The Painscreek Killings

Started playing it as son as I bought and couldn't stop until I finished it.
It's an amazing experience, I made TONS of notes and this was the most fun I had in a while. It's really what it advertises itself as, it's a detective game where you actually need to work for it, at least for the most part.

Loved this game, it's been a long time since I last managed to get this immersed.

This is by far one of my favorite investigation style games. The story is cool, the setting is creepy and the puzzles are challenging enough to make you think, but not enough to keep you from moving forward. 10/10

I think it has a solid story line and it definitely keeps you on your toes! Highly recommend taking notes, it helps SO MUCH

everything seemed rlly well thought out, everything tied in to everything else as u gathered more information, and it rlly felt like a genuinely good mystery. I felt rlly satisfied whenever I'd get on a streak of clues or find/solve something on my own only to later find the information telling me how to do what I'd just done. overall this was a very unique and incredible game especially for a smaller game, there are so many little details that seem unimportant or just environmental until you get a clue later on and have a bunch of pieces fall together in your head and everything just ends up feeling very natural and open. the game doesn't really hold your hand and you're free to investigate things pretty much in whatever order you want, which ends up making it that much more satisfying to get predictions right or find that one missing piece of the puzzle. also, the open world sort of design of the town is really nice and, as someone who grew up in a small town, navigating with just street names and a paper map makes it feel more realistic for the whole town dead/missing/moved away and rlly helps w the atmosphere, even if it is set in the 90's and that would've just been the only option
my only real complaint was that the "true" ending
felt a bit rushed and out of nowhere, I liked the involvement of the killer but I really wish it was a bit smoother in terms of the change of tone, or that there was some sort of stealth/hiding mechanic. I ended up getting lost at several points during the chase and was lucky I had toggle sprint on, so if anything a hiding mechanic would've been very useful and probably more intense for when a player gets lost or is gonna be cornered

Excellent atmospheric game. As many pointed out, not really a investigation/detective puzzle game. More of a walking simulator with investigation/detective elements. But a bloody good one at that! What a ride.

The best game I've ever played. It absolutely hooked me from the very beginning. I played it for 7 hours straight from start to finish. The way the clues and hints just keep getting deeper, and pulling you in...just WOW! It's not too hard for someone new to detective games. I'm just blown away!! Buy it now!!

Up there with Case Of The Golden Idol and Sherlock Holmes: Crimes And Punishments as one of the best investigation games I've ever played. The story in this game is fantastic, and I loved how I genuinely needed to take notes. I ended up with 5 A4 pages full of notes for anything that could be relevant and my current theories as to what could've happened to the different characters. It had me guessing up until basically the end. I also love when a piece of media can make me feel so certain about something only to throw one last curveball that completely recontextualizes a lot of things. And the sound design is also really good. Crazy immersive. I'll definitely be playing this dev's other game whenever I can afford it. The world needs more games like this, seriously. This is almost everything I've ever wanted from a detective game.

Great little game. Some of the puzzles were quite unituative and confusing, but over all it was a great detective game.

Great game, puzzles were amazing, really made you think. i even wrote down my own notes irl, looked like a right old detective me. Story was amazing imo, loads of twists and turns, you never knew who was who they said they were.
wish i could experience this game again as if it was the first time playing it!

Excellent game! Worth every penny. The controls take a little acclimation, but they are straightforward enough. This game definitely requires a real-world notebook/sketchbook to help you keep track of all the locations and characters, but I find that adds to the fun. Definitely an immersive experience. The game has a spooky atmosphere and covers adult topics (just in case the title of the game didn't signify that enough for you), but can also be played in a leisurely pace if you so choose. The game play is enjoyably non-linear without feeling directionless. My only complaint about this game is that some crucial items can be very difficult to see, but that is the only reason I needed to consult a walkthrough for this game, as all of the puzzle solutions are provided in the game if you look carefully in the right place.

Great game, While the ending is a touch goofy, this is probably one of the best mystery/detective games

Easily one of the best puzzle games I've ever played. The whole eerie vibe and challenging puzzles mix incredibly well together and made me excited to continue exploring the town. The last 15 minutes might be the scariest and intense sequence I've experienced in a puzzle game. But bring a notepad!

Fantastic detective game. Not too hard that it's ridiculous, not too easy that it's hand-holdy. Story is excellent, and uncovering it bit by bit was amazing. Highly recommend.

The game seemed promising but it glitches out on newer systems

A genuine thrilling narrative, where there is a lot of investigation and puzzle-solving involved. Absolutely loved it as I played it with my friend.

