this game mounts a simulated USB stick to your system and therefore always tries to start with elevated (admin) rights.

From an IT-Security perspective I find this rather concerning and would not advise to play without using a sandboxed virtual machine.

I had this game wishlisted for a couple months before it came out. I like detective games and the concept looked really appealing. Unfortunately, though, the actual experience comes up short.

The premise of the game is, and I'm quoting from the opening video, "somebody supposedly saw someone probably harming someone else or something". A USB stick was found nearby where this supposed harm supposedly happened and it's your job to plug it in and see if it means anything.

The USB stick actually becomes a mounted drive on your computer, which is cool. So you're interacting with real computer files. The drive has a few folders, the most important of which is the diary folder that contains some pictures, a diary that's 25 pages in the Word-like program of your choice, and 3 zip files that are password protected. The "game", such that it is, just lists the 3 zip files and puts a checkmark next to them as you figure out the passwords.

By reading the diary, which contains a nicely written story, you can get a sense of what probably happened on the day somebody might have seen someone allegedly being harmed. The problem, though, is that nothing actually comes of it. You don't tell anyone what you think happened. You don't get to find out if you're right. You don't get to find out what actually did happen and what the aftermath was. You don't get to arrest the bad guy or any such thing. It just goes nowhere.

So as to "playing the game", all you're really doing is trying to solve the passwords on the 3 zip files. Except the content of the zip files have nothing to do with the story. Also, the passwords are kinda hard to figure out. Like HARD hard. If you can get them without looking up any form of assistance, congrats on being a whole lot smarter than I am.

I should add that I'm sure there are little clues on the USB that I missed along the way. There are references to movies and books that probably mean more than they let on. But none of it changes anything I've mentioned to this point.

Basically, buying this game is buying a Word document that tells a decent little story in diary form. But despite the investigative premise of the game, you have no opportunity to learn if any of the assumptions or conclusions you make from it are actually true or not. And then when you're done reading, you can try to crack the passwords on a few zip files that add no additional information.

Perhaps there are people out there who would find this right up their alley, but unfortunately I'm not among them.

Does it make sense to choose a story with an open ending for a game?
Obviously it is realistic that a lot of cold cases remain an open mystery up until this day and cant be solved.
But is it a good idea to take a story like that and put it in a game?
Embed nice Forensic EXIF data in it and invent a cool concept about it?
Take hours of your time to invent a story and write up a 25 Page diary?
Take Photos with real cameras and real data? I dont think so.
Ended up buyin a word file and free installers.
Really good idea. But missed opportunity.

Try finding the hidden Message here Devs. I would like to see an update for this where i get the feeling of solving something. A resolution of the case at least! An Ending to the Story. Just to see if i was right. Now im just curious and i have no idea what happened. Its as unsatisfying as a cliffhanger.

But at least i supported Ukraine with my donation to Humblebundle.

The 'game' starts with a cutscene, a man describing events and an area that a USB drive has been found; once over it proceeds to 'open' the USB on your computer.

Whilst a really interesting idea to have a simulated USB drive to investigate, the execution is bad and even comes across as a bit sketchy as it will ask for additional permissions. The first files that you will see are a bunch of installers to access the rest of the files - photos, e-books (two of which were still in Polish for me), movie torrents, a 25 page document and the locked files which are the goal of the game. Aside from that, the game offers very little reward for a lot of effort and the majority of the content doesn't seem particularly relevant to solving the passwords but if you like reading you might get a bit more out of it than I did.

I'll save you the time. There's actually nothing in the password-protected zip files the whole game is based around. Also the program asks for admin privileges and comes with torrents which I wouldn't recommend touching for security sake. Interesting concept but needed more complexity to feel worthwhile, as well as some sort of purpose around getting the passwords (even if it isn't a solution to the mystery).

The USB Stick Found in the Grass is a multimedia investigative game. Players are tasked with browsing through various files in order to piece together the story of the drive's missing owner. Though the writing offers intrigue through its twisting leads and dead ends, the game's realism suffers from inconsistent fourth-wall breaks and its story has no payoff for the time invested in it. A nice first attempt more than a complete product, The USB Stick can only satisfy mystery die-hards with money to spare and a high tolerance for unsatisfying endings.

