Games "like" this one

[THE KEYBOARDER]

Hi guys,

So, my girlfriend and i loved this game and now we're looking for other games like this one, and maybe so do you :-)

we've looked for similar games and some of you already posted on the topic, but we thought a list might be convenient. Would you help us expand it to compile something of an overview?

what we have so far:

- the vanishing of ethan carter (more supernatural, nice graphics)
- the park (more horror)
- firewatch (less investigation, more exploring, beautiful)
- deadly premonition (kind of the same atmosphere [Twin Peaksy])
- what remains of edith finch (less thrilling)
- everybody's gone to the rapture (less interaction)
- alan wake (twin peaksy again)
- dear esther (eerie)
- virgina (very short)
- gone home (smaller level with a twist)
- marie's room (tracing a story)
- lifeless planet (same atmosphere,frusttrating plattform passages)
- the station (in space)


Thanks for your enthusiasm ;)

[EQ Studios]

Here are a few games that we love, some of them even inspired us during our development:

- Ether One (for the great puzzle design, which makes you really think and work for it in a good way, and an emotional ending)
- Shiver: The Vanishing Hitchiker (for the hook and atmosphere)
- Observer (makes you feel like a detective)
- Secret World legends (immersive and atmospheric, great storylines)

Disclaimer: Haven’t finished playing Observer yet, but from its initial impression, it feels like a polished version of TPK (murder mystery investigation type game). Probably the closest feel to TPK among all the games listed in this thread.

[Sesser]

Do any of these games do the same thing as The Painscreek Killings? I've gotta admit, this is a game I have wanted to play for years now, but every other iteration I've found (like Vanishing of Ethan Carter) ends up being too linear, too hand-holding, or in some other way it feels like the game is trying to make you find everything instead of giving the tools to find them instead.

Secret World Legends has a similar atmosphere, but it isn't a detective game like this really. Dear Esther, same thing. Alan Wake is also more narratively driven and directed.

Which ones of these lists would you say best capture this detective type experience? I need all of them, lol. I've currently got a notepad of about 10 pages of notes on this game and I've only really checked out two areas or so. It has been just fantastic to be able to go through this game and I will definitely want to play more of this kind of game once I am done solving these murders.

Definitely going to check out Observer!

[THE KEYBOARDER]

@EQ Studios
Thanks for your advices.
We loved TPK and would love to have the possibility to forget it and experience it again for the first time.
Maybe you guys will give us a similar game in the future ...? :-)
We played "Shiver: The Vanishing Hitchhiker" and liked it too but not as much as TPK.

For everyone its a hidden-objects-game.
The story and atmosphere are hooking but not as detailed or "mysterious" as TPK and very short (4 hours)

Since Observer is for free today with twitch Prime we will try this next.

@ Sesser
No the other games are not exactly like TPK. But we tried to find games with similar atmosphere or feeling while playing it or games where you have the same kind of motivation to go on in the story and where the story is not only in the game but in the discussions and possibilities during the game (if you know what i mean). Like you have to think about what happend and maybe you have partially different story possibilities in your head than the actual story in the game.
At least that's what we intended when writing the 'like' in the title in quotation marks. We wanted to give a wide range defintition of games 'like' TPK.^^

- Which ones of these lists would you say best capture this detective type experience?

I think Deadly Premonition would fit this the most but maybe not in the way you would like it.
It's a bit complicated.
Maybe it's the best if you watch or read some reviews of the game.
Some will say its only trash but if you are a little forgiving and like twin peaks (TV Series) you might get hooked like we did.
You are a FBI detective and have to solve a murder case. this is the main quest. But there are so many sidequest which are hidden and without a guide it's impossible to complete them all in one walkthrough.
You have an open world with a little town, a mansion, hotel, supermarket, a bar and so on. Everything has specific opening hours. For Example, you drive around with your car. Before your fuel is empty you have to drive to the fuelstation, but the fuelstation is not always opened. You can go fishing, play darts, go shopping, cook, have to wash yourself, ...
The Game is crazy, good, awful (especially the controls), kind of ugly, detailed, and we love it...^^
IGN writes: " STILL THE
BEST WORST GAME"

[Danaman]

A little late to this discussion, but i'd love to put forward INFRA as something to check out. It's more of an exploration/story/puzzle game than a mystery, however there is an over-arching storyline that is sort of optional to follow in the way of newspaper articles, notes and log books that you can find.

