Detective Kobayashi - A Visual Novel

Detective Kobayashi - A Visual Novel

Genuine · October 24, 2019 · Detective, Crime, Mystery, Visual Novel, Point & Click

Buy Detective Kobayashi - A Visual Novel from Steam at $5.19 — the cheapest of 3 stores we compare.

PC
Positive87% · 31
Best price 30 Fair price
$5.19-60%
$12.99lowest tracked $2.59
Steam Buy at Steam

Prices last checked

More games under $10 →More Steam deals →

Where to buy Detective Kobayashi - A Visual Novel — official stores

Steam
Steam
Standard Edition · Steam
-60%
$5.19
$12.99
Buy

Cheapest Detective Kobayashi - A Visual Novel keys — keyshops

Keyshops are third-party marketplaces — keys are resold and can be region-locked or a different edition. Check the listing's region & edition before buying.

Gameseal
Standard Edition · Steam
$5.34
Buy
Eneba
Standard Edition · Steam
$5.95
Buy

Detective Kobayashi - A Visual Novel price by region

Detective Kobayashi - A Visual Novel costs £3.99 in the United Kingdom, €4.47 in Europe (EUR), $5.19 in the United States, $7.49 in Georgia (USD), CA$16.99 in Canada, A$18.95 in Australia, NZ$18.99 in New Zealand, zł24.76 in Poland and R$41.99 in Brazil right now.

Cheapest Detective Kobayashi - A Visual Novel offer in each region, in local currency
RegionBest priceOfficial storeKey shopStores
United Kingdom £3.99 −64% £10.99 £3.99 2
Europe (EUR) €4.47 −60% €5.11 €4.47 4
United Statesyour region $5.19 −60% $5.19 $5.34 3
Georgia (USD) $7.49 $7.49 — 1
Canada CA$16.99 CA$16.99 — 1
Australia A$18.95 A$18.95 — 1
New Zealand NZ$18.99 NZ$18.99 — 1
Poland zł24.76 −59% zł59.99 zł24.76 2
Brazil R$41.99 R$41.99 — 1

Each row is a real price from that region's own stores, not a currency conversion, so the figures are not directly comparable. Switch regions in the header to shop the one you buy in.

Screenshots

About Detective Kobayashi - A Visual Novel


Play famous detective Kobayashi in this one-of-a-kind visual novel: Investigate crime scenes, interview suspects and collect clues to get to the bottom of 5 different crime cases that will challenge Kobayashi's skills and delve into a past he has been trying to forget. But be careful: People will try to fool you, and you never know who is really pulling the strings. Your team members will help - or sometimes hinder - you on the way to uncovering the truth, while you collect important clues and evidence to ensure that when you finally face the criminal, he will have no option but to confess!

《Investigation》


Examine mysterious crime scenes and collect essential clues to reveal what truly happened!

《Battle System》


Confront suspects in nerve-racking one-on-one dialogue battles and choose the correct evidence to prove their guilt!

《Light Bulb System》


Delve into the depths of Kobayashi's mind to collect secret hints about the case. Use them wisely!

《Multipurpose Mobile Phone》


Grab Kobayashi's phone to text characters and discover hidden phone numbers!
4 chapters featuring different challenging crime cases, each with its own theme and style
+ 1 extra chapter back when Kobayashi was in highschool.

Chapter 1: 《Missing Child》
Chapter 2: 《Midnight Ghost》
Chapter 3: 《Room of Revenge》
Chapter 4: 《True Evil》
Extra Chapter: 《At the Academy》

Detective Kobayashi - A Visual Novel — game info

Platforms
Windows
Player modes
Single-player
PC Game Pass
Not included

What Steam players say

Recent verbatim reviews from Steam — separate from playze.io community reviews below.

