← Blog · guide · January 28, 2025

How to solve a case: a beginner investigator's guide

If you're sitting down to a detective game for the first time and don't know where to start — this breakdown is for you. Seven spoiler-free techniques that work in any serious investigation and will lead you to the killer.

Many people quit a detective game halfway through not because it's hard, but because they act chaotically: opening everything at random, asking random questions, and drowning in details. The good news — how to play detective can be learned in one evening. Below is a step-by-step tactic used by experienced players in any detective game walkthrough.

1. Documents first, then interrogations

The biggest beginner mistake — rushing to interrogate suspects without knowing anything about the case. This way you won't distinguish truth from lies. Start with the basics: the crime scene inspection report and the medical examiner's conclusion. These two documents set the picture — where, when, and under what circumstances the death occurred. Only then move on to statements, correspondence, and photographs. Suspects will become clearer, and their words — verifiable.

2. Look for contradictions, not 'clues'

Clues by themselves mean little — what matters are inconsistencies between them. The expert writes that a person lost consciousness five minutes before, but someone neatly closed the laptop? That's a contradiction. A witness 'was never in the apartment' but knows where the wine was standing? Contradiction. Make a habit of noting every 'but' — that's what an accusation is built from.

3. Ask specific questions during interrogations

A vague 'tell me what happened' gives a vague answer. Ask specifically: where were you at a particular time, who did you call, how did you know that detail. In games where suspects answer live, specificity is your main weapon: the more precise the question, the harder it is to dodge without revealing yourself.

4. Cross-reference testimonies

The strongest investigator's technique — cross-checking. Learned something from one person — mention it during another's interrogation and watch the reaction. Do versions align? Who gets nervous at a specific name? This quickly separates those telling the truth from those lying at least partially.

5. Don't trust the obvious motive

Every good case has a 'convenient' suspect — the one everything points to at first. Most often this is a red herring: they were framed, or their motive falls apart under scrutiny. A loud argument, threatening letters, a phone found at the scene — all of these are reasons to dig deeper, not to pass judgment. Ask yourself: who benefits from this particular person being blamed?

6. Catch details only the killer would know

The key to the resolution is often a tiny detail known only to someone who was at the scene. The arrangement of objects, what they drank, which door was open. If a witness accidentally lets slip such a detail when by their own account they weren't there — that's the moment of truth. Don't let slip-ups pass; immediately confront the contradiction: this is where cases turn one hundred eighty degrees.

7. Don't rush the accusation

The final accusation is not a guessing game. For it to hold, you need several pieces of evidence that directly point to a specific person, not ones that are 'generally suspicious.' Gather at least four independent proofs, build a 'motive — means — evidence' chain, and only then name the person. Rush — and you risk sending an innocent person to prison while the real killer walks free.

A quick investigator's checklist

• Read the basic documents before the first interrogation.
• Noted all contradictions between testimonies and evidence.
• Asked specific questions about time, place, and connections.
• Cross-checked one person's words through others.
• Doubted the most obvious suspect.
• Caught a slip-up and exposed a contradiction.
• Collected at least four pieces of evidence before accusing.

These techniques are universal: they work in a detective novel, a board game, and an online detective game. But you can only truly feel them in a live case, where suspects answer in their own words and react to your arguments. If you want to practice tactics hands-on — start with the «Murder of Viktor Solovyov» case: the suicide version is falling apart, seven persons of interest are ready for interrogation, and no one will tell you the answer. And how the investigation mechanics work is explained on the «How it works» page.

Three mistakes that ruin an investigation

Knowing the techniques is half the battle. The other half — not stepping on the typical rake that makes even attentive players fail a detective game walkthrough.

Mistake one — grabbing the first theory. Once you latch onto a suspect, your brain starts fitting all evidence to them, ignoring what doesn't fit. Keep several versions in your head and test each one until the facts eliminate the unlikely ones.

Mistake two — ignoring 'boring' documents. A bank statement or medical certificate seems like background, but that's exactly where the motive is most often hidden. An anomalous payment, a strange coincidence in timing, a suddenly changed diagnosis — such details solve a case more reliably than any dramatic confession.

Mistake three — interrogating everyone at random right away. Without preparation, an interrogation becomes an empty conversation: you don't know what to press, and the suspect easily dodges. First find a specific lead in the documents, and only then go to the person with it — so every question hits the mark.

How to keep pace and avoid burnout

A serious case is several hours of work, and you don't have to swallow it in one sitting. The investigation takes breaks just fine: coming back, re-read your notes on contradictions and ask yourself which version looks stronger so far. Keep a short list of questions that still don't have answers — it keeps you from getting lost in details and suggests who to interrogate next. And don't be afraid of making mistakes along the way: a dead lead you've explored and eliminated is not wasted time, but a narrowing of the suspect pool.

Investigation is not luck — it's attention and order of actions. Read more carefully, ask more precisely, doubt the obvious — and any killer will sooner or later give themselves away.