Ink & Clues Reviews 58

The "games" are quite boring to "play,"* and some of the conclusions require leaps of logic and downright guessing (not evidence-based).

I bought the full game bundle and my husband and I have completed two so far. We started a third (The Ferryman), but quit because we were too bored and wanted to be engaged more by the game. We probably won't play them all because it's boring to just sit there and read through all the information, and then at the end of all that reading, be expected to simply solve the case without any interactivity of any kind.

* There is no playing. It's not in a game format, like a print-at-home escape room might be, and clues aren't given to "discover" new evidence. The pictures are often just space fillers -- they rarely provide actual clues. It's all just one PDF file to read and then nothing.No game. Just solve it based on some evidence and some guesses.

The need to guess some things is a HUGE turnoff. At the very least, evidence and logic should be required to solve the cases. But one of the games we played literally required that we invent part of the story line to solve the case. We got the answer right, but for the "wrong" reason because we ultimately invented a different story line than the game creators. Honestly dumb. It's not logical, it's not reasoning, it's not critical thinking, and it's not fun.

While the story lines do have potential, I don't see anything immersive about these games.

We had even planned to invite our teen-aged nieces and nephews over for a murder-mystery game day, but cancelled until we can find something more fun to play instead.

We had high hopes for challenging cases to solve, but experienced great disappointment instead.

We have played 1 of the games so far with our 5 teenagers. They had a blast, stayed engaged the entire time, and solved the case correctly. They are already looking forward to Case #2!

My son and I are heavy board gamers, my wife and daughter are not. My wife gave me a mystery for Christmas, and the whole family sat down to play it and enjoy it. So I went on a search to find some more. I found the Ink and Clues Full Game Bundle and it was an instant purchase. We've only done a couple so far, but they are worth their weight in gold to us as it's the first time in years we have all sat down to do something together. We probably still won't always agree on the solution, but that's half the fun. These are digital, and I knew that before purchasing (was very clear on website). This allows a few copies of the material to be printed - my wife always wants her own copy.

What a great date night. My wife and I had an amazing time. Can't beat a wonderful night at home on a cold winter night. Can't wait to do another with friends

My partner and I completed one of the cold case files games and loved it. It was engaging, well thought out, and felt really immersive. We had so much fun working together and solving the case — a perfect alternative to a usual date night. Highly recommend and can’t wait to try another case!

So fun and completely hooked. Can’t wait to dive into the next mystery!!!

The best printable game game i have found so far.
Great plot leading you in different toughts, but keep going, the clues are all there and your job is to follow them and keep an open mind.
Willl Buy another one for sure.
Chose your level of difficulty, pay it in a very secure way and that’s it.
Just start investigate

Nice group of games, well planned out and the flow works nicely. Easy enough to cast from computer to large screen for an evening of fun.

Very well writen and fun to complete

A really fun and stimulating first case. I enjoyed the storytelling and how immersive it felt without being overwhelming. As my first Ink & Clues mystery, it was the perfect introduction - fun, engaging and very satisfying to solve. I’m already looking forward to tackling the harder cases next!

These are awesome. We tried it completely virtual at first but as we went on it was easier to remember clues and keep track of the timelines when it was printed. Totally a personal preference though. We bought all of them and they are completely worth it. They are fun, thrilling, incredible story lines and very creative. I only wish they had more cases!

We played this game as a group of four. It's now part of our Xmas tradition! We had a great time delving into the clues and trying to figure it all out. The details were great, it was refreshing to have a chance to examine and deep dive into the various possibilities. 2 hours of fun!

I ordered this game because I LOVE murder mysteries. At first, I thought I knew who was responsible but then I decided they were just a lunatic and then I got really confused about who was actually dead and I totally missed one really important fact so..... what an awesome mystery game. I'm ordering three more for Christmas gifts.

I’m absolutely in love with these games! They are affordable (very much so), it doesn’t need shipping, and the variety of stories and difficulties make it accessible for all.
Don’t underestimate these files though, you will need to stretch your noodles and be very thorough, because the clues are sometimes hidden very well, but not impossible to find. I applaud the creative use of the internet in the games as well, it ads another fun dimension. Because fun is what you’ll have while being immersed in the story.
The scoring system is a good one, I am happy that, even when my ADD brain sometimes takes a creative detour in the interpretation of some clues, I still end up at the same solution that the makers provided. The scoring system evaluates what you made of the clues, which in turn helps you get better at the games. I will be solving them one by one, and I can’t wait to see what the company has in store for us next!
I also appreciate the fact that these games are all made by just two Alexanders, I have much love for this indie company. Carry on the good work!

These games exceeded my expectations. They were challenging but fair. No hidden got ya clues. Everything is there but you have to look very closely.

Wow!!!!!! There was four of us that played the game A Lethal Fix. We had so much fun
The digital download had all the informative we needed to figure it out
The characters were interesting and storyline was intriguing
We did figure it out on our own in about 2hrs.
What a great idea and company.Great Fun!!
Will definitely be interested in doing another one

My girlfriends and I had a great time with this. Did it in about an hour.
I already bought our next one ◡̈

I purchased these thinking I was going to receive a physical package mailed to me. I reached out to the company and they refused to refund.

The digital delivery ruins the experience for me and my family.

We played the ferryman.

The critique comes in two portions, lack of value and poor quality of campaign.

For the price of the package, you get 2 pdf files, one of which is the solution file. The experience, essentially, is reading through a single pdf file.

There is no attempt to try and offer additional avenues of discovery. One incredibly wasted opportunity which is untouched is providing multiple intermediary clues through pdf files locked by passwords. For example, the phone of the deceased, locked with a 4 digit number, could very much have been another pdf file, forcing the player to find the password and therefore obtaining new information, rather than the utterly foolish clue it tried to be. There are so many paths for nuance that lie unused.

This ends up in a product that exudes laziness. I won't fault this company for using AI-generated images, since they are starting off, but the lack of actual content and agency is jarring. They did not try.

The poor quality of the campaign is another thing. At the end of the game, we looked at the answer sheet for understanding. We got the answer correct, and only because we cut off every other option, but the reasoning left us baffled, and not in a good way.

Spoiler from here on.

The solution is not constructed intelligently. A clue that we were supposed to consider was that the culprit's name was supposed to resemble that of a character from greek mythology. Nothing but a coincidence, that was supposed to lead us to that understanding.

In what screwed up, logic-devoid world, would a detective have room for accusation simply because a person's name was similar to a mythological figure, which was vaguely similar to the situation at hand?

Other clues showed similar leaps of logic. We were supposed to assume that a person on a website, who was anonymous, was the culprit, simply because of gender and age. Genuinely, what the hell.

At least 7 of the 21 clues showed such symptoms. We were more laughing at the stupidity of the clues than anything.

The campaign is trite and lazy. It is exactly what one needs to avoid when writing a mystery.

For the love of god, if anyone were to read this, do not play the ferryman.

We have two more of these campaigns to go through. Hopefully they are nothing alike this disasterpiece.

I am thoroughly enjoying these mysteries. They are easy to access and entertaining.