10 of the best police, detective and murder mystery adventure games. With top-rated crime-solving games. Involving point-and-click mystery adventure game play.
For PS3, PS4, Vita. On Xbox 360 and Xbox One. And PC, Nintendo DS and Nintendo Switch.
Detective RPG for Xbox, PlayStation, PC & Nintendo
1. L.A. Noire
From: Team Bondi.
Publisher: Rockstar Games.
Genres: Realistic Detective, Action, RPG, Crime-Solving.
First released: May 2011.
Nintendo Switch release: November 2017.
Available for PS4, PC download, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch.
Plot: Amid the post-war boom of Hollywood’s Golden Age, Cole Phelps, an LAPD detective is thrown headfirst into a city drowning in its own success. Corruption is rampant, the drug trade is exploding, and murder rates are at an all-time high.
In his fight to climb the ranks and do what’s right, Phelps must unravel the truth behind a string of arson attacks, racketeering conspiracies and brutal murders, battling the L.A. underworld and even members of his own department to uncover a secret that could shake the city to its rotten core. [Source: Amazon]
For more details: Top Detective RPG – L.A. Noire Review.
2. Heavy Rain
From: Quantic Dream.
Released: 2010.
Available on Play Station 3 and 4.
Plot: Experience a gripping psychological crime thriller filled with innumerable twists and turns, where even the smallest actions and choices can cause dramatic consequences. The hunt is on for the Origami Killer, named after his calling card of leaving folded paper shapes on victims.
Four characters, each with their own motives, take part in a desperate attempt to stop the killer from claiming a new victim. [Source: Amazon]
For more details: Heavy Rain – Top PS4/PS3 Detective Game Review.
3. Indigo Prophecy
From: Quantic Dream.
Genres: Story Rich, Adventure, Atmospheric, Mystery, Action, Detective, Horror, Noir, RPG.
First released: 2005. Remastered: 2015.
Available on Amazon for: PC, Mac, PS2, Xbox.
Plot: A stranger has been stabbed to death. The killer is you. In Indigo Prophecy a paranormal thriller, New York City is stunned by a series of mysterious murders all following the same pattern: ordinary people are killing absolute strangers in public areas. Lucas Kane becomes another one of these murderers when he suddenly kills a stranger in a men’s bathroom. [Source: Amazon]
For more details: Top Detective RPG: Fahrenheit Indigo Prophecy Review.
4. 999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors
From: Chunsoft.
Released: 2009.
Plot: Junpei, a fairly normal college student finds himself involved in a deadly conspiracy that he couldn’t have possibly imagined. He awakes aboard an old passenger ferry, dazed and confused he stumbles around the room trying to reclaim his memories. First thing he noticed was a number roughly drawn on the cabin’s door…
A bright red number 5. Junpei’s memory then returned and he remembered what happened right before becoming unconscious! A mysterious person with a gas mask crossed his mind. He remembered the haunting words he spoke, “I’m gonna make you play the game… the ‘Nonary Game’…the game of life or death”. [Source: Amazon]
For more details: 999: 9 Hours 9 People 9 Doors DS Game Review.
5. Alan Wake
From: Remedy Entertainment.
Released: 2010. Remastered: 2021.
Available on PC, Xbox One/360/Series X, PS4 & PS5.
Plot: When the wife of the best-selling writer Alan Wake disappears on their vacation, his search turns up pages from a thriller he doesn’t even remember writing. A dark presence stalks the small town of Bright Falls, Washington pushing Wake to the brink of sanity in his fight to unravel the mystery and save the woman he loves. With the body of an action game and the mind of a psychological thriller, Alan Wake is a pulse-pounding thrill ride. [Source: Amazon]
For more details: Alan Wake Remastered New for Xbox Series X, PS4, PS5.
6. Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments
From: Frogwares.
Released: 2014.
Description: Crimes and Punishments is a finely detailed investigation game. Each case has a unique and complex storyline, and it is up to the player to put the pieces of each case together in order to make final conclusions and seal the fate of your suspects. [Source: Amazon]
For more details: Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments Review.