The premise of this title is established in the opening cinematic: you are an investigator following up on a notice of suspicious activity near a derelict bridge. After finding a lone USB stick on the ground, your job is to sift through its contents and determine what happened to its owner. Among the files left at your disposal are a lengthy diary, multiple photos, and some mysterious password-protected .ZIP files. Through examining these materials you delve into the strange tale of one month in the life of a simple Polish adult...

The USB Stick is more aptly described as a "multimedia experience" than a "videogame," because the gameplay here is browsing through the different media present - namely the lengthy diary. Playing this game is similar to a digital-only version of popular mystery box subscription services like Hunt a Killer, though players familiar with those will notice just how little there is to The USB Stick. The diary takes around 90-120 minutes for a thorough first read, and the remaining clues may take another 30 minutes to browse. The mystery goes little beyond that, unfortunately, leaving the core experience here short and one-note.

This title proudly makes use of toying with the meta experience, but it does so inconsistently. The basic idea of performing digital forensic analysis is captured well (the game files loading as a separate disk drive on launch is a nice touch), as are some of the files left on the drive to sell it as an authentic device. But the half-dozen program installers included have no reason within meta to be there, nor do the .ZIP files and assorted clues left throughout the diary. The programs are the most egregious bit, as they not only serve niche purposes with confusing UIs but they offer nothing to solve the mystery! The very basic programs included to serve as photo viewer/editor and text editor make sense as a baseline to ensure players can interact with the files, though it is highly unlikely any player has Steam downloaded and not basic PC programs like Notepad or Photos. Needing to install/uninstall programs just for the purpose of including red herrings is annoying.

What seals the deal for The USB Drive is the lack of narrative payoff. The main success of this game is its presentation of a sympathetic, realistic protagonist through their own journal, and players are naturally compelled from that to seek out their fate. The game provides no satisfaction for solving its many mysteries, however: the .ZIP files contain only out-of-universe materials, and the story concludes with the end of the journal. This again ties into the developers' mishandling of metanarrative: it makes sense that a person no longer in possession of the drive cannot update it, yes, but there are ways to satisfyingly work around this.

In fact, an easy solution to all these issues comes to mind: make the game's files a subsection of a larger folder established by the police, which contains the meta-breaking elements like the program installers, and add some relevant tutorials for them too. Then, once the mystery is solved, players can submit a name for 'whodunit' so the police could follow up on the perp, arrest them, and get the resolution the player seeks. Instead, the game only goes halfway and leaves everything feeling unfinished. This is how services like Hunt a Killer do things, and it shocks me that the developers never considered it, or chose this way instead.

The USB Stick made a valiant effort at telling a digital multimedia mystery with some thought and heart behind it, as can be seen in the characterization of our lead. But the inconsistent breaking of the fourth wall and the lack of resolution to the story ultimately produces little enjoyment from investing or solving the riddles presented. It is thus not recommended to purchase this title at full price, though mystery junkies may still find some value at a sale price or when acquired for free. The USB Stick in the Grass gets a C-.

This "game" mounts a virtual drive on your machine. You don't have to be a top puzzle solver to know that that's a problem.

The concept is cool, i like THE IDEA but as many of these reviews say you have to 1. Give it admin permissions which is a security risk and 2. You have to install external software, plus it came with torrents for movies? I feel like these problems could've been fixed with a fake os in the game to simulate file explorer while not actually being your computer. I also am not a fan of how you get the codes, you have to read a 25 page document to find some passwords aka its boring asf

Im so glad i got this in a bundle

Not very interesting and can be dangerous considering it essentially installs a virtual disk on your HDD/SSD

SPOILER ALERT

I was intrigued by the concept and the second puzzle was interesting figuring out the grandfather age felt satisfying , but despite what Steam description says I didn't have to reconstruct much and even read into the story to "complete" the game and there's no way to confirm any of my guesses anyway. So how is it an investigation if the storyline is basically optional? Some highbrow message that "not all mysteries are made to be solved" doesn't make for a good videogame. If I missed something, please let me know.