If you enjoy opening a case, spreading evidence across the table and trying to work out what really happened, finishing a good investigation game creates one immediate problem:
What do you play next?
Games such as Hidden Games and Unsolved Case Files appeal to players who want more than a conventional board game. Instead of moving pieces around a board, you're examining documents, questioning people's stories and trying to reconstruct a crime from the information you've been given.
Fortunately, that style of mystery comes in several different forms.
If you're looking for games like Hidden Games, here are 10 types of detective and investigation games worth exploring – depending on which part of solving the case you enjoy most.
1. Case File Murder Mystery Games
This is probably the closest place to start if what you enjoy is the feeling of receiving an actual investigation.
Case-file games typically give you a collection of documents and evidence connected to a fictional crime. You might receive police reports, witness statements, interviews, photographs, messages, receipts or maps.
Rather than following a fixed sequence of questions, you examine the material and try to determine what matters.
Ink & Clues follows this style of investigation. Players become the investigators and work through the evidence themselves, looking for contradictions, connections and information that can explain what happened.
It's a good direction to explore if your favorite part of Hidden Games is simply sitting down with a pile of evidence and having no idea who you can trust.
2. Digital Detective Games You Can Print at Home
If you like physical evidence but don't particularly care about receiving a box in the mail, downloadable mystery games offer another approach.
You receive the investigation digitally and can either examine the documents on screen or print them yourself.
That changes the buying experience considerably. There's no shipping to wait for, and you can decide at 7 PM that you want to investigate a murder that evening.
Ink & Clues cases use this format, combining downloadable case materials with the option to print everything for a more physical investigation around the table.
For players specifically searching for an alternative that can be started immediately, this is one of the biggest differences worth considering.
3. Cold Case Investigation Games
Some mystery games lean heavily into the feeling of reopening an investigation that has gone cold.
Instead of arriving immediately after the crime, you're looking back at evidence, statements and decisions made during an earlier investigation.
That can create a different type of challenge. You're not only asking what happened – you're asking what the original investigators might have overlooked.
These games are particularly suited to players who enjoy timelines, inconsistencies and reconstructing events rather than solving traditional riddles.
4. Unsolved Case File Games
If you've played Unsolved Case Files, you'll already recognize this approach.
You're given information from an unresolved investigation and need to use the available evidence to move toward a solution.
The appeal is less about traditional board-game mechanics and more about deduction. Who is telling the truth? Which details matter? Does someone's alibi actually work? Why does one document contradict another?
If that's the part you enjoy, look for games that emphasize evidence and investigation rather than escape-room-style puzzles.
5. Detective Games With a Stronger Story Focus
Some players want the investigation to feel like a puzzle.
Others want to become absorbed in the people behind it.
Story-driven detective games put more emphasis on suspects, relationships, motives and the events surrounding the crime.
The best versions still require deduction, but solving the case isn't simply about finding a hidden code. You need to understand why people behave the way they do and how their stories fit together.
This is a particularly good choice if the narrative and suspects are what you remember most after finishing an investigation game.
6. Forensic Mystery Games
If your favorite moment is discovering that a tiny piece of physical evidence changes the entire case, look for investigations with a stronger forensic element.
These might involve medical information, fingerprints, photographs, laboratory results or other evidence that needs to be interpreted alongside witness statements and timelines.
The important distinction is that the evidence should contribute to the investigation rather than simply exist for atmosphere.
A good forensic clue doesn't tell you the answer.
It changes what you thought you knew.
7. Interview-Heavy Detective Games
Some investigations revolve around documents and physical evidence. Others are built around people.
If you enjoy comparing statements and catching suspects in contradictions, look for games with substantial interviews and witness testimony.
The interesting question becomes:
Who is lying – and why?
Importantly, a lie doesn't necessarily mean someone committed the crime.
A witness may be hiding an affair. A suspect might be protecting someone else. Someone could lie about where they were for reasons completely unrelated to the murder.
That uncertainty can make interview-heavy cases particularly satisfying.
