Demo reveals first clues about Five Day Detective

• Announcements by Jack Allin
• Published:

Full version of hand-drawn, side-scrolling mystery adventure coming to PC in 2025

They say (whoever "they" are) that solving most crimes is won or lost in the first 48 hours. Fortunately you've got an extra 72 hours to spare in indie developer Krunchy Fried Games' upcoming side-scrolling mystery adventure, Five Day Detective. 

The game's namesake police investigator is Dermot Dervish, a man who dislikes "early mornings, his boss, and any technology from the last thirty years" as much as he hates crime. Which means a lot of good old-fashioned detective work (and reluctantly, a little computer work) to solve not one but three different "shocking and intriguing murders" that crop up on his watch, each of them set over the course of five days. To figure out whodunit, he can rely only on his "razor wit," a notebook, a mobile phone he really hopes doesn't ring in case it's the superintendent chewing him out again, and some help from "an assistant who’s trying to pretend she’s not a traffic warden." Dermot is determined to do everything in his power to "bring the city’s criminal scum to justice... Or let them go if he thinks they’ve got a good enough reason."

Five Day Detective is a hand-drawn side-scroller controlled with either the keyboard or gamepad, with hotspots popping up whenever you stop in front of one for easy interaction. Although its criminal investigations are played relatively straight, the serious subject matter belies the game's cartoon aesthetic, jaunty soundtrack and "twisted sense of humour." To succeed you'll need to explore thoroughly, question everyone, and "solve a range of puzzles including item-based problems, computer-based forensics, and the climactic denouement where you must unmask the killer" for each case. Far less traditional are the "mood power ups" that will "help you question suspects with empathy, alert you to danger, or give you the assertiveness to not take any crap," giving the experience more of a replayable roleplaying flavour than a standard adventure. 

The full version of Five Day Detective isn't due out until sometime in 2025, but the game can already be wishlisted on Steam. Better yet, a playable demo is available now to download from itch.io for Windows PC, in which you must look into the alleged theft of a luxury handbag by the notorious criminal known as Wrong 'un Roberts. 

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