Everybody loves a good mystery, whether it's in the form of a mystery novel, film, or show. However, there are also plenty of video games that let players unravel mysteries, and they all feature different premises, moods, and gameplay mechanics.
Some mystery video games combine puzzle solving segments with point and click adventure, and oftentimes, these games are praised for their writing, characters, and overall presentation. Some of them even involve multiple endings, adding to their intrigue and replay value. More modern or big budget titles, such as AI: The Somnium Files, also include voice acting, which helps make the experience more immersive.
8 The Ace Attorney Series
One of the popular mystery and visual novel game series, the Ace Attorney series has been offering fans courtroom drama, quirky characters, and strange mysteries to solve for years. In the Ace Attorney games, players head to court and watch drama unfold, usually from the perspective of the main character and defense attorney, Phoenix Wright, as they examine witness testimonies, clues, and various pieces of evidence.
The games offer point and click segments where players must gather clues and information, as well as courtroom segments involving intense back and forth as players must find contradictions in witness testimonies and expose the true culprit.
7 Aviary Attorney
Charming, unique, and full of bird puns, Aviary Attorney is a courtroom drama with birds as the main characters. Taking place in Paris, players control Monsieur Falcon and his apprentice as they gather evidence and clues to solve mysteries.
In Aviary Attorney, players also get the opportunity to interview witnesses, piecing the mysteries together from all directions. The game also features multiple endings and takes place over multiple chapters, making it easy to take on the suspenseful and thrilling tale in bite sized portions if need be.
6 The Professor Layton Series
Level-5's Professor Layton series focuses primarily on puzzles in its gameplay. The titular Professor Layton and his apprentice, Luke, go on adventures to curious locations and unravel mysteries and plots through solving puzzles.
Each Professor Layton game is packed with puzzles, both plot relevant and optional. If players get stumped, the game also offers hints that can be bought with in game currency, guiding you to the solution without entirely giving away the answer. The games offer beautiful presentation, music, and art, making them much more immersive than your typical puzzle game. Each game's plot is an adventure, and the puzzles are what make the journey.
5 Zero Escape Series
The Zero Escape Trilogy consists of three thrilling, acclaimed titles: 999, Virtue's Last Reward, and Zero Time Dilemma, all available on Steam. They should be played in order, as the chilling mystery connecting these games needs to be experienced one game at a time. In 999, players take part in a game of life and death aboard a sinking cruise ship, unsure of how they got here.
The games combine visual novel elements with puzzle solving, letting players make decisions that can radically affect the course of the game. Players can also go back and forth throughout the game's episodes to make decisions that they hadn't made before, unlocking missed scenes as they put the pieces together.
4 Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
Ghost Trick, available on the Nintendo DS and mobile devices, is a unique mystery solving game where players control the ghost of a character who has just died. Playing as the main character, Sissel, players work to unravel the mystery of how he died and who killed him, as well as who he was when he was alive.
Ghost Trick was written and directed by the talent behind the Ace Attorney series, and the game offers unique puzzles that players must manipulate and solve as a spirit, possessing corpses and moving between the land of the living and the land of the dead, where time stops.
3 Danganronpa
The Danganronpa series is hugely popular, but it might seem intimidating to get into if you don't know anything about it. Essentially, the Danganronpa games are murder mystery games where players are trapped in a ruthless death game, and they must solve the mysteries of their murdered classmates.
These games combine elements of point and click adventure games, puzzle games, and even dating sims. Players get to know the characters, spend time completing activities, and gather clues. All of this culminates in a trial segment, where players must figure out contradictions in real time, making for an intense experience.
2 AI: The Somnium Files
AI: The Somnium Files is a mystery game where players must enter the memories of others to help solve the crime. The main character, Kaname Date, is a detective working to uncover the truth behind a series of murders. The gameplay has two major segments: adventure based ones, and puzzle solving ones that take place in memories.
The game is incredibly well written, with full voice acting and unforgettable characters, keeping players guessing as to who the true culprit could be. The Somnium Files features multiple endings and a variety of branching paths, increasing replay value. To make it easier to unlock the decisions players haven't made yet, the game also has a built in flow chart, letting players move back and forth freely and see how their decisions affect the story.
1 Hotel Dusk: Room 215
Released for the Nintendo DS, Hotel Dusk is a point and click mystery game about a mysterious hotel room that can seemingly grant wishes. Players must solve puzzles using the touch screen to better understand the room, and they can also speak with hotel staff and other characters to gather key pieces of information.
As players investigate the mystery, things begin to come together depending on how they approach it. Soon enough, however, players will realize that hardly anything is what it seems in this mysterious hotel room full of secrets.