Recommended Sep 14, 2023
Detective Kobayashi game is a mixture of Visual nove and Escape room. You play as Kobayashi, a lazy detective whose main goal is to find a girlfriend, so he keeps on chasing girls, however, when it comes to his job he focuses on it and delivers better than any of his colleagues, especially Ryu, his rival. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3034775166 The game has four cases and an extra short one, each plays differently. In the first two cases you investigate, collect evidence, interview suspects and witnesses, and then accuse the one behind the crime, however, in the third episode the game turns to an escape room style with multiple puzzles to solve, I honestly enjoyed it although it was pretty tough to solve. I liked how in the last episode you gathered everything you know to solve the last case, The game is pretty solid and I enjoyed every moment of it. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3035258657 You have a journal in which you collect evidence, and a character profile that you can use during the battle system when you confront the other person with what you've learned, be careful though you could easily lose as there is only one way…
17 found this helpful
Not recommended Sep 5, 2025
The game is surprisingly problematic and broken. I only got up to case 2 and had to stop The first case involves [spoiler] a neighbor kidnapping a child because he wanted his parents to spend more time with the kid. The neighbor gets off scot-free on a tenacity because the protagonist thinks that the neighbor was in the right. [/spoiler] The second case is about [spoiler] a 39-year-old stalker killing a 24-year-old girl but for some reason all of the male characters are sympathetic with the guy and act like the girl was in the wrong for rejecting his advances. The protagonist even says they should play video games together when he gets out of jail. [/spoiler] The mystery solving is broken. At the end of the 2nd case your main character is trying to say the killer's motive but all the options are very similar. It was things like [spoiler] "Secret Love", "Unrequited Love" and "Jealousy". [/spoiler] This would not be a problem if not for having to put them in a certain order or else it says the solution is wrong. I already figured out the motive when i got the prompt but i still I had to try every possible combination to say it the way the game wanted me to, only to see the proble…
3 found this helpful
Recommended Nov 23, 2023
Detective Kobayashi is an Ace Attorney-alike visual novel that has you investigating crime scenes, challenging suspects, and solving murders. If you like Ace Attorney, you'll have a good time with this one, though don't come into it expecting an Ace Attorney quantity of gameplay; this is much shorter and simpler, and will take only five hours or so start to finish. The game takes place in China, and makes no attempt to localise either the setting or the character names, meaning that it can be challenging to keep track of which character is which, and most of the wordplay falls completely flat, since it's given a bare, literal translation rather than localised into something that works properly in English. While this is odd and slightly offputting, it is only a small detail, and doesn't materially impact the game. The meat of the translation is perfectly solid (and pleasingly light on "singular they" garbage), though the choice (in the first two chapters) to have Kobayashi refer to everybody as "dude" whenever he gets excited is a bit odd. Visually, the game is serviceable though unexceptional; the graphics are clear enough that it's never hard to spot the things you're meant to s…
1 found this helpful
Recommended Jan 15, 2026
A great visual novel about a detective using mechanics similar to those found in ace attorney. This isn't a rip off of that game but does use its features except outside of a court room which makes those mechanics less dry. The shake phone feature is very amusing and the characters are quite fun. I do think it was a shame to put a time skip between the first two cases as too much character development fell into that gap. The game is sound but there do seem to be a few optimization features when loading, it seems a little slow, I do over fill my computer which doesn't help but for a visual novel the loading is slow. Also the click boxes don't seem to quite line up all the time in full screen. Ultimately ignore the ace attorney stuff, this game is a game in its own right and builds on sound and well established mechanics. It is fun, original, and only a tad scuffed. 10/10 The only sad thing is the game left off on a cliff hanger and it feels a let down to end there.
Recommended Jul 1, 2023
A very fun mystery game, some achievements were hard to do and I'm pretty sure it's bugged on Steam to where it doesn't show as a perfect game when all the achievements are got.
Recommended May 5, 2023
This game is a bit of a mixed bag, so it's an "OK" review - recommended, but with caveats. The clue finding and piecing together arguments part of the game is quite engaging, and fortunately forms the bulk of the game. The part that lets it down are the inner thought bubbles puzzles where you have to piece together a string of thoughts in sequence to crack the case. Oftentimes, the keywords in the thought bubbles are so similar that you can easily mix them up in the wrong sequence and the game won't accept your answer, or the thought logic leaps so big you won't know how the game expects you to get there. The only way out of these puzzles usually devolves into inputting every single combination, or going to a walkthrough for answers, detracting from the immersion the game. Another part that lets the story down is the baffling choice to put in a lengthy escape room chapter in the middle of the game. This is a long chapter, and really breaks the flow of the game up until this point. Escape room puzzles have their own brand of logic to make players think laterally, is very game-y (the logic only applies to those puzzles), and this feels very jarring compared to the other chapters, …

Community reviews

—

0 reviews

Sign in to write a review.

