The Painscreek Killings

While some puzzles were a bit much and some others I looked up were more my own failure, I overall had a good time. I did feel that there were too many number combination keycode puzzles.

Great game. I really had fun uncovering the story piece by piece and trying to sort out the details.

Best detective game I've played. It is clumsy by the end, but there was no other game that really had faith in my intelligence and just left clues to direct me, as I took regular notes. I love it and will check out their next game!

Overall okay game. Collecting clues and putting the mystery together was pretty nice, as well as the story but too much of a hassle running around and constantly coming back to certain locations. Especially if you missed a clue the game gets quickly frustrating. A fast travel option would have been great, as well as an better overview of the clues collected.
I personally hated the eerie music and the feeling of not being alone. Like the opened graveyard door and the person appearing after visting certain locations. I constantly felt anxious and as if someone would come out any second to murder me. Considering my fears the ending made me really uncomfortable and i stopped playing right away, not being able to play the last bit. But every persons different and there are people who enjoy everything i dislike - so thumbs up anyway. Gamers with patience, a keen eye for detail, love for puzzles and horror will be very satisfied.

Fun game with lots of twists, definitely worth a play through. Hats off to the developers.

This was such a good game!
I did get a bit confused, and had all kinds of theories but i was nicely surprised by this game.
The story is interesting and the way you learn everything unfolds from photos notes etc in an empty street, house, town,
Its really well done and I wish there was another similar game to play.

I liked this game overall, but i must admit that it has plenty of flaws.

It's pretty ugly. It looks like an asset flip, and it is not helped by the weird filters and strange haziness(?) in some parts of it. Sometimes it looked like i suddenly developed nearsightness, because some things got weirdly blurry.

The controls are also not very good. They are somewhat annoying to navigate. I was very annoyed by the fact that you need to aim precisely at the locks of the doors to use keys. Why? Is me aiming for the door itself not a clear enough indication that i want to open it?

The story was interesting, but some of the main twists were EXTREMELY obvious. I called some of them after reading a couple of early game documents. And while the majority of the story needs to be put together by you, the hardest part of it is actually FINDING the documents, not figuring things out. The drama is told in the documents pretty clearly.
And in the ending the final mystery is straight up just told to you entirely in one interaction. No figuring things out, no thinking, no questions. Just a wall of text that tells you exactly what happened. Sure, you probably already figured it out if you got to the final point of the game, but come on.

I'm gonna be honest -- the first hour of playing i considered refunding the game. I guess i'm just not a type of person who enjoyes things like that -- not being told some basic quality of life things (for the most part, if the door does not open immidiately or does not have a lock with the "unlock" action -- you will never open it. This helpes to identify some locations that are relevant to the story, but also is kinda annoying, because there is mostly no other indication to which doors can't be open. So you need to aim an every lock to figure in out), turning every rock on the map to find a single document. The thing in the spoiler is understandable for what the game is, and i do not really consider it a flaw -- just something that i dont really enjoy.

I had to play the game using a guide. I didn't use it to solve the mystery (didn't need to, really), but to get all achievements and to find all the necessary things, because some of them are very missable. Which is, again, in line with the game's premise -- but not something i like. I gues i'm just not observant enough :)

Over all, i did not like playing this game blind, but enjoyed it with some help. The story is pretty interesting.

a very good quest game with a shocking epilogue. never seen anything like this

These liminal games always unnerve me. I don't have alot to say about the game's investigation itself. But I got so paranoid/anxious I stopped playing. The final straw was that weird little girl that showed up after leaving the burned house. It didn't jump scare me but it told me I wasn't alone. I'll play horror games but not these creepy liminal stuff, fuck that.

I loooved this game. Very well put together. The graphics and puzzles are great, the story is fantastic, and I thoroughly enjoyed the vibe of exploring an abandoned town.

Imagine if someone put you in an empty room, gave you a really messed up, obnoxious knot and asked you to untie it while haunted house music constantly played.
That is this game.
Its a chore.
A tedious, patience-grinding chore.

I found myself very bored very quickly.
The walking around is tedious.

