This is an easy game to get in and start playing. You can move the detective and dog around with the mouse or the arrow keys. There are few keyboard commands to remember. Space bar brings up the next bit of dialog with someone, and ESC key gives access to saving, map, clues found, etc. You have to continually hit the S key to toggle between the detective and the dog. The dog is the only one that can find clues, but the detective is the only one who can talk to suspects. You walk around the grounds of a large mansion looking for clues and questioning suspects. Certain areas are only unlocked after talking to someone or finding a particular clue. A lot of the suspects have reasons they could have wanted to kill the victim. At the end, when you have found all clues and talked to all suspects (sometimes you need to go back and question them about a clue), you get to explain your solution to the crime. This part is very forgiving, if you get it wrong, it says to think about the evidence and try again. You have to identify why each suspect would may wan to kill the victim, then identify who did it and why. I spent an evening then a morning finishing the game, and I am not an expert gamer. Fun if you like exploration type mystery games.
This a awesome game. It is easy to learn and very fun to explore all the different map locations. Combat is simple but can require some strategy. Also, it's forgiving- you can surrender if it looks like you are going to get wiped out. Different items give you different abilities so you have to figure out how to best equip your character. Like many games, experience gains lets you increase you various skills. You discover new locations either by being told about a place and given a task/quest, you randomly stumble upon a place, or you see it from a distance using binoculars. I love the humor too. The hand drawn graphics are amazing. I hope to see more games like this.
