107) Murder By Numbers (2020)

Created as recently as 1987, nonograms are picture logic puzzles in which cells in a grid are either colored or left blank according to numbers along the the edges in order to form a picture. Due to the easily scaled difficulty of the puzzles, along with the binary nature and blocky nature of the puzzles, they've been a fairly popular form of puzzles in the video game landscape since the mid 90's. So, what do we get when Ed Fear, writer for the game The Sword of Ditto, teams up with Hatoful Boyfriend creator, Hato Moa? The answer is a visual novel, murder mystery game set in mid 90's Hollywood featuring a floating, crime solving computer. Obviously.

The story begins as actress, Honor Mizrahi, is fired as the co-star of the detective show Murder Miss Terri. As she's leaving the building, she encounters a floating computer screen that identifies itself as SCOUT. SCOUT, having rebooted in a trash heap with no memories, is searching for a detective in order to find answers. After a brief tutorial of how the puzzles work as Honor searches for her keys, she and SCOUT go into the studio only to discover her former boss has been murdered. As one of the key suspects, Honor and SCOUT team up to search for clues in order to find the true killer.

The game consists of four separate acts in which we're tasked with solving seemingly unconnected murders. As we do, a larger picture starts to come into focus, revealing a tangled web that ultimately comes to focus on SCOUT's origins and why his memories were erased. He develops a close bond with Honor as she finds a passion for detective work that helps connect her to her deceased father. Along the way, we meet a colorful cast of characters. While I enjoyed the puzzle aspect of the game, it's the characters and writing that really sells the experience. Almost every character is fun and charming in their own way, though there are probably a few too many red herrings that get thrown our way to extend as a way to extend the story.

The combination of a murder mystery story along with traditional puzzle gameplay works well for the most part. While it becomes a bit formulaic, the puzzles give a nice break in the oftentimes information heavy story, though the fact that, with very minimal exception, you're left to solve puzzles at your leisure with no timer does kind of detract from the urgency of the situation. Add in the fact that, due to the nature of the puzzles, it's often a bit unclear or even a stretch as to what you're supposed to be discovering. These are relatively minor, but they are still very real issues.

One of the more frustrating aspects of the game is how sometimes the answer to something will be glaringly obvious, but the player has no way to act on something until the story dictates that the characters think of it. At times, the characters will make astounding leaps in logic and act rashly or impulsively, all in service to the plot. While this is a common aspect in mystery stories, it's frustrating in a puzzle game in which the player ultimately has little to no autonomy. Again, while this isn't wholly uncommon in visual novels, it does make it seem as though we're simply here to solve puzzles without actually solving the mysteries presented to us.

Murder By Numbers is a delightful mashup of ideas that work surprisingly well together, wrapped up in a wonderfully polished and charming experience. While I may have some issues with the game, it very much accomplishes what it sets out to do and leaves an overwhelmingly good impression. It stands as a proof of concept and provides a much needed story element to the traditional nonogram puzzle experience. While no plans for a sequel have been announced, I'd absolutely love to see a follow up of some sort that further expands player agency in the future.