Not only did this game give me the worst motion sickness of my life (even with all settings typically adjusted) but the writing is just awful - the diary entries, letters, etc - no one writes like that it's just subpar.
Furthermore, it doesn't look great and the controls are extremely janky.
Overall, not fun to navigate and the writing will leave you far from immersed.

Gameplay is basically,
"Hey you need to get in here, but to do that you need a key which is over here, but to get in there you'll need a key which may be hidden over here, but to get in there, you'll need a code, but to learn the code, you'll have to get in here which you'll need another key to open, and the key is hidden in this safe which you'll learn the combination by combining clues you'll find here and here, but you'll need the keys hidden over there to get them, etc, etc, etc"

This is a nightmare, and I'd sooner arrest the whole town for being ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥.
Why can't I just break down doors?
Its a ghost town.
Everyone is gone and no-one is coming back.
Just break whatever gets in the way. Most of the "detective" work is just finding keys so you can search for actual clues.
Graphically, its cheap. I don't mean low-poly cheap, I'm fine with that.
I mean sometimes a tree won't have its branches attached correctly, or a chain blocking your path will have one of its ends floating mid-air.
The kind of work that should have taken two seconds to make right in a game that is already *only* its environment.

Other reviews have been fairly clear on the story.
Its good in the first half, but seems to lose its restraint and becomes too eager to share the answers in the second half.
The ending where they ask you to name the murderer and the weapon are a joke because you just had a direct confrontation with the murderer following a blatant confession.
I don't need to to deduce anything, I just need to get all of the keys necessary to reach the ending and the game will tell me the answer.

Really great story with the right amount of twists and puzzle solving. Loved every second of it!

Excellent atmosphere, I had a lot of fun with this. Play time was probably more like 8-10 hours since I left it on over night a couple of times, but it was a good time!

Great game with an interesting story

Better than 10 AAA games back-to-back. This game sucked me in with its atmosphere and story alone. With no fancy intros or recorded dialogue (except for a few tapes found along the way) the story and tragedy of the town of Painscreek got under my skin and kept me up late trying to find the next clue. You actually have to use your head for this one as no quest markers or indication as to where to go next will appear. You figure it out by reading letters, memos, and diary entries, by taking pictures with the in-game camera function and paying close attention to clues and what the characters involved in the mystery are telling you via the lives that they lived.

The somber piano pieces are now living rent-free in my head.

If I was going to nitpick, the game could be accused of feeling somewhat asset-flippy from time to time, but I don't think it detracted from the experience and each unique location has its own personality and feeling. Use your brain and check it out!

This is like the definition of flawed gem. It's like playing Nancy Drew on Senior Detective except the puzzles are structured in a much more non-linear way, where at any point in the middle of the game you could be pursuing 3 or 4 different leads and they could all lead to new/interesting information. The fact that you have to take notes by yourself made the game way more immersive.

The cons:

- Some of the puzzles can be a bit obscure and frustrating (e.g. Bernard study room dart points ).
- The backtracking can be a bit annoying, wish they added some kind of fast travel system.
- It has one of the worst endings I've ever seen in any video game. WHAT WAS THAT?

Good mystery, although at some points I got stuck and needed help. Ending is amazing.

Overall, the game is disappointing. It pretends to be a detective game, while it is a walking simulator with a “murder mystery” plot.

✅

• Story is decent. Not epic quality but in the style of a classic murder mystery from golden age of detective fiction.
  
• Achievements are linked to the story so, if you play through the game you’ll get them all.
  
• Price suits quality.
  

• Unfortunately, the detective part is the in minority here; game is mostly a walking simulator.
  
• Village is only a background. Most of the buildings provide a scenery and gave you an illusion of possible exploration.
  
• Snail pace of MC walking speed, running is barely better.
  
• Some of the puzzles are illogical. I missed key to one of the essential locations, because it was placed in the box without any clue that such key exist or any hint as to where I could find it.
  
• Lack of the notepad in-game artificially extends gameplay.
  
• Unnecessary supernatural elements.
  
[*] Murderer has no reason or motivation for committing these murders. His motivation is so artificial that the whole time I thought someone was setting him up and the real culprit would be known at the end.

One of the best games I've played in 2024. Incredible story which makes it easy to overlook the clunky movement in the game.

