Murder Mystery Machine

Great Game and addicting , Glitchy controls only complaint

Seriously if this is it your game just say that. Some said it’s just annoying. Then don’t play it. I like slow paced games that make me think. It makes me feel smart and like I actually did work for it This game is very interesting and very time consuming it’s not something your going to fly through and that’s the point pay attention to the tutorial and you’ll be fine there’s also help and tips throughout the levels making it very doable. Only reason I’m giving it a 4 is the controls are a little wonky at the moment when ever I try to touch and hold it won’t recognize sometime. Whenever I try to tap to delete a string connecting the two it also doesn’t register and it’s more of a double tap which works just fine over all I’m hooked and hope you keep adding more episodes now onto episode 2 I got a B on episode 1 but I didn’t know what the hell was happening or what to do till the last level but now that I’ve got it I’m hooked for good. Great job team only thing is this controls just tweak them a bit and I’ll be more addicted

Fun and frustrating

I really enjoy playing this game but there are some things I find frustrating. The walking and transitions are so slow. There should be a setting where you can the adjust speed or toggle on/off. Even if you make the correct conclusions, you have to have to connect all the clues just right to score an A+. Make all the right connections influences unlocking new clues and dialogues. I like the thought map but it’s also part of the reason I don’t always make all the right connections. As I’m going along, I’ll forget which connections unlocked which clues; having some indicator km place like making the red line solid or to white would make it much easier to keep things straight. Or implement a system where you can indicate things your sure of and things you’re not sure on. I get lost in all the red lines. This would at least make it easier to keep track of. Not getting the hints just right also affects your score. I’m replaying to try and get all the achievements but I can’t always remember the connections & you’re penalized for using hints. On that note, you can’t turn the tutorial off. You can’t skip the tutorial videos so when you’re playing the first level, you just have to sit through them. A prompt asking if you’ve played the game before before starting would solve that. I’m do enjoy the game overall, these are just some of the things I find frustrating about the gameplay.

Beautiful game, but lacks clarity in gameplay

I am a huge fan of whodunnits and this type of puzzle solving and deduction gameplay. That being said, this game is so far from intuitive. It relies on it’s own sense of logic and doesn’t create pathways for the players to find this similar line of thought. This is crucial as the gameplay relies on drawing conclusions and connecting clues. This only works when those connections being drawn are consistent and clear in their rationale. Not to say they should be obvious, but there should be more consideration to the clarity of those connections and how the player is meant to draw those conclusions. At present it is dependent on the player being likeminded to the developer and doesn’t take into account that others might make similar yet different deductions (by connect clues differently) based on the presented evidence. The player could be understanding the solution correctly, but inputting or connecting slightly different pieces that make equal sense. Directed reasoning seems crucial for this type of puzzle solving. I have seen other games do this well and it really is the make-or-break for this type of game. It’s what takes a game from just interesting to being immersive and engaging (while still being challenging). This is such a great concept and is, in truth, my favorite type of game to play. The art and design of the game is beautiful, but it’s hard to enjoy it when the heart of the game needs more development.

Too annoying to play.

I wanted to like this game, but it’s just too annoying. The tutorial explains how to use touch commands, but not how to actually *play*. You have to get poor scores on a couple of investigations to learn a bit about how it works, and I still don’t understand how you’re supposed to know what to do next. You are examining a scene and are not allowed to interact with something until you have elicited the necessary prompt, so I guess you are supposed to randomly click all around the place to see if there is anything you CAN interact with, then talk to a person, then randomly start linking pieces of evidence, and wait for a prompt to come up before you can then interact with the item on the desk that you wanted to pick up in the first place. So you have to repeatedly circle the room to look for things that are NOW able to be interacted with, rather than look at everything first and then decide what is important afterwards. I totally get that it is unrealistic to tell you how many pieces of evidence you are supposed to find. But you are also scored on making links between pieces of evidence, and there is no indication how you are supposed to know what the game designers thought was important. You aren’t told which links you made were important and which weren’t, and I don’t know if you are marked down for incorrect links. There is just so much you aren’t too that it isn’t fun.

didn’t quite hit the mark

As a person who plays a TON of point and click mystery games, this didn’t do it for me. i’ll start with the unique mechanic for this game, which i actually quite like. Linking information like making a large investigation board. something new is always fun, it took a few rounds to figure out what i was doing but i enjoyed it. as some people have mentioned its not suuuper intuitive, but i enjoy figuring things out so it works just fine for me. And honestly— thats the only thing about this game that interest me. i’m not going to comment on the difficulty of the cases because i didn’t get that far (i’m assuming it gets harder), but for me difficulty doesn’t make the mystery game. its all about the atmosphere, the dialogue (i’ll reiterate, *ahem* For Me) and this game doesn’t have any of the charm or character that i generally expect from these type of games. its pretty bland, characters, dialogue, esthetic— which is a little disappointing. i checked out some letsplays of later cases to see if it changed, but not really. I’d still say give it a shot, it might be your cup of tea. try out their mechanic for putting the info/evidence together. So all in all tho i like the mechanics of the game I don’t care for the packaging.

