Five days to solve a mystery sounds like a lot of time in a video game. But when you solve a mystery with only seven hours a day, the difficulty quickly ramps up. You must gather as much information as possible, but do you even know if you are on the right track? Pursue the wrong leads and forget about catching the murderer, you might not know what’s going on! Given all these routes and suspects, can you even catch the murderer before it’s too late?
Mindcop is a point-and-click mystery game by Andre Gareis that tests your detective skills by giving you a time limit along with the usual point-and-click activities. With the freedom to conduct your own investigation without hints, it’s up to you to put two and two together. This is a difficult point-and-click adventure game because success is not guaranteed. Failure and disappointment quickly mount as your leads run into dead ends. That’s part of the charm and it immerses you in what it is like to be a detective.
You play the titular Mindcop investigating a murder in a forested campground. With the help of your partner Linda, you must speak with all the suspects and perhaps read their mind. You have five days to solve the murder or your powers will fail you. Search every location and gather as many clues as possible to figure out what happened.
Instead of letting you pursue story objectives, Mindcop lets you pursue any lead you want. If you think you have a worthwhile clue, you can pursue it. Think someone is suspicious enough for a crime? Arrest them and see if you are correct later. You can even use search warrants to investigate homes if you believe someone is hiding evidence. If it solves the mystery, you can do whatever you think is necessary.
This freedom is constrained by a time limit. You only have seven hours per day to look for evidence before you must return to the police station. With only five days to find the culprit, that means you have 35 hours to find what you need. There’s not enough time in the game to investigate everything, forcing you to be careful with your investigation. Go down the wrong path and you waste valuable time.
The investigation freedom and time constraint provide amazing immersion. You must record the information you receive and go over your notes. Go over every lead and make sure you come to the right conclusion. See if your hypothesis holds up to reality and if it’s still worth pursuing. Detective work is not easy and you don’t have the luxury of waiting until you are ready. Mindcop captures this experience perfectly, forcing you to make decisions without a complete picture.
That immersion is a double-edged sword since it makes the game harder. It’s not easy to find clues and figure out if you are on the right track. You might find a potential lead and not know if it is a red herring. Suspects aren’t always cooperative and you may not know if you have evidence to contradict them. You must make a decision even if you don’t have enough evidence or uncover the right clues.
The uncertainty means you are going to make mistakes and likely not catch the culprit on your first try. That doesn’t mean you failed; it’s a reflection of how hard detective work actually is. You do have help from other characters but you are responsible for the detective work. The risk of immersion is that you sometimes experience the downside of a role. It’s uncomfortable territory in a good way, but uncomfortable nonetheless.
Investigations consist of looking for clues, talking to suspects, and delving into their mind. The UI is convenient and prevents you from making accidental mistakes like asking about the same clue. You are also told about how much time an action will take, letting you decide whether it’s worthwhile. If you get lost in the beginning, there’s an in-game map letting you know all the locations. It also tells you where suspects are, helping you find an opportunity to interview them.
Every character you meet is full of personality, something you learn even before reading their mind. That personality helps you relate to some of them, especially after you learn their inner thoughts. It lends to some of the humorous moments of the game, especially between Mindcop and Linda. There are also several side stories worth investigating even if they aren’t relevant to the murder. You just want to find out more because the characters intrigue you.
The only downside is that activities take up a significant chunk of time. While it’s not necessarily wrong for activities to take more time than expected, it ramps up the game’s difficulty. Opening a door can take between 15-30 minutes while starting a conversation consumes seven minutes. While it adds to the pressure, the characters don’t react to the time it takes to do an activity. That makes it feel artificial, as if they were tacked on to make the game harder.
Gathering information from suspects is crucial but you can also gain information by viewing their thoughts. This is known as “mindsurfing” and plays like a match-3 puzzle. You match three colors in a row as often as possible, buying yourself time until the mindsurf is complete. Success allows you to view one truth, one lie, and one uncertainty that the suspect has. In theory, this is supposed to help you understand suspects.
In practice, mindsurfing doesn’t help much. This does prevent you from finding the culprit quickly but you often can’t act on what you see. Just because you know something is true doesn’t mean it has any relevance at all. The puzzle game is also hectic though it gets easier with time. It does feel like mindsurfing has several missed opportunities, though this may be on purpose. If you could clearly interpret the mindsurf, you would likely find the culprit quickly.
Mindcop isn’t the easiest detective game to play but it is certainly rewarding. It’s hard to find a point-and-click game where you do most of the detective work. Hunting down every lead, reading someone’s mind, rushing to locations, it’s tough work. Getting the wrong conclusion can be demoralizing at times. But it’s all part of the experience and it’s worth persevering. When you succeed and catch the culprit, it’s one of the most rewarding feelings you will ever get.
Victor played Mindcop on PC with a review code.
