We Love It's Guide to…
As an investigator trainee, inspect reconstructed crime scenes, connect physical and written clues, and solve cases through deduction.
Released 24 Oct 2023
Inspect Crime Scenes
Rebuild Crime Timelines
Connect Clues and Motives
A hardcore deductive reasoning game for fans of the “true crime” genre. Only by unraveling the logic and grasping at the motivations behind each case can the crimes be completely solved. Perfect as a social-style mystery fiction.
Developed by EQ Studios · Published by EQ Studios
You play as a trainee investigator working through reconstructed crime scenes to qualify as a licensed investigator. Each case gives you a brief setup and asks you to determine what happened from what the scene reveals.
Explore each location and examine environmental details, objects, and written records. There are few prompts to direct your search, so you need to notice relevant clues, take notes, and build your own account of events.
Cases end with questions about the people involved and the crime. You connect evidence to reconstruct timelines, relationships, and possible motives, sometimes making calculated assumptions where information is missing. The investigations are largely self-contained, with some connections between cases.
Players who enjoy independent detective-style puzzles often praise the close observation, note-taking, and effort of forming theories without much guidance; successful deductions can make the cases feel rewarding. Reviews also appreciate the varied scenarios and their underlying stories. However, many players find some conclusions depend on ambiguous evidence or leaps of logic, which can turn solving into trial and error, and some wanted clearer explanations of the answers.
Set in the near future, you play as a trainee in pursuit of becoming a licensed investigator. Presented with a set of reconstructed case files that border between challenging and perplexing, your goal is to solve them and pass the test. Your only tools are your keen perception, astute thinking and mental acuity. Can you solve them all?
Scene Investigators is a hardcore deductive reasoning game that leans heavily on keen observation, filling in the missing gaps, looking for motives when they aren't seemingly there, and coming up with several plausible assumptions to progress through the investigation.
The game is tailored to fans of detective films, the true crime genre, escape room puzzles and especially for those who love the challenge of solving cases.
You are to observe each scene carefully and analyze everything on site. There is no handholding or hints. Take notes on anything that stands out and write down your suspicions as you navigate through the crime scene.
Piece everything together, not only to understand what happened but also the connection between the perpetrators and their victims. Your only tools are your keen perception, mental sharpness, and real-life wisdom.
You may find that some evidence is missing, limiting you from making the best conclusion. There might be 70% of the evidence in the case, but the other 30% is nowhere to be found. This is where you have to fill in the missing gaps, trust your gut-feelings and make smart, calculated assumptions.
Notice the pink lipstick on the wine glass? What about the trajectory of the bullet on the wall? How about the faint size-12 boot marks on the windowsill? These are part of the environmental clues that can help piece the story together.
It’s more fun to solve when you have someone to discuss your findings with - a friend, a significant other, or even the whole family! Scene Investigators is perfect for this and it is our hope that you can enjoy this game with others. They might spot something you missed in your investigation, and vice versa.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Note for The Painscreek Killings Fans...
In terms of gameplay, Scene Investigators is quite a departure from our first game, The Painscreek Killings. TPK focuses heavily on the story and uses a rather simple 'breadcrumb' system for its gameplay, one that allows players to continue their investigation whenever they pick up a clue. Scene Investigators, on the other hand, leans heavily on keen observation, filling in the missing gaps, looking for motives when they aren't there, and coming up with a number of possible assumptions in order to solve the case.
In short, The Painscreek Killings is a story-rich game while Scene Investigators is a deduction reasoning game.
| Platforms | Windows |
|---|---|
| Achievements | 5 |
| Age ratings |
|
| Controller support | Xbox |
| Controller required | No |
| Demo | View demo on Steam |
| DLC / extras | 2 listed on Steam |
| Metacritic | 76/100 View on Metacritic |
| Website | Official website |
