Games involving detective work, murder mysteries, etc. sorted by release date
A murder to solve! A criminal to apprehend! Detective and mistery games have the recipe for a perfect crime story. Police investigations, finding clues, mysterious killings, a noir atmosphere are all ingredients that makes a good detective / mystery game worth playing. The Police Quest series, the Tex Murphy series, games based on Sherlock Holmes are just some of the most popular detective games ever published in the last century.
Most popular detective, mystery games
Sort by:
Deadline
DOS1982 Infocom
Murder by the Dozen
DOS1983 BrainBank
Sleuth: A Murder Mystery
DOS1983freeware Norland Software
The Witness
DOS1983 Infocom
Earthly delights
DOS1984 Datamost
Felony!
DOS1984 BrainBank
Murder on the Zinderneuf
DOS1984 Free Fall Associates
Suspect
DOS1984 Infocom
Borrowed Time
DOS1985 Interplay Productions
Borrowed Time is a graphic adventure video game developed and published by Interplay Productions. It was released in 1985 for various platforms, including the Apple Macintosh, Apple II, DOS, and Atari ST. The game is notable ...
James Bond 007: A View to a Kill
DOS1985 Angelsoft
Mindshadow
DOSMac OS1985 Interplay Productions
Perry Mason
DOS1985 Paisano Productions
Sherlock Holmes: Another bow
DOS1985 Magicom Multimedia
221B Baker Street
DOS1986 Datasoft
You are Sherlock Holmes, and someone has committed a crime, possibly because they couldn’t handle the game’s UI. 221B Baker Street is a detective board game where your mind is your only weapon. And also a notepad, beca...
Amnesia
DOS1986 Cognetics corporation
In Amnesia, you wake up in a hotel room with no idea who you are, where you are, or why someone wants you dead. And no, this isn’t a gritty FPS—it’s a text adventure. That’s right, no graphics, just your im...
Ballyhoo
DOS1986 Infocom
Come one, come all, to the saddest circus ever pixelated. In Ballyhoo, you're stuck in a depressing carnival trying to solve a kidnapping while dealing with clowns, carnies, and the worst text parser since your last therapy sessio...
Sherlock Holmes: The Vatican Cameos
DOS1986 Magicom Multimedia
Deja Vu: A Nightmare Comes True
DOS1987 ICOM Simulations
La Abadia del Crimen
DOS1987 Opera Soft
La Abadía del Crimen (The Abbey of Crime) is an action-adventure developed in Spain by Paco Menéndez in the mid-1980s. It was initially created for the Amstrad CPC and later ported to other popular home computer syst...
Police Quest 1: In Pursuit of the Death Angel
DOS1987 Sierra On-Line
Police Quest: In Pursuit of the Death Angel is an adventure game released in 1987 by Sierra On-Line, designed by former police officer Jim Walls. It's the first installment in the Police Quest series and is known for its realistic...
Corruption
DOS1988 Magnetic Scrolls
Fish!
DOS1988 Magnetic Scrolls
L.A. Crackdown
DOS1988 Nexa Corporation
Welcome to Los Angeles, where crime runs rampant and your job is to bring the chaos down with nothing but surveillance skills and a stern attitude. L.A. Crackdown puts you in the shoes of a tactical commander who never actually le...
Mortville Manor
DOS1988 Lankhor
Murder in the Atlantic
DOS1988 CobraSoft
Mystery of the Mummy
DOS1988 Time Warp Software
Police Quest 2: The Vengeance
DOS1988protected Sierra On-Line
Police Quest 2: The Vengeance is a graphical point-and-click adventure game developed and published by Sierra On-Line. It was released in 1988 as the second installment in the Police Quest series, which was created by former ...
Sherlock: The Riddle of the Crown Jewels
DOS1988 Challenge
The President is Missing
DOS1988protected Cosmi Corporation
Clue Master Detective
DOS1989 Dalali Software
Clue Master Detective is an abandoned strategy game developed by Dalali Software and released by Leisure Genius in 1989 for DOS, Amiga, Apple II, Atari ST, C64. Clue Master Detective is based on the well known board game Clue (als...