Unlike other knowledge based games like Obra Dinn, Outer Wilds, and Tunic to an extent, The Painscreek Killings is a more linear affair. The first half of the game is pretty decent, you're free to explore and find notes, clues, and keys. But about the halfway point it starts railroading into find key, find door, find key behind door for another door, and becomes a long chain of back and forth without necessarily giving you any more useful or interesting information. You figure out what the general motivation is pretty quickly and then the game just keeps feeding you more diary entries reiterating the same things, I guess assuming you can skip/miss some of them. The game just hard falls apart at the ending and it becomes less satisfying following clues when you already know the answer and you're just running across the map again. And also if you do miss a key or clue, you have no idea where to go next, so you'll end up looking up a guide for some of the worse puzzles.

I did not know what I was signing up for when I bought this game a few years ago, but it sat in my library, untouched. Until, I saw a video series about the game by Vote4Holt, and I can say that this is probably the only time I've ever stopped watching a video essay to go play the game first. I was not disappointed in doing so.

The Painscreek Killings is a masterful experience where you, a investigative journalist, are sent to a now derelict town in order to uncover information regarding the killings that have occurred throughout the town over the last few years, with the chief one being the murder of Vivian Roberts. At the start of the game, you are given three goals: who killed her, with what weapon, and why were they killed? From that point on, the game lets you explore the environment and locales to your hearts content, only preventing you if you can't figure out the puzzles and clues left behind by the cities previous occupants.

In interest of those that haven't played it, I won't go much further, but I will say that this game was beautifully written and very well executed. Along with that, the atmosphere is definitely something that cranks up the further you get in, and there were plenty of times where the shivers ran down my spine as I read notes and made connections. It kept me guessing as to who the eventually culprit was throughout my play-through up until the very end. I must have had four or five different suspects in mind, and it was rewarding to see some of my earlier theories get proven, or seeing them be disproven and coming up with a new one to fit what new information I had.

Music was a looping track that changed rarely, and dependent on location, and if I had to pick something that was the game's worst quality, it would be that. That said, the writing, pacing, atmosphere and surprises defintely made this game worth playing. For a score, I would give this game a 8/10, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone that wants to put on their detective cap.

Writing: 9/10
Atmosphere: 10/10
Pacing: 8/10
Music: 3/10
Swerves: +2

A mixed bag of a walking simulator. On the plus side, the characters and backstories are well-developed and fleshed out. The few puzzles in the game are mostly intuitive. Uncovering backstory and figuring out the killer's identity is well-paced. That being said, even though you can go anywhere in this tiny burg, the story is pretty linear. You're going to solve the case in the end, there is no ambiguity. Also, any holdups in progress (at least for me) were due to not thoroughly exploring every nook of important rooms. Miss an item here, or a drawer there and you might be stuck for a while, revisiting one of about five different locations. But, as long as you keep track of your inventory and any padlocks, tumbler locks, safe locks, electronic locks, and car locks, you should be fine. (This game suffers from useless door syndrome. A lot of locked doors can never be unlocked) In the end, it's just a good story where you bounce between finding locks and finding ways to unlock them.
Also, interacting with drawers is a pain, assets are bland and repetitive, there's AI art everywhere, and the voice acting is nothing to write home about. ESPECIALLY the killer's confession. Hire a proper voice actor guys. These things stick out.

This is possibly the best investigation game I've played, no hand holding, no quest markets, you follow the clues and investigate the town of Painscreek. The only issues I have is that some of the later codes become a real pain to find and the last 5 minutes of the game go in an...interesting direction.

Outside of some small issues this is a fantastic if niche game, the lack of direction will likely frustrate a lot of people but for others that's the whole appeal.

The Painscreek Killings is one of the first games that made me want to 100% complete it. It’s a truly unique mystery game with an incredible atmosphere and a strong sense of realism. I loved how you're completely on your own—no hint system, no map markers, just pure detective work using logic and deduction. Every storyline and twist kept me genuinely hooked. While this style of game design isn’t for everyone, I’d still recommend it to anyone even remotely interested in detective or mystery games.

That said, it’s not perfect. Missing a key or clue can leave you wandering around aimlessly, unsure of what to do next, which can get frustrating. I wouldn’t personally recommend using an online walkthrough, since solving the mystery yourself is a huge part of the experience, but I understand why some players might need one.

Overall, The Painscreek Killings is a one-of-a-kind mystery that had me engaged from start to finish.

