Abandonware DOS title

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

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Deadline

DOS1982 Infocom
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Murder by the Dozen

DOS1983 BrainBank
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Sleuth: A Murder Mystery

DOS1983freeware Norland Software
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The Witness

DOS1983 Infocom
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Earthly delights

DOS1984 Datamost
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Felony!

DOS1984 BrainBank
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Murder on the Zinderneuf

DOS1984 Free Fall Associates
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Suspect

DOS1984 Infocom
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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 for its early use of digitized photos and a noir-style detective narrative.The game's story is set in the 1930s and foll...
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Mindshadow

DOSMac OS1985 Interplay Productions
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Perry Mason

DOS1985 Paisano Productions
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Sherlock Holmes: Another bow

DOS1985 Magicom Multimedia
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221B Baker Street

DOS1986 Datasoft
221B Baker Street is a turn-based strategy strategy game developed by Datasoft. 221B Baker Street is base on the tabletop game of the same name "221B Baker Street" and it plays in a very similar way, with dices, etc.
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Amnesia

DOS1986 Cognetics corporation
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Ballyhoo

DOS1986 Infocom
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Sherlock Holmes: The Vatican Cameos

DOS1986 Magicom Multimedia
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Deja Vu: A Nightmare Comes True

DOS1987 ICOM Simulations
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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 systems of the time, such as the ZX Spectrum and MSX. The game was released in 1987.
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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 portrayal of police procedures.In the game, you play as Sonny Bonds, a police officer in the fictional city of Lytton, ...
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Corruption

DOS1988 Magnetic Scrolls
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Fish!

DOS1988 Magnetic Scrolls
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L.A. Crackdown

DOS1988 Nexa Corporation
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Mortville Manor

DOS1988 Lankhor
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Murder in the Atlantic

DOS1988 CobraSoft
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Mystery of the Mummy

DOS1988 Time Warp Software
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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 police officer Jim Walls.In Police Quest 2, Sonny Bonds is now a sergeant with the Lytton Police Department, and the gam...
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The President is Missing

DOS1988protected Cosmi Corporation
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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 (also known as Cluedo). Clue can be played in single player, but the best gaming experience come from the multi-player mode.