Case File 037 · Interrogation and Detective Games

Best Choice-Based Crime Games

Crime games where your decisions about accusing, reporting and protecting people change how the story ends.

By Murder Book Editorial TeamPublished 16 September 2026Updated 16 September 2026

The best choice-based crime games make your decisions part of the case: whom to accuse, what to report, whom to protect and what to let go. The story branches, and you live with the outcome. Strong picks:

Lacuna – A Sci-Fi Noir Adventure: a murder investigation with no takebacks and multiple endings.
Pentiment: investigate murders through conversation and choices in 16th-century Bavaria.
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments: solve six cases, then decide the culprit's fate.
Orwell: Keeping an Eye On You: decide which personal information reaches the security forces.
Beholder: spy on tenants and decide whether to report them.
Aviary Attorney: a courtroom mystery with three different endings.
Late Shift: an FMV crime thriller with timed choices and seven endings.

Coming later, Murder Book is an upcoming interrogation game in which you choose how to press each suspect.

Key takeaways

In a choice-based crime game, decisions change the story, not just the dialogue you see.
The hardest choices are usually moral: accusing without certainty, reporting someone or protecting them.
Some games let you reach the "wrong" conclusion and carry on anyway.
None of the games below describes combat in its store text.
Murder Book is an upcoming interrogation game with a branching case map and different case results.

What makes a crime game "choice-based"?

Many detective games have a single correct solution: you keep trying until the puzzle clicks. A choice-based crime game works differently. It asks you to make decisions that the story remembers, sometimes before you have all the facts. There may be several endings, several outcomes for the people involved, or a verdict that depends on what you chose to believe.

That is also different from a game where choices steer how you investigate. For that angle, see Games Where Your Choices Change the Investigation. This list focuses on crime stories where the consequences of your decisions are the point.

Choice-based crime games at a glance

Game	Developer	The choices that matter	Structure	Combat
Lacuna – A Sci-Fi Noir Adventure	DigiTales Interactive	Deductions and moral decisions that cannot be undone	Branching story, multiple endings	No
Pentiment	Obsidian Entertainment	Conversations and choices during murder investigations	Narrative adventure	No
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments	Frogwares	Conclusions about each case and the culprit's fate	Six cases	None described
Orwell: Keeping an Eye On You	Osmotic Studios	Which information goes to the security forces	Surveillance investigation	No
Beholder	Warm Lamp Games	Whether to report tenants to the state	Several endings	No
Aviary Attorney	Sketchy Logic	Cases, witnesses and arguments	Four chapters, three endings	No
Late Shift	CtrlMovie	Timed decisions during a heist	Over 180 decision points, seven endings	No

Lacuna – A Sci-Fi Noir Adventure

Lacuna – A Sci-Fi Noir Adventure (DigiTales Interactive, 2021) puts you in the role of CDI agent Neil Conrad, woken by news of a murder. You question people, collect evidence and make deductions. According to Steam, wrong answers are not undone: the story branches and ends based on your actions. Its store page also poses moral questions, such as whether you would sell out a friend to protect your family.

Best for: players who want deductions with real, lasting consequences.

Pentiment

Pentiment (Obsidian Entertainment, Xbox Game Studios, 2022) is a narrative adventure set in 16th-century Bavaria. As the artist Andreas Maler, you investigate murders through conversation and choices. See Games Like Pentiment.

Best for: players who like historical fiction and hard judgement calls.

Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments

Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments (Frogwares, 2014) contains six cases. You examine evidence, question suspects and reach your own conclusions, then decide what happens to the culprit. That final decision turns each case into a question of justice as well as deduction. See Games Like Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments.

Best for: players who want a classic detective with a moral twist.

Orwell: Keeping an Eye On You

Orwell: Keeping an Eye On You (Osmotic Studios, Daedalic Entertainment, 2016) makes you a government surveillance researcher. You search web pages, social media, chats, emails and private files to profile suspects in a series of terror attacks, and decide which information is passed to the security forces.

Best for: players interested in the ethics of investigation and privacy.

Beholder

Beholder (Alawar Stargaze/Warm Lamp Games, Alawar, 2016) is less a detective game than a surveillance story. As a state-installed landlord, you bug apartments, search belongings, profile tenants and decide whether to report them to the regime. Steam mentions "one of several game endings".

Best for: players who want uncomfortable choices with no clean answer.

Aviary Attorney

Aviary Attorney (Sketchy Logic, 2015) is set in Paris in 1848. You play the bird lawyer Jayjay Falcon: taking on clients, interviewing witnesses, collecting evidence and arguing cases. Steam lists four chapters and three fully fleshed-out endings, with your choices deciding which you reach. See Games Like Ace Attorney.

Best for: players who want courtroom drama with branching outcomes.

Late Shift

Late Shift (CtrlMovie, Wales Interactive, 2017) is a live-action crime thriller rather than an investigation. You make timed choices during a London heist, and the film does not pause while you decide. Steam lists over 180 decision points and seven endings. For more live-action games, see Best FMV Detective Games.

Best for: players who want a crime story that plays like an interactive film.

Why do choices make crime stories feel heavier?

A puzzle with one answer tells you when you are right. A choice rarely does. When a game lets you accuse, report or forgive, it asks you to act under uncertainty, which is much closer to how real decisions about guilt are made. The most memorable choice-based crime games make you question whether you were fair, not just whether you were correct.

Are choice-based crime games harder than puzzle mysteries?

Not necessarily harder, but differently demanding. A puzzle mystery tests whether you can find the answer. A choice-based crime game also tests what you do with an answer you are not sure of. That changes how you play:

Read everything before committing. In Lacuna, for example, Steam notes that wrong answers are not undone.
Expect to replay. Multiple endings, as in Beholder, Aviary Attorney and Late Shift, mean one playthrough shows only part of the story.
Accept imperfect outcomes. Some of the most interesting endings come from decisions that felt reasonable at the time.
Notice your own bias. If you decided early who was guilty, check whether you have been reading every clue in that light.

How do you choose the right game?

If you want an investigation first: start with Lacuna or Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments.
If you want moral pressure: try Beholder or Orwell.
If you prefer history and character: play Pentiment.
If you want courtroom drama: try Aviary Attorney.
If you like live-action video: play Late Shift.

Is there an upcoming interrogation game built on choices?

Murder Book: The Art of Interrogation is an upcoming narrative interrogation game from Gungrounds, an independent studio in Zagreb, Croatia. Its choices happen inside the interrogation room. Development screenshots show a technique menu with six options: Build Trust, Futility, Bluffing, Baiting, Demonstration and Confrontation. Build Trust is officially described as "fostering an environment where the suspect feels comfortable and secure enough to communicate openly".

Development materials also show a branching case map with achievement endings and a completion percentage, and a case select screen that records results, including a "not guilty" result. Each case is designed for a focused 5–10-minute session.

Murder Book is in development for PC (Steam) and mobile, with release currently planned for the end of Q2 2027. See How Murder Book Turns Interrogation Into Gameplay.