The Mermaid Mask
Play modes: singleplayer
Release Date: 16-7-2026
Developer: SFB Games
Our verdict
9.5/10
- Difficulty: Easy
- Players: 1
- Playtime: 10–15 h
The Mermaid Mask is SFB Games' follow-up to Tangle Tower, and another Detective Grimoire case. The captain of a very strange submarine is found dead in a locked room next to an ancient cauldron, and Grimoire and Sally must question an odd crew to explain how. It is a hand-painted point-and-click mystery with full voice acting, and it suits solo players who enjoy whodunnits, character writing and light puzzles.
Players rate it the best entry in the series and say it is about twice as long as Tangle Tower. Reviewers praise the expressive animation, the voice cast, the orchestral soundtrack and a mystery that gives you enough clues to name the killer before the reveal. Clues are 3D objects you turn over for hidden details, and showing every clue to every suspect gets a unique reply. Most players finish in ten to fifteen hours without a walkthrough.
The caveats are minor. Much of the game is dialogue, with fairly few puzzles. Some deductions are spelled out before you can make them yourself. Many references land better if you have played Tangle Tower first. One player also warns about a flashing clue. It is worth full price for mystery fans.
Pros
- Locked-room submarine murder with a fair, solvable reveal
- Expressive animation, full voice cast and orchestral score
- Every clue is a 3D object, and every suspect reacts to each one
Cons
- Mostly dialogue, with fairly few real puzzles
- Many references work best after playing Tangle Tower
About
In the pitch-black waters beyond a long-abandoned fishing town, the enigmatic captain of the world's strangest submarine has been murdered. Some say he was an immortal time-traveller. Others say he was a vampire, cursed to stay hidden beneath the waves forever...
Found alone in a locked room, with only an ancient stone cauldron to suggest how he might have died, it's up to Detective Grimoire and Sally to piece together what really happened. Was it a curse, released from the cauldron? One of the submarine's eccentric crew? Or does the bizarre truth run even deeper...
• Every clue is a fully realised 3D object waiting to be examined for hidden secrets
• Grimoire and Sally are back, and joined by a fully voiced cast of mysterious suspects
• A hauntingly beautiful original soundtrack performed by the Budapest Art Orchestra
• Explore every hand-painted inch of The Mortuga Submarine, where not all is as it seems...*Voice audio is only in English
