Telling Lies (Switch eShop)

Sadly, Her Story — in our opinion, the better of the two Sam Barlow mystery FMV games — is not on Switch, but Telling Lies is. You are sitting in front of an anonymous laptop loaded with a stolen NSA database full of footage. The footage covers two years in the intimate lives of four people whose stories are linked by a shocking incident. Explore the database by typing search terms, watch the clips where those words are spoken and piece together your story.

With excellent acting and a non-linear story informed by your own choice in which threads to pull, Telling Lies is a twisty-turny detective story from start to end — wherever you choose to end.

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Heaven's Vault (Switch eShop)

Another game from narrative wizards, Inkle, Heaven's Vault is an oddity. It's not exactly a detective game, because you are an archaeologist who is attempting to uncover what happened to a civilisation that went mysteriously missing, and a fellow archaeologist who also went mysteriously missing while trying to investigate the aforementioned civilisation.

But, we would argue that archaeology is simply detective work focused on the past, and therefore this is a detective game, shut up. You'll also be piecing together a forgotten language, which most detectives never get to do because they didn't bother to take French or German at school, probably.

Hypnospace Outlaw (Switch eShop)

You are an internet cop, and you are asked to get a bunch of people in trouble for breaking The Rules Of The Internet in this '90s-themed browser-explorer. Has some kid accidentally infringed on copyright with a Shrek gif on his Myspace page? SEND HIM TO JAIL.

A plot involving much more than some mild copyright infringement quickly unfolds, and it might be up to you to stop the Very Bad Things from happening. It's not a traditional detective game in any sense of the word, but sometimes it's fun to mix things up a little!

The Darkside Detective (Switch eShop)

Another game with "detective" literally in the name, The Darkside Detective is the predecessor to fellow listmate "A Fumble in the Dark".

Detective Francis McQueen is the lead investigator of the criminally underfunded Darkside Division. When evil darkens the doorsteps of Twin Lakes City – hell, even when it just loiters around shop fronts or hangs out in shady alleyways – he’s there, ready to investigate the cases that nobody else will. Expect plenty of referential humour, some of which may go over your head.

Jenny LeClue - Detectivu (Switch eShop)

In an excellent example of nominative determinism, Jenny LeClue is a detective. Or a detectivu, which is mostly just about the rhyme.

Infusing the point-and-click genre with a Gravity Falls kind of vibe, Jenny LeClue is set in a sleepy town that has a whole lot of mysteries lurking beneath its idyllic surface. And guess what? You're totally going to find them all! The game ends on a cliffhanger that will segue into the sequel, but the sequel isn't out yet, so just prepare yourself for a little bit of Game of Thrones-style waiting...

The Sinking City (Switch eShop)

H.P. Lovecraft, where the "H.P." stands for Hercule Poirot — that's pretty much the pitch for The Sinking City, which combines the tentacular writing of the former with the investigative nous of the latter. It's by the same team as the Sherlock Holmes games, Frogwares, so expect a lot of grit and a lot of gore as you attempt to solve your own muddled mind, plus a healthy dose of jank.

Perhaps best aimed at the fans of Lovecraft's oeuvre, considering how many Lovecraftian references are jammed into this one.

The Sexy Brutale (Switch eShop)

The Sexy Brutale is an underrated gem of a timeloop game, in which you — Lafcadio Boone — wake up in a lavishly decorated casino-mansion owned by a strange Gatsby-type millionaire with no memory. Also, everyone inside the mansion will be slowly and specifically killed in outlandish ways throughout the next few hours, and you'll have to prevent their deaths in order to piece together the events that led to you being here.

With plenty of puzzles, mysteries, and interconnected murders to solve, The Sexy Brutale is a glamorous but slow investigation game that's well worth checking out.

Unforeseen Incidents (Switch eShop)

This game sort of predicted the COVID pandemic, but don't hold that against it — the tale of a mysterious plague that's infected the citizens of a town pulls from old-school point-and-clicks to create a self-referential, charming game that's all about unravelling a diabolical conspiracy.

Witty writing and voice-over work bring this story to life, and protagonist Harper Pendrell's handy multi-tool makes us ask: Why don't all point-and-click protagonists carry multi-tools? It would make a lot of stupid puzzles a whole lot easier.

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (Switch eShop)

Ethan Carter, a young boy who lives in Red Creek Valley, has disappeared in the wake of a gruesome murder. You play as Paul Prospero, who heads to Ethan's home in order to figure out what happened, and to hopefully find the boy alive.

As events begin to get even more gory and horrifying, this walking simulator-adjacent game gets quite scary, but it also can get a little tedious, as you won't be able to progress unless you've laboriously explored every inch of this haunting, pastoral town. Also, you gotta check every nook and cranny in case that's where Ethan Carter is, right?

Chicken Police - Paint it RED! (Switch eShop)

We've had dog detectives, rabbit detectives, bird detectives, and now we've got chicken detectives. Listen, if animals were good detectives, don't you think we'd be hiring more of them in real life?! But Chicken Police is a brilliant, so-noir-it'll-make-you-start-smoking game that is packed full of incredible writing, gorgeous art (even if it is largely animal heads on human bods), and a compelling intrigue all the way through.

Fair warning: This excellent anthropomorphic animal take on the detective genre is not for the young! It's got lots of swears and even nudity, which we strongly suspect only exists so we can make a "fowl language" joke. Thanks, developers.

AI: The Somnium Files - nirvanA Initiative (Switch)

AI: The Somnium Files – nirvanA Initiative is one of the most interesting visual novels we’ve played through in a while. The murder mystery at its heart is brought to life by some great writing and quirky characters alongside the satisfyingly integrated, beautifully balanced Psync puzzle elements. Even with some minor control issues, there is a lot to love in this game even if you never picked up the original. Highly recommended if you're even a little bit curious.

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Master Detective Archives: Rain Code (Switch)

Master Detective Archives: Rain Code is a solid follow-up to the Danganronpa franchise that demonstrates a heap of ambition from its developers and mostly lives up to its predecessor's impressive reputation. But while the game delivers an excellent cast of characters and some truly intriguing mysteries to solve, it also stumbles in its methods, introducing mechanics and locations that outstay their welcome and become frustratingly repetitive. Still, for fans of Dangaronpa and those who enjoy a good gruesome crime or two, it's definitely worth checking out.

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (Switch eShop)

Waking up as a ghost probably isn't the kind of thing that any of us would wish for, but this forms the central conceit of Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, and we absolutely love it.

This is the kind of game where going in blind is your best option, after all, the events immediately come somewhat out of the blue for our phantom protagonist. Know that you will be tapping into the world of the living, solving puzzles and sneaking stealthily through levels all to find out what happened to your poor old body.

This was one of the best games on the DS, and we'd put it right up there for the Switch too.