A good crime solving game doesnât reward the person who guesses fastest.
It rewards the person who notices what others miss.
A strange timestamp. A contradiction hidden in a witness statement. A receipt that doesnât match an alibi. A detail in a photograph that suddenly changes how you understand the entire case.
If you want to get better at solving mystery and investigation games, the biggest improvement usually doesnât come from becoming better at guessing.
It comes from becoming more methodical.
Hereâs how to approach a case more like an investigator.
1. Separate Facts From Assumptions
One of the easiest mistakes to make is treating something that sounds plausible as though it has already been proven.
A suspect might say they were home all evening.
That is not necessarily a fact.
The fact is:
The suspect claims they were home all evening.
That distinction matters.
As you investigate, try separating information into three categories:
- Confirmed facts
- Claims made by suspects or witnesses
- Your own theories
This prevents assumptions from slowly turning into âevidenceâ simply because youâve repeated them often enough.
Before accusing anyone, ask:
What do I actually know â and what am I assuming?
2. Build a Timeline Early
Timelines are one of the most useful tools in almost any investigation game.
Write down the important events in chronological order:
- When was the victim last seen?
- When is the crime believed to have happened?
- Where does each suspect claim to have been?
- Are there phone calls, purchases, messages or other events with exact timestamps?
- How long would it realistically take to travel between locations?
Individual pieces of information may look harmless until you place them next to each other.
A suspect says they left work at 8:00.
A receipt places them somewhere else at 8:12.
A witness says they saw their car near the crime scene at 8:25.
Suddenly, the timeline becomes much more interesting.
If a mystery feels confusing, building a timeline is often one of the fastest ways to create structure.
3. Test Motive, Means and Opportunity
A classic way to evaluate suspects is to look at three things:
Motive: Why would this person commit the crime?
Means: Did they have the ability, access or tools required?
Opportunity: Could they realistically have committed it?
A strong motive alone doesn't prove anything.
A suspect might desperately want the victim dead but have a rock-solid alibi.
Another person may have had perfect access to the crime scene but no obvious reason to kill anyone.
Instead of asking:
âWho seems the most suspicious?â
ask:
âWhich suspect can I connect to motive, means and opportunity using actual evidence?â
This gives your investigation a much stronger foundation.
4. Treat Alibis as Claims That Need Testing
Don't simply accept an alibi because it sounds detailed.
Break it apart.
Who can confirm it?
Does the timing work?
Does any physical or digital evidence support it?
Is part of the story independently verified while another part relies entirely on the suspect's own account?
The most useful question isn't always:
âIs this person lying?â
It can be:
âWhich parts of this statement can I prove?â
A mostly truthful statement can still contain one carefully hidden lie.
5. Read Interviews for Contradictions â Not Body Language
In fictional investigations, it can be tempting to think a nervous or unpleasant character must be guilty.
But personality isn't evidence.
Instead, compare what people actually say.
Does one suspect describe an event differently from another?
Does someone change their account later?
Does a witness know something they shouldn't reasonably know?
Does a statement conflict with a timestamp, photograph or document?
The strongest inconsistencies usually come from comparing multiple sources of information, not deciding that someone âsounds suspiciousâ.
6. Pay Attention to Exact Times, Dates and Locations
Numbers are easy to skim past.
Don't.
Exact times, dates, addresses, distances and durations often exist for a reason.
If a suspect claims they drove somewhere in ten minutes, check whether that seems realistic.
If two documents list slightly different dates, determine whether that's important.
If a call took place at 19:48 and the crime happened around 19:50, ask what that tells you.
You don't need to obsess over every number.
But when a game gives you unusually precise information, it's often worth comparing it against the rest of the case.
7. Look for Connections Between Documents
A clue becomes much more powerful when it connects with something else.
A bank transaction might look unimportant until you discover a suspect lied about their finances.
A photograph might seem ordinary until you compare it with a witness statement.
A medical detail might only become relevant after you discover what someone had access to.
Instead of asking:
âWhat does this document prove?â
also ask:
âWhat other evidence does this connect to?â
The best deductions often come from combining two or three seemingly ordinary details.
8. Don't Ignore What Is Missing
Sometimes absence can be informative too.
Did someone describe the entire evening except for one unexplained hour?
Is there a person who should appear in a timeline but doesn't?
Does a witness discuss a conversation without mentioning something another person says was central to it?
Be careful here: missing information isn't automatically proof of guilt.
But gaps can tell you where to look next.
9. Eliminate Suspects Systematically
Many players decide on a favourite suspect early and then spend the rest of the game trying to prove themselves right.