This is one of the best mystery game on here. The game let you investigate through ghost town freely without indicator (similar to Shadows of Doubt) to uncover the death of the mayor's wife. The story is good everyone have their own motives and reasons for their actions. 9/10 minus the ending gameplay is straight up goofy which could've been made better.

This was a very fun game and such a delight to experience! I want to see so many more games with this premise of being able to play detective in such an immersive way

One of, if not THE best detective/mystery game I have ever played. Extremely underrated. I will always be looking for another game like this. I love how it's completely open with no quests or guidance. You follow the clues you discover and you better take good notes. One of the games where I wish I could wipe my memory and play again.

Great game. Fun puzzles and very spooky atmosphere. The dart puzzle is BS though.

As someone who has recently entered into PC games I really enjoyed the simplicity of the point-and-clink experience that somehow avoided a completely linear story line.
The graphics are beautiful and comparable to Bethesda.
This small genre was done wonderful justice with this great story line. I was hooked the entire night.
There were some bugs but the reload page actually does an amazing job and none of my work was lost.
For the negatives:
I felt like there was too many hints and finding hints before I could solve them ended up with me googling them because I thought I was stupid and ruining the story line. I understand they were teasers but as games age so does their information and now there is a high presence of information on this game.
Also.... the end really pissed me off and I was highly disappointed honestly. Felt like an insult to all the notes I took :(

one of the best games i have ever played. basically a walking simulator but truly sucks you in. I was on the edge of my seat desperate to find out who the killer was 10/10 likely the best detective sim on the market.

Warning for those entering this game: it is a huge scavenger hunt and ALL READING.

However! If you like that sort of thing as well as a good mystery, terrifying vibes (/p its giving a more silent Silent Hill), and a really good storyline that isn't straightforward with many interesting side plots that aren't necessary but always worth investigating, then you should spend your hours playing this. Its a really good time.

If you don't mind walking around a lot and zooming in on stuff and just grabbing keys and codes left and right, then you have a cool little detective game to play right here! I think the worldbuilding and the uncovering of the story is the biggest highlight of the game. Seeing how you can discover a lot with just diaries and letters was a fun way of tackling a story. I would say to approach it as reading a non-linear detective novel in which you also solve small puzzles to move the plot along. I do think the ending is a little jarring for how the rest of the game was but it was short enough to not ruin the fun I had playing the entire game.
Highly recommend for mystery and cozy game lovers out there!

Very intriguing mystery. The vibe is eerie, the puzzles are almost all solvable without hints (there's one optional puzzle that's 100% stoppable that has a bunch of incredibly misleading clues). The mystery will keep you invested right up until the last minute.

Well, the last five minutes, where the game spells out the killer's identity and gets kinda... silly.

Easily recommended if you like the journeys of investigation games, but if an unsatisfying ending is a deal breaker I would recommend finding something else.

This game is great for those with a Detective itch, or like games like INFRA or Return of Obra Dinn.

I really enjoyed it, and look forward to more games like it from this creator.

This is one of the few games that I think back to periodically and wish I could experience over again. The graphics and gameplay are nothing special, but this game is shockingly good at drawing you into its world and making you feel like you're actually piecing things together. I can't quite describe what works about this game, other than the narrative, but damn is it compelling. I never expected a walking simulator to be so intriguing and actually moving.

This game is so full of jank, that I just can't recommend it, despite it having some very good ideas

So, there's a lot of different shades of jank, the worst offender being the gameplay - a lot of times you can be hard stuck, not because of the puzzle you can't solve or the deduction you can't make, but because you've missed 1 drawer out of dozens in the game, which contained an item you needed to progress. Happened to me a couple of times, and it's not really exciting to crawl all over town again looking for 1 thing you've missed.

Then there's mechanical junk. Sprint button being absolutely redundant - there's no reason NOT to sprint at all, some quest hitboxes being very hard to find even if you know what you're looking for, a lot of pixel hunting, stuff like that

Up next is artistic jank. All the portraits are AI, the music is repeating a lot, voice acting is meh, writing style is kinda boring and visual style is just "unity store free assets". All of that doesn't help immersion at all

But despite the jank the story was pretty good! Uncovering skeletons in the closets of everyone in the town is pretty interesting and makes the town creepier at every turn. At least until the endgame, where it stopped being interesting and became very silly very quickly. There's ghosts, Benny Hill style axe chases all over town, killer's confession that was just sitting there NOT DESTROYED for 4 years and previous detective uncovering the entire story, getting to every house AND THEN locking all the doors and placing all the keys back to where they were. Or maybe it was the killer who did that, which is still silly.

