Steam Review: After finishing this game's sequel Tangle Tower, I was excited to try out its predecessor, Detective Grimoire: Secret of the Swamp. I recommend playing both games as a pair to fully immerse yourself in the world of murder mystery and quirky characters. Note that I played it after the sequel, and luckily they were different enough to be engaging while still scratching the same murder mystery itch. Both games are about a murder mystery, but the setting and cast of characters are entirely different, except for the main detective. You step into the shoes of Detective Grimoire, arriving at a tourist attraction in the swamp where a murder mystery is afoot. You'll speak with witnesses, search the environment for evidence, and solve puzzles that obstruct your path. At the end of the game, you must use all the evidence and testimonies you've gathered to determine who the true culprit is. The voice acting in both games is top-notch, and I appreciated about Detective Grimoire's art style. The hand-drawn graphics are beautiful and have a distinct charm that's different from Tangle Tower's, but still incredibly well done. I do wish that Detective Grimoire had controller support, as it would have made the game more accessible for me. I mapped controls to Controller using Steam and using the Joystick as the mouse worked fine enough. In addition to gathering clues and solving puzzles, the game has a fun mechanic where you get to fill in the blanks of sentences by choosing phrases and objects from your inventory. It's a bit like Mad Libs, and it's a fun way to interact with the characters and story. While the mechanic is better polished in the sequel, it's still enjoyable here, although some options can be so obvious that I questioned whether it could be the right answer. Nevertheless, I loved this aspect of the gam, andd it adds a nice touch of humor. While Tangle Tower polished the game by making it easier to move around, Detective Grimoire still offers a great map system that allows you to explore the swampy setting and uncover clues. The mystery and puzzles weren't as challenging as the sequel, but they were still fun thanks to the well-written and engaging story and characters. I played through it over a single event with my partner, who was playing Breath of the Wild on his Switch, and we both had a great time. The fully voice-acted game sucked him into the story too, and he found himself helping me with the puzzles when I got stuck. If you enjoy murder mystery games with charming characters, well-executed voice acting, and engaging storytelling, this is definitely worth playing.