This is confirmation bias, and it's extremely effective at ruining an investigation.
Try doing the opposite.
Attempt to eliminate suspects.
Can their alibi be independently confirmed?
Could they physically have reached the crime scene?
Do they have access to whatever was used?
Does another piece of evidence make their involvement impossible?
Create a simple suspect list and mark what strengthens or weakens the case against each person.
If your theory requires ignoring several inconvenient facts, it probably needs work.
10. Create More Than One Theory
Once you've found one explanation that fits, don't immediately stop investigating.
Build an alternative.
If Suspect A is guilty, how do the major clues fit?
If Suspect B is guilty, can you explain the same evidence?
Then compare the theories.
Which one requires fewer assumptions?
Which one explains more evidence?
Which one survives the contradictions?
A theory becomes much stronger when you've actively tried to disprove it and failed.
11. Be Careful With Red Herrings
A suspicious detail doesn't always relate directly to the murder.
Someone might be lying because they're having an affair.
A strange payment could relate to another secret.
A hostile relationship might explain why someone hated the victim without proving that they killed them.
Good mystery games often give innocent suspects reasons to lie.
Otherwise, every lie would point straight to the culprit.
When you discover something suspicious, ask:
âDoes this connect to the crime â or does it simply explain why this person is hiding something?â
12. Don't Overcomplicate the Solution
Mystery players sometimes create theories far more elaborate than anything the evidence supports.
Secret twins.
Huge conspiracies.
Multiple killers.
Documents being completely fabricated.
Everyone working together.
Unless the game gives you a reason to consider something like that, start with the explanation requiring the fewest unsupported assumptions.
A clever solution should still be supported by the case material.
You shouldn't need to invent an entire second story to make your theory work.
13. Take Notes as You Go
Memory becomes unreliable surprisingly quickly when you're working through lots of interviews, names, times and pieces of evidence.
Write things down.
Useful notes include:
- Important timestamps
- Contradictions
- Relationships
- Motives
- Unconfirmed alibis
- Questions you still need to answer
- Evidence supporting or weakening each suspect
You don't need a complicated detective board with red string â although nobody is stopping you.
A sheet of paper with a few headings can make an enormous difference.
14. If You're Playing in a Group, Explain Your Reasoning
One of the advantages of solving a case with other people is that everyone notices different things.
Don't just say:
âI think it's Sarah.â
Explain why.
That lets other players challenge the theory.
Maybe you've misunderstood a timeline.
Maybe they found another document that changes everything.
Or maybe explaining the theory out loud makes you realise it doesn't actually make sense.
Discussion isn't just part of the entertainment.
It's part of the investigation.
15. Ask What Evidence Would Prove You Wrong
This is one of the best habits you can develop.
Once you've formed a theory, stop looking only for evidence that supports it.
Ask:
âWhat would prove this theory wrong?â
Then actively look for it.
If you think someone committed the crime at 9:00, evidence placing them somewhere else at 9:00 matters far more than another clue suggesting they disliked the victim.
This makes your conclusions much more reliable.
A Simple Detective Checklist
When you feel stuck, go back to the basics:
- What is definitely known?
- What is only claimed?
- When exactly did the crime happen?
- Who had motive?
- Who had the means?
- Who had the opportunity?
- Which alibis are independently confirmed?
- Which statements contradict each other?
- Which pieces of evidence connect?
- What am I currently assuming?
- Is there another explanation?
- What would prove my theory wrong?
Often, one of these questions exposes something you overlooked.
How to Get Better at Crime Solving Games
Like most skills, investigative thinking improves with practice.
After finishing a case, don't just look at whether you identified the murderer.
Look at how you reached the answer.
Which clues did you notice?
Which ones did you miss?
Did you accuse someone too early?
Did you ignore evidence because it conflicted with your favourite theory?
Did another player spot a connection you completely overlooked?
Over time, you'll naturally become better at structuring timelines, comparing statements and noticing inconsistencies.
If you want to practice on evidence-driven investigations, Ink & Clues creates murder mystery games built around police reports, interviews, photographs and other case material.
For several different investigations, you can also explore the Full Game Bundle.
Think Like an Investigator, Not a Guesser
The goal isn't to be the first person to accuse someone.
It's to build the strongest explanation of what happened.
Slow down.
Separate facts from claims.
Build the timeline.
Challenge alibis.
Compare evidence.
Test competing theories.
And most importantly, be willing to abandon your favourite suspect when the evidence points somewhere else.
Because the most satisfying moment in a crime solving game isn't simply discovering that you guessed the right person.
It's knowing exactly why they're guilty â and being able to prove it.
