Murder by Numbers Review Summary

Engaging story and characters: The game offers an engaging story with detailed plot and likable characters. Players enjoy the character development and the overall narrative, which adds depth to the gameplay experience.

Enjoyable and well-designed puzzles: The game features a variety of puzzles that are challenging yet fair, with a good difficulty curve. Players appreciate the puzzles for being fun, not overly complex, and well-integrated into the gameplay.

Unique mix of visual novel and puzzles: The game combines visual novel elements with picross puzzles, creating a unique and enjoyable experience. This blend is appreciated by players for its innovation and fun gameplay.

Attractive and charming art style: The game features an attractive and charming art style that is visually appealing. The visual style complements the gameplay and adds to the overall enjoyment.

Enjoyable and fitting soundtrack: The game's soundtrack is enjoyable and fits the mood well. Players appreciate the music for its quality and how it enhances the gaming experience.

Repetitive and tedious puzzles: The puzzles in the game are often criticized for being repetitive, lengthy, and tedious. They lack variation and depth, making them feel more like work than fun. This repetitiveness can slow down the narrative momentum and make the game feel like a chore.

Lack of dialogue skipping: Players are frustrated by the inability to skip dialogues, which can make replays and tutorials tedious. The absence of a dialogue log or fast-forward option exacerbates this issue.

Puzzles disrupt story flow: Long and intrusive puzzles often disrupt the flow of the story, particularly near the end of chapters. This can make the gameplay feel fragmented and slow down the narrative pace.

Weak detective elements: The detective aspects of the game are criticized for being weak and unengaging. Players feel there is little to no actual detective work involved, making the story feel boring and clichéd.

Frequent bugs and usability issues: The game is plagued by numerous bugs and usability issues, including problems with controls and soft locks. These issues can be frustrating and disrupt the gaming experience.

Visual novel and detective hybrid: The game combines visual novel elements with detective themes, creating a hybrid experience. Players engage in a narrative-driven adventure while solving puzzles and investigating mysteries.

Picross puzzles central to gameplay: The game prominently features Picross puzzles, which are integrated with the story and detective elements. These puzzles are enjoyable and can be completed without guessing, adding a unique twist to the gameplay.

Varied puzzle difficulty: The puzzles in the game vary in size and difficulty, offering a progressive challenge curve. Some puzzles can be quite challenging and require strategic thinking, while others are more casual.

Murder mystery investigation: The game involves solving murder mysteries by scanning rooms for clues and speaking to characters. This point-and-click style investigation is combined with puzzle-solving mechanics.

Ranking and bonus puzzles: The game includes a ranking system for puzzles and offers bonus puzzles that are locked behind completing every puzzle. This adds replay value and encourages players to master the puzzles.

Game has various bugs: The game has multiple bugs, including sound effects issues, controller emulation problems, soft locks, and bugs requiring game restarts.

Steam Deck compatibility issues: The game has mixed compatibility with the Steam Deck. While it controls well, certain critical UI elements disappear when using the D-pad.

Visual and audio issues: There are problems with flashing lights, screen shaking, soundtrack issues, and SFX crashes.

Input device technical issues: The game has technical issues with both mouse/keyboard and controller inputs.

High GPU requirements: The minimum GPU requirements for the game seem excessively high.

Recommended for puzzle and visual novel fans: The game is highly recommended for players who enjoy nonogram puzzles, visual novels, and a mix of storytelling with puzzle-solving. It is particularly appealing to those who appreciate games like Ace Attorney and picross puzzles.

Praised for story and characters: Reviewers highlight the game's story, characters, and design as strong points, making it a worthwhile experience despite some repetitive music.

Interest in sequels or DLC: Many players expressed a strong interest in purchasing sequels or additional DLC if they were released, indicating a desire for more content.

Recommended for casual interest: The game is recommended for those with a casual interest in the genre or as a curiosity.

Casual and nostalgic experience: The game is recommended for players looking for a casual and nostalgic experience, suitable for killing time.

Community fair range: $4.00 - $12.00.

Game completion: 32.0h.

Endgame: 40.0h.

The game starts fun but becomes repetitive and tedious over time, particularly due to the repetitive puzzles and slow pacing in later chapters.

Reported time to anchor: 30m.

Friction: Repetitive puzzles; Slow pacing in later chapters; Tedious gameplay loop.

Unlock drivers: Engaging story; Interesting characters.

Picross Enthusiast: Focused on solving picross puzzles. Motivation: Enjoyment of picross puzzles. Stance: sale.

Story-Driven Gamer: Focused on story progression and character interactions. Motivation: Engaging story and characters. Stance: deep sale.

Casual Gamer: Casual and relaxed. Motivation: Relaxation and casual gameplay. Stance: sale.

Steam Deck: The game has several issues on the Steam Deck, including significant UI/UX problems, mixed reviews on controller support, and performance issues related to overheating. These issues collectively impact the user experience negatively.

Linux and Proton: The game appears to have good compatibility with Proton/Linux, as indicated by positive experiences on the Steam Deck. There are no significant Linux-specific issues reported.

Content warning for themes: The game includes warnings about its content dealing with mature themes such as murder, violence, and other crimes.

Warning about opening song volume: The game provides a warning regarding the volume of the opening song, indicating it might be loud or sudden.

Game gifted to reviewer: Some reviewers received the game as a gift, which might influence their reviews.