I thought it was great, I liked that not everything was recorded for you, you did have to take pictures of certain things, and you were encouraged to keep your own notes. I would like it if you didn't move so slow, even with sprinting enabled, since there's a lot of ground to cover. All in all, I had a great time playing it.

Incredible story! Incredible characters!

This is a fantastic game about an unfortunate town. The pace at which you make discovery is well designed. The bits of story scattered around makes it very rewarding to try and find every bit of information.

I thoroughly loved the experience.

I loved how this game doesn't really hold your hand although it does help log some things so you can remember what pieces of evidence come together in the end. It was a shock with having some supernatural moments, especially with the ending, but it didn't ruin the experience. Also, I did notice a few glitches with suddenly standing on objects, or the grass clipping through sometimes, but again it didn't ruin my experience. I had a great time playing and putting together the story to allow myself to figure out its twists and turns. For those who want to feel like a detective in detective games, please play this! You'll really enjoy it.

This game was heavily immersive and i enjoyed it, the feeling of solving a crime was something I'd never experienced and would pay to experience again, i would recommend playing this game if you enjoy mystery, crime scenes, story and a hint of horror. Not the most replayable but it definitely is worth doing to find extras/ secrets that aren't needed for the main game. I will say, though, i pulled out my hair with some puzzles. 10/10 would cry over it again.

It's a really great game, and well worth playing if you enjoy murder mystery/detective games. It sets the atmosphere well, with the eerie music and abandoned town you get the idea that something unsettling happened here - you can't quite shake the feeling of being watched. However, my main (and really only) criticism is that after doing such a great job of story telling and creating intrigue about what happened, the story basically dumps exactly how it all happened on you in the last hour or so of the game, so you don't actually have to figure out what happened from different clues like the game implies at the beginning. Instead it's more about finding keys/figuring out codes and exploring to find all the different letters/journals/reports that explain to you what happened. It's still enjoyable, but I'll admit I felt a little disappointed that I wasn't trusted to be able to solve the mystery myself and instead explicitly explained everything. This then makes the end where you have to select the murderer and the murder weapon a little silly in my opinion. Also, without spoiling, the ending sequence is quite different from the rest of the game and not what i expected and it didn't really fit the story/make sense in my opinion. But overall I did love the story, and for most of the game the plot is really intriguing and when you start to make the connections yourself (before the game just tells you) is really satisfying and well worth playing - i just wish they felt confident enough to let the user do a little more detective work themselves!

Not only did this game give me the worst motion sickness of my life (even with all settings typically adjusted) but the writing is just awful - the diary entries, letters, etc - no one writes like that it's just subpar. Furthermore, it doesn't look great and the controls are extremely janky. Overall, not fun to navigate and the writing will leave you far from immersed.

Silent Hill is bad. This is like Silent Hill, but not bad. You should play this, instead of Silent Hill.

This game makes you a detective in a once lively abandoned city that experienced multiple murders/unsolved deaths of citizens in a short time frame which caused the population to dwindle and forced the remaining citizens to move away. I absolutely loved it, the story telling was phenomenal, the character and plot development are really well thought out. An amazing plot twist, that makes you think about it while you're away. If you're into murders/unsolved mysteries and old abondoned towns, this game is for you. In a way this game feels like a giant escape room. I just completed the game and have 13 hours put into it. I wouldn't go too deep into the reviews because one of the reviews has a major ending spoiler with no warning.

Wholeheartedly recommend this game. If you're looking for a legitimate, mostly realistic murder mystery investigator-type game, then this is a superb example. The graphics are dated and the movement system leaves a little to be desired, but the story and the intrigue more than enough make up for that.

Overall, I'm unhappy I paid money for something that feels akin to a sophmore college project. It's disjointed and unpolished.
Pros:
-The story was really good.
Cons:
- level design
- game design
- sound design (the only true jump scares)
- environment design

I wanted to like this game a fair bit. I've been getting into puzzle games and this was one that looked like fun. First half was brilliant, when I was unsure and was piecing everything together. But then I felt like the game became less of a puzzle game and more of a visual novel. By the end, you just HAVE the clues. You don't need brain power or deduction. That and it became increasingly obvious by the 3 hour mark.