Really great murder mystery game! Definitely play!

I downloaded this after playing Jenny LeClue and needing more murder in my life. The game is really intuitive, except the evidence mapping as other reviewers have noted. You kind of have to guess how the developers link the information instead of replying on your own instincts. I think this would be okay if they were a bit more consistent with how they link things and if they taught you their methodology. For example, the only way to see what connections you are missing is to use the hint feature before submitting (if you submit with missing connections you’re never told what you missed) and there’s no way to tell which connections are unnecessary, which can lead to a very cluttered screen very quickly. It might be nice if they let you know you were making an unnecessary link so you could delete it without worrying about it impacting your score. In my opinion it’s not a big enough issue to likely impact most people’s enjoyment of the game; if you’re a perfectionist or completionist however, be prepared for this to likely affect your gameplay.

Great but a bit of issues

I really enjoy the game. It’s very unique mystery game with connecting the clues together. Sometimes it’s a bit difficult to figure out but for the most part I always get a+,a, or b rating. Usually never below that so I think it’s a pretty easy game to understand. You even get hints. My one issue is the uploading time of the episodes. I played this game when arcade first came out so there was only 2 episodes if I’m correct. I obviously lost interest since you guys take months to upload new episodes. If you guys weren’t ready you guys should’ve probably finished developing your game and then releasing it since it’s frustrating for people who enjoy playing your game wait three months just to play again since I honestly forgot about this game till I was scrolling down on the App Store. Again I do love this game because of the mystery and storyline. I will play the last episode and update on what I think.

Color me impressed

I don’t write reviews but for this game I am. This game is phenomenal! I am currently going to college to become a detective and this game is like no other crime game. First thing I want to get out there is that if you don’t like dialogue or games that have a considerable amount of conversations than this game isn’t for you, leave it for the crime buffs. If you are interested in crime you would know that in an investigation you have to take statements and do interviews, this game does incorporate evidence and it does a great job at doing so. Another thing, I love that this game has the infamous line tethering that connects evidence and information! This game will make you think long and hard but once you get that substantial link, it becomes addicting because you want to get another and another. Hats off to the team on this game! The creators, developers, and the rest of you all should feel proud and I am excited for you all to release more seasons. ☺️💛

Intriguing puzzler, a few caveats

This is a slow paced but fascinating game with genuine challenges and an enjoyable overarching plot line that gives it a fun neo-noir feel. It’s right up my alley. The only frustration I have is that many times I know the solution but I am left guessing which nodes to connect to trigger the next dialogue etc. literally guessing. It is not intuitive or sometimes even logical which connections it insists I make to come up with the same conclusion. I end up with what looks like a tangled ball of yarn on my workspace because I have to randomly connect every node to every other node or use hints and reduce my score even though I already know the answer. It needs to make more sense which connections will satisfy the program to move on, or there need to be multiple pathways. As it is, the last stage of every episode is just a guessing game to please the algorithm instead of a genuine puzzle.

Fun, but could use some tweaks

The game is fun. If you’re looking at getting it, go for it. You won’t be unhappy with this game. If you’re looking for good graphics or accessibility, you won’t find it here. The game is dark, it’s hard to see certain corners of the playable space. The graphics are okay, but it would be nice to be able to have a graphics slider to make them better or lower depending on your preference. If you need the text in-game to be read to you (Text To Speech) you won’t get that. There’s no text to speech, color changes for colorblind people, etc. Seriously, the only things in the settings/options menu are language, workspace extensions (helps you deduce things), tips, notifications, SFX volume, and music volume. It would be nice to see an expansion to the options to make the game a bit more accessible for everyone.

... Blazing Griffin's other upcoming game, Murder Mystery Machine. The ... Limited, a ReedPop company and subsidiary of Reed Exhibitions Limited.

Rock Paper Shotgun Fri Jul 23 2021