See also: Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Games List, in Order. With all of the Sherlock Holmes point-and-click RPG detective games from Frogwares.
7. Murdered: Soul Suspect
From: Airtight Games.
Released: 2014.
Plot: Murdered: Soul Suspect is a dark, detective thriller with a supernatural twist: solving your own murder from the afterlife. Play as Ronan O’Connor, a Salem police detective with a checkered past, whose life is brought to an untimely end by a brutal killer. Trapped in a limbo world called Dusk, he is unable to find peace until he can bring his killer to justice. [Source: Amazon]
For details of this top RPG: Murdered: Soul Suspect – Top Detective RPG by Airtight Games.
8. Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
From: Spike Chunsoft.
Released: 2010.
Plot: Hope’s Peak Academy is home to Japan’s best and brightest high school students-the beacons of hope for the future. But that hope suddenly dies when Makoto Naegi and his classmates find themselves imprisoned in the school, cut off from the outside world and subject to the whims of a strange, murderous little bear named Monokuma. He pits the students against each other, promising freedom to anyone who can murder a fellow classmate and get away with it. It’s up to you to find out who Monokuma really is, and why you’ve been taken from the world you once knew. But be careful what you wish for-sometimes there’s nothing more deadly than the truth… [Source: Amazon]
*Get Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc RPG from: Amazon US or Amazon UK. Available on PlayStation.
9. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
From: Capcom.
Released: 2010.
Plot: Solve your own murder from beyond the grave in this interactive puzzle mystery from the creators of the Ace Attorney series. Play as the ghost of a man named Sissel, a murder victim with no memory of why his life was taken. You’ll need to alter the lives of over 30 characters, reshaping their destinies so you can solve the mystery behind yours. Use the Stylus to choose paths for Sissel. Manipulate objects to solve puzzles and change people’s lives. The game contains 15 stages, 25 areas, and one important catch: Sissel will leave the supernatural world at dawn, so you’ll have to work quickly. [Source: Amazon]
*Get Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective RPG from: Amazon US or Amazon UK. Available for Nintendo DS.
Update 2023: Remastered and available for Nintendo Switch: Best New Detective Games for Switch (2023).
10. Batman: The Telltale Series
From: Telltale Games.
Released: 2016.
Available for PlayStation 3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One X, Nintendo Switch.
Plot: Enter the fractured pysche of Bruce Wayne in this dark and violent new story from the award-winning creators of The Walking Dead – A Telltale Games Series, and discover the powerful and far-reaching consequences of your choices as the Dark Knight. As Batman, you’ll encounter classic allies and adversaries, and as Bruce, you’ll learn the true meaning of what it means to be the man behind the cowl. [Source: Amazon]
*Get Batman: The Telltale Series RPG from:
- Amazon US for PlayStation and Xbox.
- Amazon US for Nintendo Switch.
- Amazon UK for PlayStation and Xbox.
- Amazon UK for Nintendo Switch.
More Top Classic Detective RPGs
All Agatha Christie Video Games for PC.
Frogwares Sherlock Holmes Games Order for PC, NDS, Xbox and PlayStation.
10 Best Nancy Drew Games for PC and Mac Download.
10 Free to Play Sherlock Games Online.
Top 10 Free Online Mystery-Solving Games.
Read more: 10 Best Ever Police & Detective Games for Xbox, PlayStation, PC & Nintendo.
Top New Detective Games 2022
Chinatown Detective Agency – New Cybernoir Adventure Game.
Sherlock Holmes Chapter One – New Detective RPG for PS4.
Prison Life – Free to Play Online Game.
Free Murder Mystery Games Online – Rusty Lake Series in Order.
CSI Games Online – 5 Top Games.
Primrose Lake Games in Order including New Releases.
And checkout Top 10 Free Online Mystery Solving Games and Top Sherlock Holmes Game Free Online. Includes free online mystery games full version no download!
*The above article may contain affiliate links, which help support this blog.