Detective Grimoire

Detective Grimoire is a short, fully voiced point-and-click mystery from SFB Games, the studio behind Tangle Tower and The Mermaid Mask. The owner of a swamp tourist attraction has been found dead, apparently killed by the legendary creature his business is built around. You explore the marsh, inspect the crime scene, question a colourful cast and slot clues into Grimoire's thought sentences to reach conclusions. It suits players after a light, funny detective story, and fans of the later games curious about the series' roots.

Players praise the painted environments, fluid animation, voice acting and witty dialogue, and many describe a cosy afternoon of sleuthing. Puzzles are small and simple, and several reviewers say it plays like a polished Flash-era adventure, which they mean fondly. Fans recommend playing it before Tangle Tower.

The recurring caveats are length and difficulty: most finish in about three hours, the culprit is easy to guess, and some felt bored running through the final steps once they knew the answer. A few call it rough next to its sequels. At its tiny price it is an easy recommendation; skip it if you want a demanding deduction game.