You play as a structural analyst on routine checkups of nearby industrial locations- in fact, it's probably better if you check out the steam reviews, I'm sure someone could explain it better than me.

There's a few ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ like some not great human models and voice acting, but even so It's one of my all-time favorite games. The absolute beauty of the game and amount of hidden secrets to find just kept me wanting to play again and again, resulting in me beating it four times so far.

Anyway, I hope you check it out!

[Oz Gaming]

Another good game is Kona:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/365160/

[Oz Gaming]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/696530/

[SKull]

The Sherlock Holmes series is quite good. Haven't played the first one about the mummy from 2002, but all the ones since, starting with Silver Earrings. But by far the best detective game I have played is Rockstar's LA Noire. A hidden gem if ever there was one. It's a lot more than that, though, and you will have to drive cars and things as well. But if you can survive some mild action, driving and 1940s USA, the investigative part of that game is brilliant.

[jayseven]

Originally posted by Danaman:

A little late to this discussion, but i'd love to put forward INFRA as something to check out. It's more of an exploration/story/puzzle game than a mystery, however there is an over-arching storyline that is sort of optional to follow in the way of newspaper articles, notes and log books that you can find.

You play as a structural analyst on routine checkups of nearby industrial locations- in fact, it's probably better if you check out the steam reviews, I'm sure someone could explain it better than me.

There's a few ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ like some not great human models and voice acting, but even so It's one of my all-time favorite games. The absolute beauty of the game and amount of hidden secrets to find just kept me wanting to play again and again, resulting in me beating it four times so far.

Anyway, I hope you check it out!

Lol I came here to say this. INFRA is great and gets better as it goes on.

Originally posted by SKull:

The Sherlock Holmes series is quite good. Haven't played the first one about the mummy from 2002, but all the ones since, starting with Silver Earrings. But by far the best detective game I have played is Rockstar's LA Noire. A hidden gem if ever there was one. It's a lot more than that, though, and you will have to drive cars and things as well. But if you can survive some mild action, driving and 1940s USA, the investigative part of that game is brilliant.

I'd just litearlly gone from Sherlock Holmes - Crimes & Punishments to TPK. It's the third in a trilogy that are all quite tasty, if not a little simple. The pacing is usually pretty good, with lots of quick-travel and short load times and perhaps an over-abundance of clues that sometimes it can feel like cases basically solve themselves, but the storytelling is good and production quality is fairly satisfying. Keep an eye on it to go on sale. The previous games, Sherlock Holmes - The Devil's Daughter, and the first one, The Testament of Sherlock Holmes, also worth getting.

Contradiction is a novel approach - live-action point-and-click detective stuff.

Murdered: Soul Suspect is much more action-oriented but has some cool mechanics, puzzles, central hub-like map, and yet more detective-ing.

The Norwood Suite is low-budget and knows it. Set in the mansion belonging to a very eccentric individual, where each room holds a secret, your task is... to play it. It's cheap and a great experience.

Tacoma sees you abour a small abandoned spaceship, where you piece together the ship's AI-memory recordings of events to figure out what happened to the crew. SPACE detective-ing.

Event[0] Is also in space, but you are trying to befriend the AI into getting you home after docking on another mysteriously devoid-of-life ship.

Stories Untold clearly getting off a bit on the Stranger Things take on revamping 80s John Carpenter movie style. One of my favourite games that I played in 2017.

... I'm getting off-track here, but Oxenfree and Virginia are worth a look, too.