Games like this, but harder

[ziroonderel]

So - I liked Case of the Golden Idol. It was fun, the plot that took turn for the supernatural and political was fun, the puzzles were logical and all information was there, but it was really kind of... too easy for me? I've beat the main game in 4hrs, the expansion in one more hour, and I'm honestly missing the sort of brain pain I've got with Return of Obra Dinn (which was for me the perfect difficulty - I solved it, but it took some serious thinking and I needed a paper notebook to make notes and cross-reference stuff). Are there any more games in the deduction/puzzle genre that are closer to Obra Dinn on the difficulty scale than Case of the Golden Idol?

[Kazza]

O U T E R - W I L D S
It's the best one. It drops you into this giant solar system that keeps killing you, and leaves you there to figure out what, if anything, you can do about it. Golden Idol was sold to me as "A bit like Outer Wilds".

(Has nothing to do with The Outer Worlds)

[worstcase11]

You could give Heaven's Vault a try. It is an Sci-Fi archaeology game though rather than a detective game. (A lot of people don't like the graphics much either). But it is interesting because they don't correct your assumptions.
You also have to puzzle a fictional language together by inscriptions you find on artefacts you gather on different planets.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/774201/Heavens_Vault/

[Blook]

Originally posted by Kazza:

O U T E R - W I L D S
It's the best one. It drops you into this giant solar system that keeps killing you, and leaves you there to figure out what, if anything, you can do about it. Golden Idol was sold to me as "A bit like Outer Wilds".

(Has nothing to do with The Outer Worlds)

I would say Outer Wilds holds your hand a slight bit more than Golden Idol (in terms of design, not mechanics) but it's also my favorite game of all time, and if you liked this game and Obra Dinn there's a very good chance it'll be your favorite game of all time too. I love all 3 games to death but in my opinion Outer Wilds blows the other two out of the water, it kind of feels impossible how perfect of a game it is.

In terms of really good detective games there's honestly not a lot, other than those 3 there's Her Story which can have some really cool detective moments but is also very open ended and not super big. I hear Pentiment is great though I haven't played it. Other than that this is kind of both a recent wave and a niche at the moment and there's not a lot that really nails it, so savor what you can get

[Rich_T]

Interesting , i've not heard of Outer Wilds before so will check that now

[Ghuldarkar]

I haven't really looked at it much more but I've stumbled upon a video about "Shadows of Doubt" which seems to be a nice procedurally generated open detective game, the reviewer was decently positive about it, although not blown away. Might be worth looking into, as well.

[Blook]

Originally posted by Ghuldarkar:

I haven't really looked at it much more but I've stumbled upon a video about "Shadows of Doubt" which seems to be a nice procedurally generated open detective game, the reviewer was decently positive about it, although not blown away. Might be worth looking into, as well.

Shadows of doubt is very cool but it's much more of an immersive sim than a detective game imo. Everything's procedural so there can't be the same hand crafted moments of discovery that this game and others like it have.

[Neimo]

Originally posted by worstcase11:

You could give Heaven's Vault a try. It is an Sci-Fi archaeology game though rather than a detective game. (A lot of people don't like the graphics much either). But it is interesting because they don't correct your assumptions.
You also have to puzzle a fictional language together by inscriptions you find on artefacts you gather on different planets.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/774201/Heavens_Vault/

Thanks, I gave it a shot and it's quite fun. Almost all of your choices actually matter and affect the outcomes. Seems to have lots of replay value. I will say the "game" part of sailing, walking around, etc. could be a lot better, but that's not really the point.

[geggis]

Just poking my head in here to say Outer Wilds is my favourite game of all-time as well, and I also adore Case of the Golden Idol and Return of the Obra Dinn. Heaven's Vault is in my library ready to go :)

I hear great things about The Forgotten City and Hypnospace Outlaw:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/874260/The_Forgotten_City/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/844590/Hypnospace_Outlaw/

[Neimo]

Originally posted by geggis:

Just poking my head in here to say Outer Wilds is my favourite game of all-time as well, and I also adore Case of the Golden Idol and Return of the Obra Dinn. Heaven's Vault is in my library ready to go :)

I hear great things about The Forgotten City and Hypnospace Outlaw:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/874260/The_Forgotten_City/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/844590/Hypnospace_Outlaw/

I will check these out and throw The Sexy Brutale into the mix.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/552590/The_Sexy_Brutale/

[maladroid]

I wouldn't consider The Forgotten City and The Sexy Brutale as challenging brain teasers but they are both super cool mystery games worth playing. There's a roguelite element to their structure, which means you have to "fail" a bunch of times before your are able to progress and eventually solve the mystery in these games.

That also goes for Outer Wilds, from what I gather, though I haven't played that game yet so my impression might be off.

I also hear good things about Pentiment, though again I'm not sure how much brain power it requires, only that it's a well-built mystery game where you get to make deductions.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1205520/Pentiment/

At any rate, I gotta say I am thoroughly impressed by OP's sleuthing skills, because it took me at least twice as much time to finish Golden Idol (still need to get the DLC).

[Voodoo King]

surprised no has said return of the obra dinn. amazing game

[Ghuldarkar]

Originally posted by Voodoo King:

surprised no has said return of the obra dinn. amazing game

Because OP already said they played it ;)

[♥ teensy ♥]

Unheard: Voices of Crime is a pretty interesting game that I don't remember being too easy nor too difficult.

[♥ teensy ♥]

Originally posted by maladroid:

I also hear good things about Pentiment, though again I'm not sure how much brain power it requires, only that it's a well-built mystery game where you get to make deductions.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1205520/Pentiment/

Pentiment is not at all a deduction game. Solving a murder is merely a backdrop for what is primarily a story game (like Disco Elysium). It's a great game, but really not a puzzle to solve.

[Sammun Mak]

Unheard is actually pretty similar to this game in terms of premise. It's a wonderful game that scratches the same itch this one does.