I’m pretty sure you’ve seen or at least know aboutResident Evil’sinventory management mechanics or even possiblyAce Attorney’sback-and-forth court battles.
Well, what if I told you aboutMindcop? It’s a slight mix of these games, except that instead of constantly managing your inventory, you’re doing that with time itself.
It’s a whodunit detective mystery game that focuses on you solving a murder case and figuring out the killer among various individuals, a familiar premise to theDanganronpaseries.
If you’ve played games likeReturn Of The Obra Dinnand know how much it emphasizes logical deduction, then I think you have a general idea of what I mean.
The key difference is that this game adds its own spin here with the mechanics, not particularly overwhelming you with anything but simultaneously ensuring the game doesn’t hold your hand throughout its relatively short playthrough.
Though there are some highs and lows to be discussed here, in a similar fashion to the Mindcop himself, let’s Mindsurf our way through this review as I discuss what makes this a remarkable indie detective title.
Note:Due to the branching narrative design and choices, we’ll keep the review spoiler-free to ensure you can experience and enjoy the game’s storytelling aspect yourself.
The Memoirs Of Mindcop And Linda
Our two main characters in this noir-esque tale, the Mindcop (Yeah, that’s his actual name and titular title) and his partner, Linda, investigate a murder at Merrilyn Crater Camp.
Right from the get-go in their car rides and the occasional banter they share later on, the dynamic of Mindcop and Linda is enough of a buddy cop trope that you can’t help but be instantly hooked on them.
While Mindcop does most of the heavy lifting, it was nice to see Linda chiming in whenever possible to share her insights and analysis despite giving a first impression of someone with few words.
Those are the two main detectives in the story, but let’s briefly discuss the others, specifically a couple of the camp residents, and how much depth they possess in contrast to this spiraling murder case.
Each character is eloquently presented here, whether it’s Officer Kenneth’s timid nature or Olivia and Sean’s conflicting relationship. It’s hard to catch a blind spot at first glance that makes them so vulnerable to being seen as potential suspects.
Right from the get-go in their car rides and the occasional banter they share, the dynamic of Mindcop and Linda is enough of a buddy cop trope that you’re able to’t help but be instantly hooked on them.
Instead of describing each of them and their complex personalities and traits, I strongly advise that you experience that part of the game by yourself due to how spoiler-heavy the game is after the first two days.
The reason is solely because there’s a lot of depth here; you question them, Mindsurf their brains, and confront them with evidence, search warrants, and accusations.
Moreover, the part that caught me so off guard was how the game actually encouraged me to take physical notes on these characters and the overarching narrative, since it doesn’t do that for you, nor do the characters repeat themselves.
You really don’t need to do that, but it really heightens the immersion factor because once you obtain important topics during a questioning session, you may then use those same topics on other characters to catch a personal detail about them.
Towards the end of my initial playthrough, I also realized that I had missed jotting down a couple of relationships between a few characters, but that’s mostly irrelevant since the game’s main purpose is to find the killer.
Surfing Through Truths, Lies And Uncertainty
While Mindcop’s gameplay is primarily a point-and-click adventure, two of its standout features are Mindsurfing and the Sea of Thoughts, which make it unique in a genre with so many other amazingDetective video games.
Mindsurfing is a puzzle-based minigame that occurs when you choose to ‘mindsurf’ a character, with gameplay functioning similarly between Tetris and Tic-Tac-Toe.
So, in hindsight, while you may think Mindsurf and Sea of Thoughts are there for gameplay purposes, they really add a layer of intricacy to the narrative and, most importantly, keep you engaged.
You use the Mindcop’s four different-colored Mind Bullets to create matching-color lanes of three in horizontal, vertical, or even diagonal directions to cause chains and keep the timer up so that he reaches the finish line.
Also, the more of these Mindsurfing sections you complete, the more chances you have to upgrade each color to make the bullets hit stronger, thus rewarding you with more allotted time from successful chains.
However, keep in mind that Mindsurf gets spiced up with new modifiers in the mix, such as ‘Stressors’ disrupting your chains at any given moment unless you have Stress Barriers.
It may not seem like it at first, but there’s complexity here, and you can’t breeze past it since it ramps up the difficulty in speed, really testing your reflexes at times.
This kind of gameplay mechanic not only tests your awareness skills but, most importantly, is a creative way to help the game achieve the special identity that it deserves, in addition to the storytelling aspect.
Now, it’s worth pointing out that you can make Mindsurfing easier or just straight out turn it off from the settings. If the latter is turned on, you will be required to at least attempt it once before using the level of your bullets to determine a successful outcome.
Depending on that successful outcome, you’ll then be able to access the character’s Sea of Thoughts, the second crowning feature of this game.
When you complete a Mindsurf, you’ll be able to access three main doors: The Truth, Uncertainty, and Lie. Each one differs from the other, but the Uncertainty one will definitely confuse you the most here.
Interestingly, these can all be memories, thoughts, or constructs of a character’s emotions, adding nuance to deducing each suspect and then interpreting them with the case.
It unlocks a different perspective on that character, giving you a stronger outlook on their traits and demeanor. Most notably, it helps you further shortlist the possible murderer on the final day.
This is also why I think many can pick Mindcop up and play with such ease, with the only troublesome aspects being the time management system and choosing to take detailed notes on characters.
Not So Trigger Happy Detective
Don’t expect to finish Mindcop in your first playthrough, because chances are, like me, you’ll either falter in finding the killer, or make it through just fine without getting sidetracked.
And let me clarify by sidetracking: the game’s progression is non-linear, and it’ll attempt to always throw you in a loop with its frequent red herrings, which can crash your investigation’s momentum if you like to explore every possible outcome.
You have five in-game days to find the true culprit of the murder. Most importantly, you get about seven hours each day, which gets subtracted by a specific amount of time to gather clues, interact with suspects and environments, and venture to places.
I can’t emphasize enough how you need to manage those seven hours carefully, pay attention, and be logical enough to conclude which clues and evidence pieces can untangle the web.
Especially given how some choices take up so much of your given time, this low-key obstructs and limits your freedom in the game’s day-to-day progression cycles.
And if you don’t reveal the killer on the final day, the story will restart from the beginning, which I can understand might irk some people even after I’ve mentioned the hindrance of the time management mechanic.
Moreover, considering how you’ll need to go over everything again from the start doesn’t help with regaining your motivation for another playthrough.
Sure, even I found doing a full rerun of the game annoying, but on the Steamdeck while taking notes on my smartphone, it really became a cozy time, and I got to the end in no time flat again, with a proper ending.
Those are its main faults, but to reiterate, there’s so much depth to the writing here, both in terms of the characters and the storytelling and with creative gameplay elements as the catalyst, you can’t help but enjoy it again on your next playthrough.
And having played a game like Life is Strange: Double Exposure recently, while I adored that much as I did, I have to admit that Mindcop satisfied that craving for a true detective whodunit game, a void that only Disco Elysium fulfilled for me a few months back.
Closing Thoughts:
Mindcop is an entertaining noir detective game that is a welcome addition to a coveted genre of other great titles. Its three-dimensional characters have enough dilemmas and conflicts to make you stray off the case and dig into their own backstories. The writing has a profound balance between melancholy and humor that it will occasionally sprinkle in some wholesome beats. Despite the time management mechanic being somewhat harsh on your actions, Mindsurf and Sea of Thoughts are two gameplay components that make the experience understandable and easy to manage for casual players. Regardless of its few flaws, those are far outweighed by the creative gameplay, unique art style, and strong writing, which tie everything together wonderfully.