There is potential there, so I'd like to see the next game the dev makes but this one isn't quite it.

first got the chills, then thought i was gonna have a heart attack near the end, would recommend.

At times a bit predictable in its puzzle-solving/item finding and it requires a spoonful of suspension of disbelief, but overall a very gripping story with interesting characters. I also like how you have to figure things out yourself, though at times I felt things were a little bit *too* on the nose, as in, you come to a conclusion, then are hit over the head several times with that very conclusion by 3 different characters hinting very strongly towards it. Another thing I did love was the freedom the game gives you, to pretty much progress and explore as the player wishes, there is not as much set up linearly as to be overbearing, but just enough to keep a clear sense of progression for the player. Additionally, you can choose to close the case at any point, if you feel you have all the information you need, which I think is a very good decision from the devs.
I think I'll still be thinking about the game for quite a while, (one of) the ending(s) was, in my opinion, incredibly well done - the voice acting is haunting.

Loved this game so much. The story was exciting and thrilling and the atmosphere was strange and kinda cozy. I really enjoyed playing it and exploring the story which is full of plots and betrayal. It was nice to play and I want more.

Wow this game is incredible. There were some moments where the story truly blew me away. There were also some moments I got stuck and had to look things up just because I missed the one key item or forgot where I got something, but the game is still 100% worth it.

I found myself very bored very quickly. the walking around was honestly tedious. if you don't mind the walking you may enjoy the game but i personally didn't.

Would definitely recommend if you're into murder mysteries. At the start of the game, they advise you to take your own notes as you go and I did. Kept a doc by my side and jotted down every new entry I got through diaries, news articles etc. Helps a lot in setting the mood of a real murder investigation and since the game doesn't progress in a linear way, taking notes is a good way to keep track of all the clues and information gathered.

Unraveling the whole timeline of the different events and how they're interconnected was a lot of fun even if you kind of figure out most of it 1/3 into the game if you pay attention.
The music and overall ambience make it anxiety-inducing at times but play into the experience the game is trying to give you.

Spoiler for the ending:
Other reviewers have pointed that out too, but the ending felt a bit jarring at first. Taking into consideration the story, I get it makes sense from a narrative standpoint but going from a walking simulator to a timed chasing sequence made me overly stressed lol. Although, I spent a good amount of time feeling like I was observed or uneasy while investigating the town so I can check that out as the murderer observing me before the finale and the ending makes more sense to me that way.

Really enjoyed this! Got stumped a few times, but nothing stood out as "moon logic". Looking forward to more from this developer.

I sat down to try it before bed. It told me to take notes, so I did.

Next thing I know it's 5 hours later and 4AM and the only reason I'm stopping is because my brain's slowing down; if it wasn't I'd keep going just to figure more of it out.

This scratches an itch I haven't had scratched since Gone Home first came out, and it goes much further than that. The feeling of canvasing the different areas searching for details, taking notes, and making connections between something you just found with something you wrote down a few hours ago feels incredible! It does a fantastic job at building dread too as you learn more and more about what's gone on...

My only complaint? Its music needs to be longer. A 20-30sec loop isn't nearly enough to not make it annoying while taking notes. After awhile I muted the music and just had something else playing in my ears.

Give it a shot if you enjoy deduction. The "Aha!" moments this game has is second to none, and I don't think I'm close to being done.

I felt that this game held a lot of promise, but didn't live up to the expectations it set for itself. I will say I enjoyed some of the character themes explored, if not the character writing itself so much. The role of one particular character dooming himself to yet again be a "bystander" was something I found really compelling! Others have written about the repetition of the puzzles, which I found true but is admittedly subjective. (There's only so many ways to utilize a four digit code.) But I think I can identify a few broader design issues that hamper the game.

The Open World

Puzzles, but no Sleuthing

WAIT WAIT WAIT

Don't buy the game because it's cheap and you think it'll be a fun detective experience. See my hours up there ^ ? Inflated by unnecessary walks around the city with the promise of cracking a cold case, only to be spoon-fed the answers by the end. Also went afk on the game but that's a different issue. TLDR: Spend more money and buy Scene Investigators instead. Absolutely worth it. This? Avoid like the plague.

