7 Mystery Games from the Cerebral Puzzle Showcase 2024

And a brief summary of Mystery Gamedev plans for June

Happy Mystery Monday!

First, if you haven’t yet filled out the jam feedback survey, I’ll be closing it soon.

Today’s post will be another quick one: a selection of mystery games from the Cerebral Puzzle Showcase, which ends on May 30th.

Here’s a mix of well-known games on sale, as well as upcoming games that might be worth keeping an eye on:

Duck Detective: The Secret Salami (10% off)

Solving crime is no walk in the pond. You are a down-on-his-luck detective who also happens to be a duck. Use your powers of de-duck-tion to inspect evidence, fill in the blanks, and bust the case wide open, in a narrative mystery adventure where nothing is quite as it seems.

Outer Wilds (40% off)

Named Game of the Year 2019 by Giant Bomb, Polygon, Eurogamer, and The Guardian, Outer Wilds is a critically-acclaimed and award-winning open world mystery about a solar system trapped in an endless time loop.

Return of the Obra Dinn (40% off)

Lost at sea 1803 ~ The good ship Obra Dinn. Return of the Obra Dinn is a first-person mystery adventure based on exploration and logical deduction.

Agent A: A puzzle in disguise (90% off)

A suave secret agent adventure game. Your mission (should you choose to accept) is to infiltrate enemy spy Ruby La Rouge’s secret hideaway and put a stop to her evil plans!

The Operator

Welcome to the FDI. As our newest Operator, your role is to use your detective skills to assist our field agents and investigate mysterious crimes. Use cutting-edge FDI software to dig for clues, solve puzzles, and uncover the truth.

Surradia: An Art Retrospective

Unravel the mystery of three magical artists who went missing during World War II in this challenging, story-rich deduction game. Explore artworks, letters, photographs, and interviews to answer the question: What really happened to the Surradistes?

The Diary

Several diaries gradually reveal the thrilling story of a missing case; after multiple deductions, are the answers in the past or present? With frequent plot twists, you never know which is the truth and which is the unexpected; in a dense fog, time buries the past, but the marks remain.

Plans for June

Most of my time in May was spent playing the jam games, and as of two nights ago I finally got through them all. I will definitely highlight a few of my personal favorites in next week’s newsletter, so please look forward to that!

Otherwise, June will be focused on content creation and updating the Mystery Gamedev website once again. I’ve been secretly writing on a lot of topics that I haven’t shared here, with plans to use them for YouTube videos and e-books.

Playing through the jam games was very helpful since I was able to figure out what kinds of games people want to make, the tools they are using, and what problems they are having. I have a lot on my plate right now, so I want to make sure I’m actually working on things that matter to developers and fans alike. And I think, if things go according to plan, you will be excited to see what’s coming next.

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