The Case of Andrew D.

A fantastic game that challenged me to perform information gathering and deduction at levels exceeding anything I've ever done. This made me feel more like a detective than any piece of media I have ever encountered -- and most of the time it is a great feeling, even if it occasionally feels like you're going insane chasing a lead that goes nowhere. When I think about the weird little clues I had to pursue while playing, I feel both proud of myself and a bit uneasy about how much an amateur like me can learn about other people if they feel like it. ​If you like deduction-heavy games such as The Case of the Golden Idol, Return of the Obra Dinn, or Her Story, you might find this a very rewarding and captivating experience. It also reminded me of Shadows of Doubt -- while in SoD the clues are obscured by the vastness of a procedurally generated world, here they are hidden somewhere on the internet. I can easily imagine some people completely bouncing off of this, but I'd encourage you to give it a try and see if it scratches that itch. ​My Steam playtime for this game is simultaneously overestimated and very accurate; I left the game running overnight, so the hours artificially pile…

It's hard to describe this game as anything other than the evolution of "ARG" styled content. The amount of legwork required to make something like this work is genuinely awe-inspiring and I hope to see more like this in the future. I've only made it through 3-4 of the "cases" almost entirely on my own, and yeah I've sunk quite a bit of time into them sometimes barking up the wrong tree for a few hours, but damn does getting that next step feel like you're actually doing something substantial every time. If I have an actual complaint it's that the hint system could be a bit more "precise". As it is now it's just a tell of the next "trigger" for a sequence, however I think it could be a tiny bit more generous. I was limiting myself a bit trying to avoid "brute forcing" solutions such as some of the more complex image recognition programs as well as various "password crackers" but I've felt more enjoyment in just accepting that if I were a real data forensic that I'd be using those tools as standard. It saved time in some of the puzzles I already basically "solved" but struggled to find the motivation to check every possible solution. Why spend a bunch of time typing in every pos…

How can one screw up the controls for such a simple game concept? Seriously, how? When placing markers on a map is such an important element of your gameplay, you better make sure it actually works. Clicking on the map to add the marker places it 20 meters away from the location you clicked on. There is no way to move the marker. Removing the marker, despite having a dedicated button, simply doesn't work. Naming the markers works in maybe one out of twenty tries. Let me repeat that: You have a one in twenty chance, that the interface registers a simple right click on a static map marker (Oh, and btw, I made sure, that this isn't the fault of corrupted game files. I reinstalled the whole thing, just to be sure, with no changes). Those aren't complex souls-like mechanics, those are primitive GUIs, that every software developer learns to code in week one or two, so I'm in awe, how they could screw this up. The idea for this game is great, the story might be great too. I don't know and I probably will never know, because as long as the pure fundamentals of this game are FUBAR, it's not worth it.

I don't leave reviews very often, but this is a game that genuinely needs to get more attention. If you like ARGs, you will love this game. If you enjoy games where you feel like you are actually conducting an investigation and get to go full conspiracy theory with files and notes and connecting dots, you will love this game. If you enjoy puzzle games that are challenging and don't hold your hand, you will really love this game. Are there some rough spots? Sure. Pinning locations on the map can occasionally be a little finnicky. It is possible to make mistakes that will require a replay to get the "true" ending, though replaying goes pretty fast once you've done the leg work for the time consuming puzzles. Because the game relies on searching for things on the internet, there are some things that are outside of the dev's control, like what turns up for certain searches changing. But the dev has been great about listening to feedback and making adjustments when this happens. The love and care that went into this game shines through the entire experience. I was hooked from the moment the login window popped up and found myself unable to stop obsessing over it until I solved Andrew…

Really cool and unique experience. It's hard to call it a game, let alone a puzzle game, and it's for sure not for everyone. But if this appeals to you, you will love it. I finished the main case, but I was satisfied to stop playing the game leaving a few cases unfinished. Given that, my main criticisms are: - While most cases are fine, some rely a bit too much on knowledge of Warsaw, or Polish nuances, for it to come naturally to non-Polish audiences - The nature of OSINT means that some puzzles get significantly harder from just a random update of google - A more robust hint system built into the game would have been good, especially given the above points - Relatedly, the developer's discord should not be used as the primary source for hints. While it means you get more direct responses, it is not a public forum, and it is much harder to search for specific hints as a third party

In my time with the game I have spent an hour searching Warsaw in google maps for a specific patch of colored tarmac, looked up real life waterslide manufacturing brochures and more. The game is a real deductive treat.