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0 Mindcop is a “whodunnit” detective game developed by Andre Gareis and published by Dear Villagers. Available on Steam from the 14th of November, Mindcop brings a whole new way of putting yourself into the mind of others while solving crime! Playing a simple yet addicting tile matching game to access someone’s inner thoughts has never looked more appealing. You have 5 days to solve a crime and murder of an innocent woman. Question folk and intrude on their utmost dreams and fears. Will you solve the murder or go down the wrong path entirely?
Guess there was too much on her mind for a chat?
Accessibility and Tutorials
The gameplay in Mindcop may seem quite overwhelming at first due to the amount of mechanics but don’t worry, Mindcop holds your hand in just the right and loving way. The main idea is to solve the crime within five days. Mindcop sets you right up from the start with all the tools you need from very helpful tutorials; investigate crime scenes, questions individuals on their morals and motives, go into people’s minds, play minigames. The world is full of places and minds to explore. Every tutorial is precise and lets you take the time to figure out how to solve the crime at hand. I had to make sure I include this and give credit where credit is due as the game is very easy to play due to the well crafted tutorials. I always feel games with well crafted tutorials deserve a very special shout out!
Gameplay
Gameplay consist of investigating crime scenes which is made easy using the simple control scheme with mouse and keyboard in my case, click left to make Mindcop move around, right click to go into investigation mode. So this will let you interact with different elements to gather more clues, some may be useful, some may not? You pick and choose and make sure to choose wisely! You are on a time limit after all. Each action will take some time from you before you end your day so you have to pick the most appealing ones to help you progress.
Using different questions and topics you may question people around you and the more you discuss, the more you will discover about the victim, the killer and everyone around you. You are always given three main ways to interact with folk. Question, mind surf and arrest. You will have to question them first before anything else to start a conversation, don’t think arresting someone counts as a good ice breaker!
Mind Surf Part 1
This is a whole another game in its entirety. You are placed into the mind of the person you are questioning with a mini game to play. This is completely skippable if it isn’t your type of thing. For me however, this could easily be a whole game I’d buy on it’s own! The mind is a square filled with four different parts of the brain, the mind bullets are then shot in different directions creating a weird tic-tac-toe mini game. This is highly addicting and I’d easily lose hours with the little coloured bullets. All you have to do is rotate the brain using the mouse buttons to get the bullets into the right positions.
Mind Surf Part 2
Mind surf gives you the ability to then enter three doors. These are either truth, lie or uncertainty. You can enter all three which will determine what kind of information you gain about the character of which head you have decided to invade. These are hilarious and have plenty of laugh out loud moments. I will not spoil any of these as they are best discovered on your own!
Graphics & Audio
The art style of Mindcop is quirky and full of character! Every character is well constructed with their own back story and things to discover. The characters and stories really do remind me of Twin Peaks which is one of my favourite story settings. So if you enjoy Twin Peaks and are looking for something embodying that vibe Mindcop will sure do that. Details like the tall crime partner having to hunch down to get through a door is a such a small touch but very appreciated and loved!
The audio is attentive and sets the right mood for the game. From the thrilling questioning of suspects to playing yet another fantastic round of Mind Surf. The only constructive criticism I have for the game is that it may feel a little slow at times. I personally do not mind this, however I know some people may feel a little hesitant towards it.
Longevity
With Mindcop having a time mechanic and you having to carefully plan your next move is a good way to make sure this game can be replayed. Making different decision and focusing on different outcomes always brings a good amount of replayability. Plus having the ability to go through every dialogue option the game has to offer is a treat in itself! I for one will be replaying the game multiple times just to hear all the funny lines of dialogue. This dialogue has obviously been carefully thought out and I want to make sure I appreciate all of it!
Final Thoughts
Mindcop brings a wonderful and gripping detective experience that doesn’t take itself too seriously which is a great intuitive mix. The demo had me gripped and the full game did not disappoint. It did feel slow at times however I for sure cannot wait to play through the game multiple times and experience more and more of the dialogue. Maybe just using this time to play the minigame one too many times. I am so glad to see a game that was well thought out with an immersive story full of witty humour and conversational gems. The art style itself is very fitting and give it that noire feel which is perfect for a detective point and click adventure. I really hope Andre Gareis keeps developing diamonds like this!
With everything Mindcop has offered and presented, I will be awarding Mindcop the Thumb Culture Platinum Award!
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
If you enjoyed this review why not check out my previous one here!
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