I love a good detective game. Thrillers, mysteries, cyberpunk detectives, all of these things scratch the mental puzzle itch for me. A new game, developed by solo developer Andre Gareis just launched that will make you reconsider how you investigate crimes.

Mindcop is now available on PC, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation 5. After six years of development, Mindcop allows you to take part in a non-linear experience that puts a real clock on your investigations. Here is what the press release says about Mindcop:

“Find the murderer in this adventure that has been in development for 6 years, during which Gareis has poured his passion for classics of the detective game genre. The creator innovates in different aspects, from the investigation mechanics, with time cost management to introducing real-time puzzles! Mindcop supports English, German, French, Spanish, and also in Simplified and Traditional Chinese.

Use your Mindcop capabilities to uncover secrets and unravel people’s lies to find the true suspect of this town’s murder. As the Mindcop you can attempt to sneak into the mind of one of the suspects. This plays out as [a] real-time puzzle game. Complete it and explore their « Sea of Thoughts » to get clues and topics to use in conversation.

You have 5 days to solve this murder and every action comes with a time cost. As the Mindcop, make tough decisions on what is worth your time and what will lead you to dead ends. Choose well and discover two different endings.

While interrogating suspects, players will have to use their Mindcop capabilities to Mindsurf them to uncover secrets and unravel people’s lies to find the true suspect of the town’s murder. The Mindcop can attempt to sneak into the mind of one of the suspects, this plays out as a real-time puzzle game.

The mindsurf mechanic consists of a timed match-3 game in which you have to cross the screen and reach a finish line with a surf. You gain time by matching different type[s] of bullet going into the suspect’s brain to gain time. Once you have 0 seconds left or crossed the finish line, the mini-game ends. Once the mini-game is won, you’ll be facing 3 different doors: Lie, Uncertainty[,] and Truth. These doors showcase the suspect’s psyche in [a] different light with short dialogues in specific environments. [This] information will be useful in your investigation.”

Andre Gareis commented on the launch of his passion project, stating: “After many years of development, I’m proud to say that this project is now complete. I made the game I wanted to make, with hardly any compromises along the way—a rare achievement in game development, and one I’m very grateful for.

As a longtime fan of mystery stories, creating Mindcop allowed me to explore the genre from a whole new angle. This game was also my first real venture into narrative writing, and it became a deeply personal journey. Dedicating myself to a single project for so many years has been challenging but incredibly rewarding. I hope Mindcop finds its audience, as it’s something very special to me.“

The idea of weighing leads with time management is really exciting for me. Any mystery lover will have a field day with Mindcop, at least judging by what is stated here. This might even be a perfect holiday gift for the mystery lover in your life.

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