What happens when a fictional TV detective suddenly finds themselves the suspect in a real world murder? Murder by Numbers, developed by Mediatonic and published by Irregular Corporation, puts you in the shoes of an actress who has to solve a murder. Helping you is an robot called SCOUT, helpful in finding clues. This game puts investigation in hand with Nonograms puzzles, a fun and challenging combination.
Honor Mizrahi, the star of the mystery show Murder Miss Terri, is accused of killing her boss. This is really bad timing since he had just fired her from the show. Along with SCOUT, she must find the clues that will clear her name and discover the real killer. The action takes place in Los Angeles in the mid 90’s. This is a combination of a visual novel and puzzle solving. You have to search areas to find the clues so that SCOUT can add them to your inventory. Imagine if Ace Attorney made you work a little harder for the clues you find.
Murder by Numbers is all about Nonograms (Picross or Griddlers) puzzles. These require a player to fill in or leave blank certain spots on a grid to show a picture.It sounds simple, but I had a lot of fun filling in the dots to see what has been created. You might get a picture of a weapon or a bloody print. The grids get bigger as the games progresses. Sounds too easy? Can you do it under pressure? A timer is added to some of the puzzles.
A visual novel game has to have good writing and good looking visuals. Murder by Numbers succeeds by playing up the Hollywood connection. The idea of a actress and a robot sidetrack solving mysteries could easily be a movie from the 90’s. The supporting cast have great lines and the visuals looks stunning. You cover many different sets and the genres that go with them. If a visual novel makes you laugh at a joke, you are doing something right.
Murder by Numbers is a great choice if you like engaging visual novels or like puzzles. The soundtrack is great and this is one intro graphic you won’t skip to get back to the game. This game showed up out of nowhere, but I’m glad I gave it a shot. If you want to help Honor and SCOUT clear her name, give this game a try.
8/10
Available on Switch and PC
