The Case of Andrew D.

A fantastic game that challenged me to perform information gathering and deduction at levels exceeding anything I've ever done. This made me feel more like a detective than any piece of media I have ever encountered -- and most of the time it is a great feeling, even if it occasionally feels like you're going insane chasing a lead that goes nowhere. When I think about the weird little clues I had to pursue while playing, I feel both proud of myself and a bit uneasy about how much an amateur like me can learn about other people if they feel like it. ​If you like deduction-heavy games such as The Case of the Golden Idol, Return of the Obra Dinn, or Her Story, you might find this a very rewarding and captivating experience. It also reminded me of Shadows of Doubt -- while in SoD the clues are obscured by the vastness of a procedurally generated world, here they are hidden somewhere on the internet. I can easily imagine some people completely bouncing off of this, but I'd encourage you to give it a try and see if it scratches that itch. ​My Steam playtime for this game is simultaneously overestimated and very accurate; I left the game running overnight, so the hours artificially piled up. However, if you also measure the time when the game was not running but I was still cracking the case (e.g., checking out case-related places on Google Maps while riding the bus), it definitely sums up to over 40 hours. That's my ultimate recommendation: until the Andrew D. case was finished, my thoughts constantly flowed toward the unanswered questions and how I could make a dent in them, even when I was far away from my PC.

It's hard to describe this game as anything other than the evolution of "ARG" styled content. The amount of legwork required to make something like this work is genuinely awe-inspiring and I hope to see more like this in the future. I've only made it through 3-4 of the "cases" almost entirely on my own, and yeah I've sunk quite a bit of time into them sometimes barking up the wrong tree for a few hours, but damn does getting that next step feel like you're actually doing something substantial every time. If I have an actual complaint it's that the hint system could be a bit more "precise". As it is now it's just a tell of the next "trigger" for a sequence, however I think it could be a tiny bit more generous. I was limiting myself a bit trying to avoid "brute forcing" solutions such as some of the more complex image recognition programs as well as various "password crackers" but I've felt more enjoyment in just accepting that if I were a real data forensic that I'd be using those tools as standard. It saved time in some of the puzzles I already basically "solved" but struggled to find the motivation to check every possible solution. Why spend a bunch of time typing in every possible year for a PDF password when I can just use a tool that automates it? It's also hard to tell how well this game will age as real life locations change, seeing that a lot of the game relies on utilizing maps and images that exist from 2023-2025. There's also the consideration of the game's following and community, which as of now doesn't exist in large enough mass to begin potentially poisoning search results, possibly spoiling any fun. As it is now, there's no better time to buy this game than right now in case things change.

Fenomenalny wyciskacz szarych komórek. Ja już mam dość ;-)

How can one screw up the controls for such a simple game concept? Seriously, how? When placing markers on a map is such an important element of your gameplay, you better make sure it actually works. Clicking on the map to add the marker places it 20 meters away from the location you clicked on. There is no way to move the marker. Removing the marker, despite having a dedicated button, simply doesn't work. Naming the markers works in maybe one out of twenty tries. Let me repeat that: You have a one in twenty chance, that the interface registers a simple right click on a static map marker (Oh, and btw, I made sure, that this isn't the fault of corrupted game files. I reinstalled the whole thing, just to be sure, with no changes). Those aren't complex souls-like mechanics, those are primitive GUIs, that every software developer learns to code in week one or two, so I'm in awe, how they could screw this up. The idea for this game is great, the story might be great too. I don't know and I probably will never know, because as long as the pure fundamentals of this game are FUBAR, it's not worth it.

The Case of Andrew D. to kolejna gra od Marcina Borkowskiego zaraz po 'Pendrive znaleziony w trawie' która zmusza gracza do logicznego myślenia. W tej grze wcielamy się w informatyka śledczego i pomagamy śledczym w rozwiązywaniu spraw nad którymi pracują. Gra jest opakowana w prosty interfejs graficzny do zarządzania wszystkimi sprawami, a naszym zadaniem jest dostarczyć śledczym jak najwięcej dowodów aby umożliwić im pomyślne zakończenie sprawy. Dużym plusem jest fakt, że gra jest na bieżąco aktualizowana, a za pośrednictwem Discorda można zgłaszać błędy w grze, wymieniać się przemyśleniami z resztą społeczności a nawet zadawać pytania autorowi. Link - https://discord.gg/CeShhnKW Polecam wszystkim. Ja bawiłem się świetnie! p.s. Widzę ogromny potencjał w tej grze - może warto pomyśleć nad dorzuceniem dodatkowych spraw :)

I don't leave reviews very often, but this is a game that genuinely needs to get more attention. If you like ARGs, you will love this game. If you enjoy games where you feel like you are actually conducting an investigation and get to go full conspiracy theory with files and notes and connecting dots, you will love this game. If you enjoy puzzle games that are challenging and don't hold your hand, you will really love this game. Are there some rough spots? Sure. Pinning locations on the map can occasionally be a little finnicky. It is possible to make mistakes that will require a replay to get the "true" ending, though replaying goes pretty fast once you've done the leg work for the time consuming puzzles. Because the game relies on searching for things on the internet, there are some things that are outside of the dev's control, like what turns up for certain searches changing. But the dev has been great about listening to feedback and making adjustments when this happens. The love and care that went into this game shines through the entire experience. I was hooked from the moment the login window popped up and found myself unable to stop obsessing over it until I solved Andrew D's mystery. I do still have so many more questions, but the experience was one of the most enjoyable puzzle games I've played in years.

If you've played The USB Stick Found in the Grass, previous game from this author, you know what to expect. If you haven't you should definitely try. Become digital forensic officer, apply your logical thinking to solve riddles. I'm totally in!

Ga

In my time with the game I have spent an hour searching Warsaw in google maps for a specific patch of colored tarmac, looked up real life waterslide manufacturing brochures and more. The game is a real deductive treat.

The map markers are pretty broken. Why do you ask us to mark photo locations on the map if, when we find them, it still says it can't connect them to the case? For example, [spoiler] Murkrow in Leona Berensona 155. corner of Urbanistow... why ask for locations if they're not related to the case... and it's similar to the video game event. [/spoiler]