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The Darkside Detective
Grab your trench coat, tune your sixth sense and join the Darkside Division as they investigate the outright bizarre, the downright dangerous and the confusing cases of Twin Lakes. Flesh-hungry tentacles, mafian zombies, and the occasional missing sock are no match for The Darkside Detective.
What players say
Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Score via Steam as of 2026-09-02 · quoted reviews as of 2026-05-12.
What reviewers agree on
60 of the 89 reviews raise this.
“A pretty fun point-and-click adventure game! The real strength of the game is the comedy, there's lots of funny dialogue if you click on everything or try different combinations of items. There are a couple of moon…”
21 of the 89 reviews raise this.
“Great little old school adventure game. Puzzles were not so hard that requires you to look up a solution. Good to play on the deck.”
“makes me feel smart for once”
“Great point and click with lots of fun retro pop-culture references. Puzzles are presented in a sandbox fashion which is EXTREMELY accessible to those not familiar with the genre. HIGHLY recommended for those wanting to…”
15 of the 89 reviews raise this.
“Great little old school adventure game. Puzzles were not so hard that requires you to look up a solution. Good to play on the deck.”
“I got this game from a mystery steam key pack and was pleasantly surprised. I love the pixel graphics, and the puzzle solving. It's not too difficult, you can pretty much just click around and figure things out, and the…”
12 of the 89 reviews raise this.
“A short and simple series of cases with enough puzzling to keep you engaged and the gentle comedy to keep you smiling. The cases are quick enough and varied enough that if you're never stuck with something for too long.…”
“I finished this game what ? Three times ? It's a short and enjoyable point and click. The main cast is quite adorable and the cases various enough to not get tired of them. Also, many easter eggs that will put a smile…”
“Super fun game! There are more cases than I thought there would be to solve, and the sense of humor is awesome. Definitely worth the play! Some of the puzzles are not wholly intuitive, but for the most part, you can…”
11 of the 89 reviews raise this.
“I got this game from a mystery steam key pack and was pleasantly surprised. I love the pixel graphics, and the puzzle solving. It's not too difficult, you can pretty much just click around and figure things out, and the…”
“Darkside Detective is a great game: the art, the music, the characters, and puzzles all mesh together so well. Worth a playthrough!”
8 of the 89 reviews raise this · 7 of them still recommend the game.
“A pretty fun point-and-click adventure game! The real strength of the game is the comedy, there's lots of funny dialogue if you click on everything or try different combinations of items. There are a couple of moon…”
“Such a fun game. The tongue in cheek humor and the bumbling character of Dooley were so fun to play. The only case I found tedious was "Buy Hard" which had vague clues all throughout but all the others were very well…”
“I finished this game what ? Three times ? It's a short and enjoyable point and click. The main cast is quite adorable and the cases various enough to not get tired of them. Also, many easter eggs that will put a smile…”
4 of the 89 reviews raise this.
“Just doesn't do it for me. It's very linear and not particularly funny.”
“Cool concept. Lame Jokes. Mid puzzles. Overall, meh.”
3 of the 89 reviews raise this.
“Just doesn't do it for me. It's very linear and not particularly funny.”
“Cool concept. Lame Jokes. Mid puzzles. Overall, meh.”
Counted across 89 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 94.3% positive rating · as of 2026-05-12
“A totally charming set of bite-sized mysteries in the point-and-click adventure style, filled with fetch quests and object interaction puzzles.”
— a player, Steam review · 10 hrs played“The Darkside Detective is a point-and-click adventure game that embraces humor, simplicity, and charm over complexity or challenge. You play as Detective Francis McQueen, a paranormal investigator working in the strange city of Twin Lakes, solving a series of bizarre and…”
— a player, Steam review · 6 hrs played“The Darkside Detective is one of those games that, technically, do not do anything wrong, but that are so mid and unoriginal and unfun that I think I would be doing you, the reader, a disservice by recomending it. Gameplay wise, this is as basic as a point and click gets. It…”
— a player, Steam review · 8 hrs playedPlayer activity
Monthly average concurrent players. Live data self-collected from the Steam API · history through 2026-06 via SteamCharts.
Achievement stats
Global completion rates across all Steam players — a data view of how far people actually get. Source: Steam official stats · as of 2026-09-05.
Price tracking
US-region pricing (USD), sampled twice daily by our own tracker since 2026-07-11. Steam prices vary by region — always confirm your local price on Steam.
Regional prices at last sample, in local currency — Steam sets each region's price independently.
Cheapest → most expensive, converted to USD at ECB reference rates (2026-09-04). Relative comparison only.
Latest official news
Developer announcements via the Steam news API — links go to the original posts. More across all games on the news hub.
Akupara Games 10 Year Anniversary Schedule
Hey Dectectives We’re 3 days away from our 10 year anniversary Direct and livestream on September 6th! Come join on September 6th at Noon PT for hours of announcements and fun! Also both Darkside Dete
The Darkside Detective: Backside of the Moon demo is out now!
Hey Detectives,The Darkside Detective: Backside of the Moon demo is out now! The demo covers the first half of the first case, “Honey, I Shrunk the Detectives,” which I’m sure you can guess– is about
Introducing The Darkside Detective: Backside of the Moon
Hey Detectives, If you were watching the Unity Awards you would have seen us announcing The Darkside Detective: Backside of the Moon!The Darkside Detective: Backside of the Moon brings six new mind-me
Try Out The Blake Manor LudoNarraCon Demo
Hey Detectives! We’re excited to share that The Séance of Blake Manor is an Official Selection of LudoNarraCon and is featured as part of the narrative steam festival from 1st – 5th May 2025. Alongsid
Spooky Doorway's Next Game!
Hello Detectives! My creators, those lovely losers at Spooky Doorway Games, have just announced The Séance of Blake Manor! It's got a detective (like me) with a spooky mystery (also like me), but it's
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Screenshots
Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.
Facts & details
From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-05-12.
| Genres | Adventure, Casual, Indie |
| Player tags | Point & Click · Detective · Pixel Graphics · Adventure · Story Rich · Mystery · Comedy · Funny · Singleplayer · Indie · Supernatural · Retro (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Steam Achievements · Full controller support · Steam Trading Cards · Camera Comfort · Custom Volume Controls · Mouse Only Option · Playable without Timed Input |
| Languages | English, French, German, Spanish - Spain, Simplified Chinese |
| Controller | Full support |
| Achievements | 30 |
| Official site | http://darksidedetective.com/ |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Minimum: OS: Windows 10 Processor: 3rd Gen i3/AMD FX-4100 Series Memory: 4 GB RAM Graphics: Intel HD (Integrated), GeForce 6 Series/Radeon R7 Series Storage: 1 GB available space