Games Like Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments

Case-based detective games for players who enjoyed examining evidence, questioning suspects and passing judgement in Crimes and Punishments.

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

If you enjoyed Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments, look for games that give you a case, let you examine the evidence and question people yourself, and then make you commit to a conclusion. The closest matches are:

Sherlock Holmes Chapter One: Frogwares' later Holmes game, with open-world investigation and some combat.
The Case of the Golden Idol and The Rise of the Golden Idol: self-contained cases solved by observation and deduction.
Return of the Obra Dinn: a first-person mystery built on exploration and logical deduction.
Disco Elysium: a dialogue-driven detective RPG.
Pentiment: a historical murder investigation driven by conversation and choice.
Lacuna: a sci-fi noir mystery where wrong deductions stay wrong.
The Painscreek Killings: a murder investigation with no quest markers or hints.

For a planned game about the questioning side of detective work, Murder Book is in development for release at the end of Q2 2027.

Key takeaways

Crimes and Punishments stands out for its separate cases and for asking you to decide what happens to the culprit.
Sherlock Holmes Chapter One is the closest match in theme, but it adds combat.
The Golden Idol games and Return of the Obra Dinn focus most purely on deduction.
Lacuna carries over the weight of a conclusion you cannot undo, and Pentiment the focus on conversation and choice.
Murder Book is an upcoming interrogation game with 5–10-minute cases.

What makes Crimes and Punishments different?

Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments (Frogwares, 2014) is built around six cases. In each one you examine evidence and question suspects, reach your own conclusions and then decide the culprit's fate. The structure matters: cases are separate stories, and the game leaves the final judgement to you rather than simply confirming the answer.

A good game like Crimes and Punishments shares at least some of these qualities:

Case-based structure, so each mystery has a clear beginning and end.
Evidence and testimony that you interpret yourself.
A conclusion you commit to, rather than one the game hands you.
Consequences for how you judge the people involved.

Games like Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments at a glance

Game	Developer	How you investigate	Combat	Platforms (examples)
Sherlock Holmes Chapter One	Frogwares	Gather clues, rumours and evidence on an open-world island and build conclusions	Yes	PC
The Case of the Golden Idol	Color Gray Games	Examine frozen scenes of 12 deaths and work out names, motives and events	No	PC, Mac, consoles, iOS, Android
The Rise of the Golden Idol	Color Gray Games	Collect key words from scenes and testimony to fill in deductions across 20 cases	No	PC, Mac, iOS, Android
Return of the Obra Dinn	Lucas Pope	Explore a ghost ship and use logical deduction to assess what happened to the crew	No	PC, Mac, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
Disco Elysium	ZA/UM	Investigate a murder through dialogue shaped by skills and dice-roll checks	No traditional combat	PC, Mac, consoles
Pentiment	Obsidian Entertainment	Investigate murders in 16th-century Bavaria through conversation and choices	None mentioned	PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Switch
Lacuna	DigiTales Interactive	Question people, collect evidence and make deductions that are not undone	No	PC, iOS
The Painscreek Killings	EQ Studios	Explore an abandoned town, take notes and photograph clues	No	PC

Platforms were checked against Steam, official sites or official store pages. Availability changes, so check the store before buying.

Sherlock Holmes Chapter One

Sherlock Holmes Chapter One (Frogwares, 2021) follows a young Sherlock on an open-world Mediterranean island. You gather clues, rumours and evidence, use disguises and build conclusions in his "mind palace". It is the natural next step for fans of the studio's earlier Holmes game.

One difference matters for some players: Steam's description says weapons "might help you in a pinch", so combat is part of this game.

Best for: players who want more Holmes and don't mind some action.

The Case of the Golden Idol

The Case of the Golden Idol (Color Gray Games, published by Playstack, 2022) presents 12 mysterious deaths. You examine frozen scenes to gather clues, then reconstruct what happened by working out names, motives and events. Every case is a self-contained puzzle, much like the separate cases of Crimes and Punishments.

Best for: players who enjoy examining a scene closely and proving their theory.

The Rise of the Golden Idol

The Rise of the Golden Idol (Color Gray Games, Playstack, 2024) continues the formula with "20 strange cases", according to Steam and the official site. You collect key words from what you observe and from witness testimony, then fill in deductions about who did what and why.

Best for: players who finished the first game and want a larger set of cases.

Return of the Obra Dinn

Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope, 2018) casts you as an insurance investigator aboard a ghost ship. It is a first-person mystery built on exploration and logical deduction. The challenge comes from reasoning about what you observe.

Best for: players who liked the deduction side of Crimes and Punishments more than the conversations.

Disco Elysium

Disco Elysium (ZA/UM, 2019; The Final Cut in 2021) is a detective RPG in which you investigate a murder almost entirely through conversation. Its 24 personality skills speak up during dialogue, and dice-roll skill checks decide outcomes. It is long and text-heavy, and far less structured than a set of separate cases.

Best for: players who want one deep investigation shaped by who their detective is.

Pentiment

Pentiment (Obsidian Entertainment, published by 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. Like Crimes and Punishments, it asks you to investigate by talking to people and making choices.

Best for: players who enjoy history and conversation-led investigation.

Lacuna – A Sci-Fi Noir Adventure

Lacuna (DigiTales Interactive, 2021) casts you as CDI agent Neil Conrad. You question people, collect evidence and make deductions. Steam's description is clear that wrong answers are not undone, and the story branches on your choices.

Best for: players who want their conclusions to stick, right or wrong.

The Painscreek Killings

The Painscreek Killings (EQ Studios, 2017) sends journalist Janet into an abandoned town to find out who killed Vivian Roberts. You explore freely, take notes, photograph clues and solve logic puzzles, with no quest markers or hints.

Best for: players who want an investigation that trusts them to find their own way.

Which one should you play next?

Want more Sherlock Holmes? Sherlock Holmes Chapter One, if you accept some combat.
Want pure deduction without combat? The Case of the Golden Idol or Return of the Obra Dinn. See also Best Deduction Games for Mystery Fans.
Enjoy examining evidence in detail? Read Best Games About Analyzing Evidence.
Liked the Golden Idol format? Our guide to games like The Case of the Golden Idol goes further.
Want conclusions that stick? Lacuna.

Is there an upcoming game about judging suspects case by case?

Murder Book: The Art of Interrogation is an upcoming narrative interrogation game from Gungrounds, an independent studio in Zagreb, Croatia. Crimes and Punishments asks you to judge what a suspect did. Murder Book narrows that judgement to the interrogation itself: you examine unreliable stories, behavioural changes, narrative gaps, avoidance and contradictions, and decide how to press.

Development screenshots show a case select screen with results and completion, including a "not guilty" result, and a branching case map with achievement endings. As in Crimes and Punishments, the cases are separate, but each 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. Read What Is Murder Book? for an overview.