TLDR: the game does provide some interesting experience, but is heavily held back by the ending and lack of polish

Came here from Vote4Holt's youtube video. Though when I heard this game's premise of getting to the bottom of a murder in an abandoned town, I stopped watching the guy's video before it even started getting into it because I knew that I had to uncover the mystery myself. & I'm very glad that I did!

The story is satisfying to piece together, solving puzzles & finding items generally isn't frustrating (with only a few exceptions, though that may be because I wasn't thinking hard enough haha), & I like that there's no fast-travel mechanic-- walking through the town helps you digest what information you've just gotten & think about the story & characters & your next steps to uncovering the mystery.

My only criticisms is that I wish the story was a little more subtle in its storytelling? Tying up every loose end can feel accomplishing, sure, but having some things remain unconfirmed & only heavily implied keeps you thinking & theorizing long after you've finished reading/watching/playing, which is part of the fun with mysteries (for me, at least). Also it'd be nice if there were better explanations as to why former residents just up & left the town without taking most of their belongings, lol.

Anyways, great detective simulator, had my fair share of very memorable "oh shit!" moments when discovering things, this isn't a horror game but it did creep me out & even scare me at certain points (which i feel really added to the whole experience haha), & I did in fact have my own clipboard & paper to write theories & codes & try to understand people's relationships (which was also very fun).

A very fun game, near the middle I had to look up a good bit because everywhere I went just turned up nothing, but other than that it was a delight. Great story, good twists, great characters and even a lil' spooky to boot. Also it's a pretty short experience, I 100% the game in a day. If you're at all interested, buy it and try it out, you won't regret it

It's a really satisfying murder mystery with basically no hand-holding. The only issues I have with it are that some puzzles are easy to stumble into out of sequence, and other puzzles are a bit too obtuse. Otherwise, I can't fault it for lack of polish because it was a very small team's first game.

Probably one of the best detective games ever made.

I really enjoyed solving this murder... Which turned into murders.. Which is honestly great. Man, there's just way too many keys in this game it kind of bothered me a bit LOL but once you did everything involving them it was totally worth it. Make sure to take your time to get all of the details in any room if you can help it, because there's a lot of forward and back. Highly recommend it, and don't listen to people exaggerating about the game.

Fantastic detective game that required hand writing my own notes.

Outer Wilds is the best game I've ever played, the Painscreek Killings is one in a very small list of games that scratch the same itch. Very well designed story, immersive atmosphere, and the amazing feeling of uncovering deep secrets.

Since playing this game almost a year ago with my husband, we have YET to find a game we loved as much. This seems to be a one of a kind, hidden gem, "exactly what you want in a detective/mystery/walking sim" game. The best part about it is that you don't get any help - I highly suggest investing in a big notebook to keep track of everything. My husband played while I took notes and it made for an extremely satisfying game experience. This game will suck you in completely and I cannot recommend it enough!

I really loved this game!!

The storyline was honestly really interesting and it definitely wasn't an obvious ending. I couldn't have predicted that at alllll.

I liked this one a lot more than scene investigators! It really puts your mind to the test with deduction and snooping without it hurting your brain. I never felt lost while playing.

However it did have some elements that were a little meh to me, like the supernatural part towards the end. That wasn't really my cup of tea considering the game didn't have that vibe at all until the climax. Take that with a grain of salt.

Overall, this was superrrr fun, I need a lot more investigative games like this in the future!

Extremely repetitive. The gameplay is basically: Find key, find what key goes to, open door/box, find journal, find key, rinse and repeat what I imagine is upwards of 20 or 30 times, judging by the achievements. I wanted to be interested in the story, but the gameplay is straight up annoying and I lost interest. there's no challenge, puzzles, logic, etc it's just finding where keys go and finding journals to read. Really disappointing.

This game is extremely enjoyable and works very well as a mystery, in my opinion.

For the record, I'm very into open-world/no hint style mysteries such as Outer Wilds and Return of the Obra Dinn, so this game was right up my alley. The way TPK presents its mystery gives you a sense of accomplishment when you figure a part of the puzzle out. It also leaves clues around that reward you for exploring the abandoned town, rewarding a keen-eyed player for taking notes of seemingly innocuous things you'll find.

This game also builds dread and paranoia VERY well. I felt on edge the entire time I played this game, very fitting for such a grim town!

It's recommended by the devs that you play this game without hints or looking things up, and for the most part I agree. There were a few parts of the game I found myself frustrated and looked things up, but that was almost always because I missed a key that was right in front of my face at one point and didn't know where to find it after I had moved on. For the record, there is no puzzle in this game that is SO obtuse that you have no hope of solving it without a guide.

