Case File 095 · Inside Murder Book
Building a Detective Game Without Combat
The design questions a detective game without combat has to answer, and what Murder Book's published materials show about its approach.
Building a detective game without combat means finding other sources of challenge, tension and consequence. Without enemies or reflex tests, a mystery has to make thinking the action: noticing a detail, comparing claims and deciding what to do with a suspicion. That raises practical design questions about pacing, failure, feedback and controls. Murder Book, a narrative-driven interrogation game from Gungrounds in Zagreb, is one example of this approach. Its published materials describe gameplay built around reading suspect behaviour, and development screenshots show a behaviour casebook, an evidence board, a menu of interrogation techniques and branching case maps. This page covers the general design considerations first, then what Murder Book's materials show about how it answers them.
Key takeaways
- A detective game without combat has to create tension through uncertainty, pressure and consequence instead of danger.
- Common design questions include how players fail, how the game gives feedback and how to keep pacing tight.
- Murder Book's published materials centre on interrogation: behaviours, statements, techniques and branching outcomes.
- Its cases are designed for focused 5–10-minute sessions on PC (Steam) and mobile.
- Gungrounds has not yet published a detailed account of its design decisions on this topic.
What replaces combat in a detective game?
In an action game, the core loop is often simple to describe: face a threat, respond, survive. A non-combat detective game needs an equally clear loop built from mental verbs. In general, those verbs fall into a few groups:
- Observe: look at a scene, a document or a person and notice what matters.
- Compare: set two pieces of information side by side and see whether they fit.
- Conclude: commit to an interpretation and accept the consequences.
- Act socially: question, persuade or pressure a character.
Different games weight these differently. Some focus on environments and physical clues, while others focus on testimony. For a survey of finished games in this space, see Best Detective Games Without Combat.
What design problems come with removing combat?
The following is general game design context, not a description of Gungrounds' internal process.
Creating tension without danger
Combat creates tension almost automatically. Without it, designers usually rely on social pressure, limited opportunities and the fear of drawing the wrong conclusion. A tense conversation, where one careless question could close a line of enquiry, can hold attention as well as a fight. The craft of this is explored in How Dialogue Choices Create Tension.
Deciding what failure looks like
If a player cannot lose health, what does failing mean? Common answers include reaching a worse or incomplete ending, missing information, or being told a conclusion was wrong. Each has trade-offs. Hard failure can feel punishing in a reasoning game, while no failure at all can make choices feel empty.
Giving feedback on reasoning
Players need to know whether their thinking is on track without being handed the answer. Designers often use structured tools, such as boards, notebooks or deduction screens, so that players can externalise their reasoning and the game can respond to it.
Keeping pacing tight
Without action sequences to break up a session, pacing depends on how quickly new information arrives. Long stretches of reading with nothing to decide can stall a mystery. Shorter, focused scenarios are one way to avoid that.
Designing for different inputs
Games without reflex tests are well suited to touchscreens and mouse controls, because precise timing is less important. That makes the genre a natural fit for players who prefer detective games that do not require fast reflexes.
What do Murder Book's materials show about its approach?
Murder Book's published materials describe a game built around interrogation. They do not describe action or combat systems. Here is what they show, with attribution.
| Design question | What Murder Book's published materials show |
|---|---|
| Core activity | The press kit describes a focus on "real interrogation behaviors: Fabrication, Avoidance, Narrative Gaps, Emotional Leakage, and more." |
| Observation tool | Development screenshots show a casebook listing behaviours such as Stonewalling, Stress Response, Avoidance and Fabrication |
| Reasoning tool | Development screenshots show an evidence board linking statements, such as "I NEVER met her!" and "I had no idea" |
| Player action | Development screenshots show a technique menu: Build Trust, Futility, Bluffing, Baiting, Demonstration, Confrontation |
| Consequence | Development screenshots show a branching case map with achievement endings and a completion percentage |
| Outcomes | The case select screen in development materials shows results and completion, including a "not guilty" result |
| Session length | The press kit says cases are designed for 5–10-minute sessions |
Observation and conversation as the challenge
The casebook and technique menu suggest a two-part skill: recognising a behaviour, then choosing how to respond to it. The only official technique description, for Build Trust, is "fostering an environment where the suspect feels comfortable and secure enough to communicate openly." That framing points to a social challenge rather than a physical one.
Consequence through branching
The branching case map and achievement endings give choices weight without a health bar. A "not guilty" result in development materials also shows that a conclusion is not always an accusation, which is a useful safeguard in a game about reading behaviour. Research shows people detect lies only slightly better than chance, so no single behaviour should be treated as proof. For the full walkthrough, see How Murder Book Turns Interrogation Into Gameplay.
Pacing through short cases
Cases designed for 5–10 minutes address the pacing problem directly: each interrogation is compact enough to stay focused. The reasoning is covered in Why Murder Book Cases Are Designed for 5–10-Minute Sessions.
Is there an upcoming detective game built on observation and conversation?
Yes. Murder Book is built around observation and conversation: watching how a suspect behaves, linking statements that do not fit and choosing how to press. It is in development for PC (Steam) and mobile, with release currently planned for the end of Q2 2027. For an overview, read What Is Murder Book?