No reviews yet. Be the first to review this game.

More like Detective Kobayashi - A Visual Novel

News

All news →
Minecraft Dungeons 2 Deluxe Edition: skip it, play on Game PassXbox

Minecraft Dungeons 2 Deluxe Edition: skip it, play on Game Pass

The Minecraft Dungeons 2 Deluxe Edition asks you to pre-order two unannounced DLC packs for a game Game Pass already gives you. What it contains, and why the upgrade can wait.

Sep 30, 2026
Is DayZ worth it? A straight answer before you buyPC

Is DayZ worth it? A straight answer before you buy

Is DayZ worth it? Twelve years on it is still the genre's least forgiving game. What you are buying, who it suits, and what our 97-day price record says about the timing.

Sep 30, 2026
Transport Fever 3 price: which edition to buy on launch dayPC

Transport Fever 3 price: which edition to buy on launch day

Transport Fever 3 is out today. The Transport Fever 3 price splits three ways, the loyalty discount has a fortnight-long fuse, and our record shows what the older game really costs.

Sep 29, 2026
No Man's Sky price: how low it gets and when to buyPC

No Man's Sky price: how low it gets and when to buy

The No Man's Sky price has come a long way down since 2016, and the game is on PC Game Pass too. Our tracked 12-month low, the regional key gap, and what to actually pay.

Sep 29, 2026
Sekiro cheap: what our price record shows, and what to avoidDeals

Sekiro cheap: what our price record shows, and what to avoid

Search Sekiro cheap and the results are keyshop listings, not a store discount. Our three-month price record explains the gap, and why so few live offers changes the advice.

Sep 28, 2026
System Shock 2 Remaster free on Epic from 1 OctoberFreebies

System Shock 2 Remaster free on Epic from 1 October

System Shock 2 Remaster free on Epic from 1 to 8 October, alongside BURIED STARS. Our price record shows why its floor has not moved in three months, and why waiting beats buying this week.

Sep 28, 2026
Dead Island 2 cheap: which edition, and what the price doesPC

Dead Island 2 cheap: which edition, and what the price does

Dead Island 2 cheap used to mean under a dollar. Our price record shows the floor has roughly doubled since September - here is which edition to buy, and the one that is a trap.

Sep 27, 2026
Steam Autumn Sale 2026: the games that cannot be discountedDeals

Steam Autumn Sale 2026: the games that cannot be discounted

The Steam Autumn Sale 2026 runs 1-8 October, but Valve's own rules bar every September release from it. Which games are locked out, and what our record says about the two biggest.

Sep 27, 2026

Top games right now

All rankings →
  1. 1Counter-Strike 2Free
  2. 2Dota 2Free
  3. 3PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDSFree
  4. 4Grand Theft Auto V Legacy—
  5. 5Terraria$2.20
  6. 6Rust$25.62
  7. 7Team Fortress 2Free
  8. 8Black Myth: Wukong$35.70
  9. 9HELLDIVERS™ 2$30.56
  10. 10ELDEN RING$52.89
  11. 11Apex Legends™Free
  12. 12Left 4 Dead 2$9.99
  13. 13Stardew Valley$14.73
  14. 14Wallpaper Engine$3.99
  15. 15Euro Truck Simulator 2$4.99
  16. 16Dead by Daylight$10.40
  17. 17Red Dead Redemption 2$10.54
  18. 18Baldur's Gate 3$41.99
  19. 19Phasmophobia$18.29
  20. 20War ThunderFree
  21. 21Call of Duty®—
  22. 22ARK: Survival Evolved$14.24
  23. 23Among Us$3.03
  24. 24The Forest$19.99