This game is by no means flawless, though. There's jank in some areas such as the darts puzzle (IYKYK), and one of the final keys you need to find being hidden in an area where the shadows make it VERY difficult to realize the interactable object is even there. The final 5 minutes of the true end are also a major slap in the face in terms of gameplay, but that doesn't ruin the game for me at all.

Overall, this game is very entertaining with a compelling story. I wish there were more mystery games that presented themselves this way. I give it an 8/10.

Great mystery game, enjoyed piecing together the truth of the many interconnected characters and events. Atmosphere was surprisingly unsettling but I think that added to the overall mystery and satisfaction of solving it.

Painscreek Killings is one of those rare games that refuses to hold your hand. From the opening moments, it expects you to have a keen eye for detail, the ability to read subtext, to be able to create theories (GAME THEORIES), and a pad/ pencil for notes. I'm not gonna lie, this game is hard but so rewarding as you unravel it's secrets. The story itself is rooted in people simply being people (don't worry, no spoilers), for better and for worse. I love this game but it does have two flaws. The most annoying is the music loop is maybe 45 seconds, it gets old pretty fast. The other is 2 of the puzzles are worded pretty badly (a quick Google search solved them though). For convenience, the puzzles were the darts score desk combo and reception's hidden panel puzzles. I don't think either of them will stop someone from figuring beating the game, but would hamper a completionist run.

I'll start by saying I did not finish this game. I ended up playing for the 12-ish hours and then looking up a Let's Play to find out what's up with the full plot.

BUT, those first 10 hours up before I gave up? Very enjoyable. I grew up with Point & Click mystery games, so exploring the same areas over and over for missed items *mostly* just filled me with nostalgia. The music definitely helps, the soundtrack is so lovely.

I do recommend this game for any mystery game fan. The atmosphere is spot on, the music is great, the controls are good. I also liked the story, and slowly piecing it together from all the clues. Definitely in my Top 3 mystery games.

Captivating story and gorgeous graphics & perfect atmosphere. It really was fun for about the first half of the game, with intriguing mystery and discoveries at your own pace. The game then somewhat loses balance when the clue/puzzle becomes a bit too obscure (i.e., if you miss one - you get stuck) and the resolution of mystery is a bit too obvious/literal, leaving little room for imagination or guessing. Ultimately, I enjoyed playing it - but it didn't quite achieve the level of satisfaction Obra-Dinn, Golden Idol games, or Outer Wilds achieved.

This game is so much fun. It's incredibly atmospheric, it's very complex and it really requires you to focus and uncover every possible stone. But what I also like about it is, despite the fact that there are no clues, I have not run into a dead end in over 7 hours of game play. There is a great flow that happens while you're exploring and it makes it very easy and enjoyable to continue to progress. 10/10 stars, I think everyone who loves mystery games will love this one.

Truly enjoyed this game. Very immersive, lots of things to search for and find. Challenging but not so hard it gets frustrating. A great game if you're into murder mysteries. Lots of small side mysteries to discover. I would love if they came out with another game just as detailed with a different plot and mystery. Can't recommend enough.

What can be said about the painscreek killings that hasn't been said already? To be frank nothing but frankly I don't care.
The Painscreek Killings, as a person who isn't usually into the mystery genre, is on of the best mystery games I have ever played. From the get go the mere concept of a game where you must make your own notes and have no idea where to go sounds intimidating, but playing it felt more intuitive then I believed it would be, and made me immersed in a way I didn't even know a game could. I made at least 10 pages of notes dedicated to the game, all evidence and notes I believed would help, some didn't, some did. But that's what makes Painscreek beautiful, despite the case having a single definite solution, the hours I spent solving it was so fun and engaging that even when away from my computer I was theorising on what could have happened. That doesn't mean it's perfect however, as in certain moments the lack of guidance backfires and can lead to a player becoming mentally softlocked by something that was poorly telegraphed as being something they should do later, but most of the issues of the game can be frankly ignored by how overwhelming positive the good parts of the game are.

To anyone who wishes to play Painscreek, whether as a seasoned mystery game fan or someone just interested in this particular game, I highly recommend it, but I leave you with one tip:

Do not consult a guide, this game is difficult sometimes but it rewards thinking outside the box and doing your own thing to solve it's mystery, consulting a guide will ruin the mystery, ruin the experience and may ruin the game for you. If you are stuck, stay the course, step back re-read your notes and try something new.

TL;Dr
11/10 will waste real paper for a video game again