episode is available on Spotify, Youtube, and Apple podcasts!

RSS link here: anchor.fm/s/108c64748/...

anchor.fm

Flatfoots and Fools: A Podcast about Detective Games @flatfootsandfools.bsky.social · 10d

Installing this now. I was intrigued by the demo, and will start playing this today. Ever since the Ludonarracon panel, I have wanted to see how this turns out, and now we can!

Victor Breum (REVIEW MIND DIVER) @breum.bsky.social · 10d

🧠🤿MIND DIVER IS OUT NOW!🧠🤿

“Mind Diver is absolutely captivating”-Lucas Pope

“It's the kind of game that makes you remember why you love games”-heavyeyed

Investigate a broken mind to solve a twisted case. Uncover a story of love and lies.
store.steampowered.com/app/2259330/...
#indiegames #gaming

2

Flatfoots and Fools: A Podcast about Detective Games @flatfootsandfools.bsky.social · 11d

Just finished @badvikinggames.bsky.social's Strange antiquities. I forgot what the number was, but I did the Pillar. I really enjoyed my first playthrough, even though I got myopically fixated on the clock for a puzzle that didn't utilize it. Recommended for anyone who thinks they might enjoy it!

1

Flatfoots and Fools: A Podcast about Detective Games @flatfootsandfools.bsky.social · 12d

Two hours into @badvikinggames.bsky.social Strange Antiquities, and my favorite part so far is all the secrets in the shop. There's lots of things to tickle your brain, and I always feel like I am close to unlocking something but don't have all the keys yet.

1 4

Flatfoots and Fools: A Podcast about Detective Games @flatfootsandfools.bsky.social · 13d

Both of these are absolutely worth picking up, and getting them as a bundle is pretty sweet

The Roottrees are Dead @roottrees.com · 13d

The Roottrees are Dead is now part of The Cozy Crimes Bundle with Little Problems! You can pick up both games for 20% off.

@littleproblems.bsky.social

store.steampowered.com/app/2754380/...

The Cozy Crimes Bundle image featuring Little Problems and The Roottrees are Dead

1

Flatfoots and Fools: A Podcast about Detective Games @flatfootsandfools.bsky.social · 13d

Finished this yesterday. My favorite Expansion yet in terms of theme and story. The puzzles were challenging but satisfying. A great send off to a great game!

The RISE of the Golden Idol @goldenidol.bsky.social · 15d

Avast me Detectives!

The Curse of the Last Reaper, the fourth and final DLC for The Rise of the Golden Idol, has washed up on shore and is available to play now.

Rolling out now on PC, Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch.
youtu.be/6Da7mhTeAcU

Golden Idol Investigations: The Curse of the Last Reaper | Official Launch Trailer

YouTube video by Playstack

youtu.be

Flatfoots and Fools: A Podcast about Detective Games @flatfootsandfools.bsky.social · 14d

I almost forgot about upcoming games!
The Case of the Worst Day Ever
Crimson Seer
Death At Fleming Manor
Detective Hindsight
The Detective's Apprentice
Embers of Spiritflame
Murder at the Birchtree Theater
The Ratline
Surradia: An Art Retrospective
Wrongly accused.

Flatfoots and Fools: A Podcast about Detective Games @flatfootsandfools.bsky.social · 14d

Detective Grimoire (2014) does not fit in, but is an inspiration for later games. Duck Detective (2024/25) doesn't fit inside either, but it totally inspired by Golden Idol. Same with The Darkest Files (2025)

1

Flatfoots and Fools: A Podcast about Detective Games @flatfootsandfools.bsky.social · 14d

One option that might be cool is if you make a large box that contains the sub genre of Static Narrative Deduction, then you can put games that don't fit the sub genre outside the box, with lines if they inspired or were inspired by games that are in the sub genre

1

Flatfoots and Fools: A Podcast about Detective Games @flatfootsandfools.bsky.social · 14d

Ohh, also:
A Hand With Many Fingers-2020

And I have had these recommended to me, but I have not had a chance to see if they fit
7 Days to end with you-2022
The lost borealis expedition-2023

1

Flatfoots and Fools: A Podcast about Detective Games @flatfootsandfools.bsky.social · 14d

I also get three different joys. A serendipitous search is one kind of joy, which is similar but different than the joy I get from a successful targeted search like from Type Help. Both of those are different than the joy I get from successfully confirming a deduction. It's wildly subjective though

3

Flatfoots and Fools: A Podcast about Detective Games @flatfootsandfools.bsky.social · 14d

Now others:
Hypnospace Outlaw-2019
Unheard - Voices Of Crime-2019
Scene Investigators-2023
Lucifer Within Us-2023
[CLASSIFIED] of 2015-2023
We Suspect Foul Play-2024
Confidential Killings-2024
Let Sleeping Dogs Lie-2025
Utter a Name-2025

Some of these will not fit, but I leave that choice to you

1

Flatfoots and Fools: A Podcast about Detective Games @flatfootsandfools.bsky.social · 14d

I will add a bunch of potential titles with year of release here, though not organized within year:
First, Owlskip:
Rivals-2020
The Remains of Richard Fleming-2020
Family-2020
Copy!Right?-2021
Forgers (Tech Demo)-2021
Echo Beach-2021
Riley & Rochelle-2022
Life & Crimes (Game Jam)-2024

1

Flatfoots and Fools: A Podcast about Detective Games @flatfootsandfools.bsky.social · 14d

And unlike games that make a nice leads->information->analysis->leads loop, like Darkest Files or the Roottrees, Her story didn't require me to make significant deductions to get more information.

1

Flatfoots and Fools: A Podcast about Detective Games @flatfootsandfools.bsky.social · 14d

I find that Her Story and Golden Idol are two very different experiences. I would not even call Her Story a deduction game. To me, it's a search game, and deductions are only a tiny component of what you do.

1

Flatfoots and Fools: A Podcast about Detective Games @flatfootsandfools.bsky.social · 14d

Also, the Owlskip games break the timeline. They experiment with mixed search and solve going back a couple years

Flatfoots and Fools: A Podcast about Detective Games @flatfootsandfools.bsky.social · 14d

Have you watched the GMTK videos on detective games? The early one is a quoted inspiration for Golden Idol. The framework from the second video is now outdated, but it makes a great list of games to check out

1

Flatfoots and Fools: A Podcast about Detective Games @flatfootsandfools.bsky.social · 14d

In a very narrow sense yes, that's how this metric is applied in these games. But limiting to those two mechanics forecloses too many interesting options. Scene Investigators is a great example of a game about investigating, but with no search mechanic. It should be on this chart though

1

Flatfoots and Fools: A Podcast about Detective Games @flatfootsandfools.bsky.social · 14d

You have done something quite interesting with the layout. You can almost rate each game on a right to left scale, on how much work is needed to get information. Obra Dinn and Golden Idol are almost zero, and Her story of almost all that. Roottrees is a middle ground

2

Flatfoots and Fools: A Podcast about Detective Games @flatfootsandfools.bsky.social · 14d

Totally fair. It seems like you enjoy the detecting mechanics, but a detective theme is unimportant for you.

1