A Case of Distrust

Nice detective game, particularly recommended to noir lovers.

The art style is beautiful, although not always functional (in this kind of game, you'll have to go back and forth between locations, and some transitions after a while become annoying).

The story and the characters are very well written, but when things seem to spice up, the game ends, so the overall feeling is of a prequel to deeper, longer game.

Anyway, I paid for the game just a few euros and I think that for 3,5 hours of playing time it is truly a fair price.

I particularly enjoyed the deepening notions on the roaring twenties you can optionally get talking to cab drivers.

a bit too short (I finished it in 3-4 hours). But I love the graphics and the game mechanics

A Case of Distrust has many features that set it apart from generic point-and-click adventures; however, it feels more like a demo than a complete game. And even in that short time, it tested my patience due to some questionable design choices.

The main standout feature is its shift away from traditional inventory management in favor of knowledge management. You investigate your surroundings to uncover evidence, talk to people to gather statements, and then use this information in conversations to extract new leads. For instance, you can learn the whereabouts of key suspects. This cycle continues until you have amassed enough evidence to press charges.

However, as intriguing as this may sound, the actual gameplay quickly becomes tedious. Contrary to what I said above, there is no real system for managing the knowledge you acquire. The game doesn’t help you discern which pieces of intelligence are relevant to a specific person. In many cases, you’ll receive nothing more than a dismissive excuse, as the person has nothing to add. Even then, the game fails to mark that topic as covered, making it easy to forget and repeat the same action with the same fruitless result. When stuck, I found myself resorting to brute force—talking to everyone about everything in hopes of stumbling upon progress.

A Case of Distrust also stands out with its striking visual style and unique user interface. The UI has a distinct charm, as each action is accompanied by a small animation. However, this initial appeal quickly wears off. At first, exploring new locations feels immersive, and the slower pace is forgivable. But as the game progresses and you need to repeat the same actions ad nauseam, the UI begins to feel like an obstacle rather than an enhancement. For instance, switching between locations requires seven clicks, each punctuated by a brief but frustrating delay.

Plot-wise, it’s serviceable—nothing extraordinary, but with more cases and polish, the knowledge-based approach could shine. The only persistent gripe I had was the protagonist’s constant lamenting about the hardships of being a policewoman—it verged on grating rather than adding depth to her character.

When do we get a sequel?

A perfect example of how good a minimalist video game can be. Nice artwork, and a nice twist at the end.

A relatively quick detective game with enjoyable background music, good art style, and fun gameplay. My favorite parts were the taxi rides between each location which gave you the opportunity to have conversations with the driver.

Overall, I recommend this game if you enjoy puzzle solving and just want to relax :)

Enjoyed this very much. The mystery is a little straightforward (again, ignore the playtime because I left this running) but the art direction is stylish and the soundtrack is strong. I would say that you can probably get through this in 2.5 - 3 hours. I also really loved the flavour that the conversations with the taxi drivers gave.

I would love to see a sequel with more to it, but this was a perfect snack-sized noir detective game!

Yes.

I do NOT recommend at the full price, it's way too short for that. But nice visuals, nice story, very good world-building. But extremely short, and no you won't need a walkthrough like someone else suggested. Well, no shame if you do, but the average mystery game player will not.

"A Case of Distrust" looked promising with its noir aesthetics and intriguing premise, but unfortunately, it's unplayable in its current state. The mouse movement slows to a crawl, making it nearly impossible to click on the dialogue advancement arrow or scroll around the screen to search for clues. This technical issue severely hampers the gameplay experience, rendering the game unplayable. If the developers ever upload a patch to fix this, I would be willing to give it another try. Until then, it's just a waste of Steam library space.

Get this game and play it

thats as simple as i can put it

it's one of the best detective games i've played in a while

if you're stuck don't forget about the yellow wilted flowers at Ms. Greens

Very cool art and presentation, only critique I have is that it just feels sooo slow moving when investigating and traveling from place to place. This game is really not too long though.