Games That Let You Solve Your Own Murder

Many familiar themes appear repeatedly in mystery stories across different media like movies, TV, and video games. One common example is the ‘locked room mystery,’ but a less frequent one involves the unusual premise of the victim investigating their own death.

Okay, so games that really deal with ghosts and the paranormal aren’t super common. I’ve noticed a few, like The World Ends With You, Remember Me, and Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, have characters who are dead, come back to life, or are basically walking around as ghosts. But those games aren’t about solving a mystery around that, so I’m going to focus on ones where that’s a bigger deal. And don’t worry, I won’t spoil anything!

12 Minutes

One Minute At A Time

The game 12 Minutes is surprisingly long, as it takes time to unravel its mysteries. You play as a husband (voiced by James McAvoy) who comes home to his wife (voiced by Daisy Ridley). You can make small choices, like how you interact with your wife or arrange the dinner table. However, a police officer (Willem Dafoe) will eventually arrive and attempt to take the wife into custody. The couple is then restrained, and things take a dark turn, after which the game restarts with the husband disoriented. 12 Minutes is a time loop game, giving players twelve minutes to try and change the outcome before the events repeat.

The game challenges players to figure out the best questions to ask, which can unlock new clues and items like hidden locations or weapons for the next attempt. Even just rearranging objects in the apartment can create different results. It deliberately keeps its rules and systems hidden, meaning success depends on figuring out the right actions in the correct order. While the game involves a husband’s death, it’s more about uncovering the larger mystery. The ending is quite unusual and has sparked debate, but clever players might be able to solve it before they have all the information.

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

A Goofy DS Gem

Originally released for the DS in 2011, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective became much easier to play in 2023 with versions for consoles like the Switch and PS4. The game begins with a man in a red suit found dead, but he’s brought back as a glowing blue spirit named Sissel – though he has no memory of his past. As a ghost, Sissel can’t do much at first, but this limitation is actually what makes the game special. Players can float between objects and use special abilities, called Tricks, to interact with them.

The game features puzzles where interacting with objects can have surprising consequences – like extending a lamp to help someone reach something or rolling a tire to create a distraction. Throughout the story, as you investigate Sissel’s murder, you’ll need to save other characters from dying. Luckily, you can rewind time if you make a mistake. With excellent music, art, and writing – it’s no surprise this comes from the team behind the Phoenix Wright series at Capcom. If you’re looking for a captivating mystery to solve, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is a top choice.

Murdered: Soul Suspect

Cats Are Your Friends

In Murdered: Soul Suspect, you play as detective Ronan O’Connor, who finds himself investigating his own murder after being fatally shot. As a ghost, he must uncover the truth by gathering clues, questioning witnesses, and piecing together the events leading to his death. The game is a straightforward adventure, guiding players with clear objectives – you need to find all the evidence, answer questions, and solve the puzzle. You’ll explore the world as a ghost, interacting with objects and even possessing people to uncover hidden thoughts and information.

Okay, so in Murdered: Soul Suspect, you get to really explore as a ghost, which is awesome. You’ll encounter all sorts of spirits alongside the living – some are just lost, others have unfinished business, and some are seriously creepy. The enemies are really strange; they’re basically like the Dementors from Harry Potter – these shadowy figures that try to drain your life force. There’s a stealth element to avoid or take them down, but honestly, I didn’t feel like I had enough tools to do it consistently. I wasn’t super invested in the main character, Ronan, as a detective, but the world they built is interesting enough that I wanted to see the story through, even though the game is pretty easy overall.

Shadow Of Destiny

Time Is On Your Side

Released early in the PlayStation 2’s lifespan, Shadow of Destiny shares a similar visual style to Konami’s Silent Hill series, particularly Silent Hill 2. The game’s character models are comparable, though it lacks the horror atmosphere. The story begins with the protagonist, Eike Kusch, being stabbed in the back. He then meets a mysterious figure who grants him the power to travel through time. Initially, this time travel is limited to the town of Lebensbaum, but players will soon be able to jump further back into the past.

The game focuses more on storytelling than traditional gameplay, similar to games made by Telltale. It’s relatively short and not very challenging, but the story unfolds at a slow pace and can be emotionally demanding. While you can make choices that lead to different outcomes and multiple endings, you’ll also be able to skip through familiar scenes on repeat playthroughs. The game cleverly uses time travel to create a ‘Butterfly Effect’ – small changes you make early on can have a significant impact on preventing the main character’s death, like preventing a tree from being planted to cut off the killer’s path.

Shuten Order

Anime Murder

If you enjoy anime detective stories, or are a fan of games like Danganronpa, Shuten Order might be for you. Created with input from Kazutaka Kodaka, the creator of Danganronpa, this mystery visual novel takes place in the town of Shuten. You play as someone who dies and is brought back to life by angels, but with no memory of what happened. The story revolves around a mysterious cult known as the Shuten Order.

I’ve been playing this really interesting game called Shuten Order, and it’s unlike anything I’ve seen before! You play as Rei Shimobe, but that’s actually just a temporary name and body – their gender even changes depending on the case! The way the game is structured is cool too; you can tackle different ‘orders’ in almost any sequence, which reminds me a lot of Mega Man, because each mini-boss has a unique trick up their sleeve. Sometimes it’s a classic visual novel experience, just reading and making choices, but other times you’re actually moving around in 3D or looking down from above. Be warned, though – there’s a lot of reading, and there’s no English dub, so the story can be a bit confusing. But if you’re a fan of Danganronpa or just really enjoy strange, anime-style visual novels, Shuten Order is definitely worth checking out – it’s one of the newest and most unique ones I’ve found!

2026-02-02 04:35