You see, the game has some charm to it, but I cannot recommend it at all. It sells itself as a "No handholding" game, that "Mimics Real World Investigation". This could not be further from the truth. Most of the playthrough will consist of fighting against the game's poorly designed city (who numbers doors like that??), and doing crazy amounts of walking back and forth from places because you found a key that finally lets you open a drawer with another key to a drawer across the map. It is simply a walking sim.

Don't lose focus just yet, I'll get to the story (without spoilers in case you decide to ignore this warning). The story has you trying to piece together what happened in this town, with multiple red-herrings and conflicts that fit into one story. Except, it's all told through conveniently descriptive diaries, in a literal ghost town. No, literally, there is no one else (except for one person at the end who confesses to all the crimes before any input of yours), and your only company is one ghost who occasionally appears around the city (again, completely mute, might as well not be there). Could have been an interesting story, but some elements at the end ruin it completely.

The game starts as one with endless possibilities about who the killer may be. By the middle, you start to get some good ideas as to who it may be. By the end, everything is thrown in the trash because someone confesses out of nowhere that they did everything (for understandable reasons), but with absolutely no build up whatsoever. Hell, you even see the blood-stained weapon they used. And then the game has the audacity to ask you who you thought the killer was, and what their weapon was. HUH??? YOU JUST SHOWED ME THE ANSWER WHY ARE YOU ASKING ME THIS???

Game felt like a chore, the puzzles were easy with answers given on silver platters before you can begin to think too deeply, and there is Too. Much. Walking. I'm sure the protagonist can climb a 1.3m high wall without needing a key, or a hammer to open a slightly stuck cabinet. I know this sounds like a lot of whining, but after traversing for hours for goofy reasons, only to have the fun sucked out because the game wanted to give me the answers by the end instead of letting me think, I'd be inclined to believe I'm entitled to a little ranting.

Don't buy the game, even if it is just a measly price of £3.79 (or equivalent). Even with that price, I feel scammed and almost regret not refunding the game tbh.

PS: No wonder the crime rate was so high in this village. People left keys to houses and revealing personal diaries everywhere with no security systems. Also, does nobody move their stuff before leaving a ghost town anymore?

I solidly laid-out open-world mystery! I cut my teeth on games like Myst so reading a ton of journals is perfectly comfortable for me, as is taking my own notes on paper. The Painscreek Killings does a great job of feeling ominous while also kind of like a soap opera! Each new piece of information realigns the previous bits of information like a kaleidoscope. It was a lot of fun to speculate about what it all means.

Other reviewers have mentioned the abrupt tonal shift in the endgame. While it does make narrative sense, it's frustrating to have a timed chase sequence at the end of a dead-world walking simulator game. A lot of us who choose walking sims don't LIKE high-adrenaline sequences like that! That being said, you do get an achievement if the bad guy catches you. Also, once you figure out where you need to go, the chase sequence is very manageable on the second or third try. There are also a couple occasions when you can get spooked by an apparition. It cannot harm you, but it's great for weird vibes!

The reveals are paced pretty well, but the game will confirm your guesses in a mildly heavy-handed way. I didn't like it so much, but my husband who played with me enjoyed the confirmation that we were right! Overall, I highly recommend this game if you want a complex drama llama mystery story.

12 hours to 100% achievements, which was taking it kind of slow.

A litany of locked doors and dead ends. It became extremely boring after 2 hours.

Good game, but beware - it's real investigation. Put your gamer-sense aside and play like a normal human being aka combine information and not just randomly click things or input codes. If you can do that, the game is awesome.



... also keep a guide ready, you will most certainly get stuck once or twice. If you can't figure something out, try the forums or guides - they are really good at hiding spoilers and it's no fun if you frustratingly stop playing just because you overlooked a little detail.

A great mystery that subverted my expectations, but in a good way. Great graphics, great soundtrack, great story. Puzzles are mostly great with some exceptions. With a remaster this could be perfect. Otherwise it's a wonderful game for Halloween season.