8. Timeline-Based Mystery Games
If you're the person who immediately starts writing down times while everyone else is still reading the introduction, timeline-heavy investigations may be your ideal format.
These games reward players for reconstructing movements and comparing different sources.
A witness says they left at 8:15.
A receipt places them somewhere else at 8:24.
A message was sent at 8:31.
Someone claims the journey takes twenty minutes.
Individually, none of those details necessarily solves anything. Put them together and the case may suddenly look completely different.
9. Codebreaking and Puzzle Mysteries
Not every investigation needs to imitate a police case.
If you enjoy the puzzle-solving side more than interviewing suspects, consider mysteries built around codes, ciphers, hidden messages and layered puzzles.
These can feel closer to a puzzle hunt or escape room than a traditional case file, but they scratch a similar itch: you're given incomplete information and need to work out what it means.
They're a good next step if you want something more puzzle-heavy after playing evidence-based detective games.
10. Murder Mystery Games Without Roleplay
“Murder mystery” sometimes means costumes, characters and spending the evening pretending to be Lord Archibald while accusing your friends of murder.
That's one type of game.
It isn't the only one.
Investigation-style murder mysteries let everyone work on the same side. Nobody needs to act, memorize a character or secretly know they're the murderer.
Instead, you collectively investigate the suspects.
If the detective work is what you enjoy about Hidden Games or Unsolved Case Files, look specifically for murder mystery games built around case files and investigation rather than roleplay.
What Should You Play After Hidden Games?
The best alternative depends on what you liked about the game in the first place.
If you enjoyed handling documents and evidence, choose another case-file investigation. If you loved catching contradictions, look for interview-heavy cases. If reconstructing exactly what happened was the satisfying part, choose something with detailed timelines.
And if you mainly want another crime to investigate without waiting for a physical game to arrive, a downloadable case is probably the simplest next step.
That's where Ink & Clues fits particularly well.
The cases are digital, can be printed or played on screen and are designed around examining evidence and reaching your own conclusions rather than following a conventional board-game structure.
Hidden Games vs. Downloadable Mystery Games
One thing worth considering when choosing your next investigation is how you want to receive and play it.
A physical mystery game gives you a ready-made package. Everything arrives prepared and can simply be opened when you're ready to play.
A downloadable mystery gives you more flexibility.
You can start immediately, decide how much material you want to print and keep the documents spread across the table just like a physical investigation. Alternatively, you can work through the case digitally.
Neither format is automatically better.
The question is whether you value a ready-made physical package or the convenience and flexibility of a downloadable investigation.
Can You Play These Types of Games Alone?
Yes – depending on the game.
Investigation games can actually work particularly well solo because there are no turns or opponents required. You can spend as long as you want examining a document without someone across the table asking whether you've finished reading it yet.
They're also well suited to couples and small groups because discussion becomes part of the investigation.
Two people can read exactly the same witness statement and walk away with completely different suspects.
That's usually where things become interesting.
What to Look for in Your Next Detective Game
Don't choose your next game solely because the box looks like a police file.
Think about what you actually want from the investigation.
Do you want realistic documents or lots of puzzles? Do you prefer forensic evidence or suspect interviews? Do you want a difficult case that requires extensive note-taking or something more relaxed for a game night? Do you want a physical package or instant access?
Most importantly, look for a game where the solution depends on information you can actually investigate.
The satisfaction comes from reaching the answer yourself – not from eventually being told something you could never have known.
Ready for Another Case?
If you've finished Hidden Games or Unsolved Case Files and the first thing you want is another pile of evidence to investigate, there are plenty of directions to explore.
You can move toward forensic mysteries, cold cases, codebreaking puzzles or story-heavy investigations.
Or you can stay with the format you already know you enjoy.
Ink & Clues offers downloadable murder mystery investigations where you examine case documents, question suspects' stories and try to uncover what really happened.
And if you're looking for more than one investigation, the Complete Game Bundle gives you multiple cases to work through rather than having to choose just one.
The only remaining question is which case you're opening first.