An excellent mystery game that makes you think carefully about your next move. One clue leads to another, then another, then all of a sudden you're at a dead end, retracing your steps to find what you've missed. The story is brilliant and there are multiple endings. Clever puzzles , beautiful graphics and a compelling story that makes you want to keep digging. There is a lot to read, but it doesn't feel like a lot. Almost everything is either pertinent or interesting. You get to feel like you know the characters as you progress, even though you don't meet them. There are a few minor issues, selecting things can be difficult, especially on a controller. And there are some other minor annoyances I can't go into without spoilers. Overall I highly recommend this one!

I absolutely loved this game. The atmosphere and environment was beautiful, eerie and definitely reminiscent of a good murder mystery show or book. It took me about 9 hrs total to complete the game and get all the achievements, and probably would have been less if I didn't get stuck at a point where I completely missed an item. Though everyone's times can vary, and it honestly depends on how observant you are of the surroundings, i.e noticing locked drawers, secret/hidden areas, how snoopy you are with all the drawers and cabinets, how fast you figure out puzzles, and how familiar you are with mystery type games. I, 100% recommend this game. The story was good and kept you wanting to know more. There are a couple "jumpscares" and I use that term lightly. Its more just you see something that wasn't there before and it might startle you a little but I wouldn't call the game scary. Unsettling perhaps, as some areas are a little unnerving, but not scary. The ending does get your adrenaline pumping. But the game was a wonderful story, and I wish I could experience it again for the first time. I'd love to see more of these games!
*SPOILER WARNING* As far as the ending goes be sure to save before you listen to the tape recorder in the attic of the church or you won't be able to redo it without starting a new game if you die. Look out for Sofia while you run.

Great, non-linear game with good suspense. I was legitimately creeped out once, jump scared thrice, and enjoyed nosing into everyone's business in between. Tried for 100% but I think I encountered a bug and I don't care enough about completionism to waste time doing the ending over and over lol

Non-linear, no quest markers, no item indicators, just an empty town, a camera, and a mystery to solve. If you can't get a corkboard and red string, get some paper and a pen; you'll be making connections and ruling out red herrings at every turn. If you love whodunnits, play this game!

For anyone who loves investigative games, this is the game for you. The exploration aspect of it was great, and the story was shocking in the twists and turns that it created. It is definitely recommended that you take notes / take photos with your camera (in game).

Overall, I highly recommend this game! I had a blast, and it took me about 6 hours to complete.

The Painscreek Killings is a first-person detective game and a personal favorite of mine. As the journalist Janet, you explore the deserted town of Painscreek to unravel the mystery behind Vivian Roberts' unsolved murder. The game requires you to manually take notes, track names, dates, and locations, and cross-reference clues to solve the mystery. While this system might not appeal to everyone, I loved the hands-on approach. You can take photos of clues in-game, but I found using pen and paper more effective.

The storytelling is exceptional, with each location revealing new insights into the town's dark history. Letters, newspapers and diaries scattered throughout the game reveal fascinating connections between the town's residents, making the investigation feel personal and engaging. It felt like reading a murder mystery novel at times, with each discovery pulling me deeper into the story.

Exploration has a semi-open-world design and feels very much like a walking simulator. There’s no hand-holding, hints, or map markers. You're free to investigate at your own pace, though you'll need to find keys to access some of the locked locations. The game is packed with secrets, requiring you to search everything thoroughly—opening drawers, cupboards, and finding combinations for safes and locks.

The town's haunting atmosphere is well crafted. Detailed environments and subtle ambient sounds add to the eerie, abandoned feel of Painscreek. There's one big jump scare and a few smaller ones, but the game's creeping tension relies more on psychological unease. The ending, while divisive, is kind of foreshadowed by many clues scattered throughout the game.

Walking simulator with a twist. This is not a detective game.

Walk around the town, trying to connect items and codes to something on the other side of the town.
Pick up useless items, open empty drawers to try to find the next key to a locker room which you need a key or code into, which you have deduce or connect in ridiculous ways sometimes.
Even if you have all the puzzle pieces, your deduction might be off. For example. 4 slot codes with 3 number answers. Birthdays, which are not their official birthdays.

This is not a detective game.