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The Painscreek Killings
Investigate an infamous cold case in the eerie, abandoned town of Painscreek. Search for evidence, connect the dots and uncover who killed Vivian Roberts. Can you expose the truth behind this town’s dark secrets?
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
72 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“This is an older game but I was told to get it by Ingerdingus so I had to play it. I'm glad I did! It's a really fun detective game with a creepy feel. I'm pretty stupid so I had to look up a few things in my…”
“I love this game. It is truly a detective game. Would LOVE to see more like this! If looking in every drawer and crevice, and looking deeper into notes and recordings for clues excites you, this is for you! Love that it…”
31 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“This is an older game but I was told to get it by Ingerdingus so I had to play it. I'm glad I did! It's a really fun detective game with a creepy feel. I'm pretty stupid so I had to look up a few things in my…”
“I love this game. It is truly a detective game. Would LOVE to see more like this! If looking in every drawer and crevice, and looking deeper into notes and recordings for clues excites you, this is for you! Love that it…”
“A solid mystery game. The story lines up well and the majority of the secrets are both well-hidden and not too frustrating to dig up. Graphically it's definitely a ten year old indie game, but it doesn't ruin the mood…”
16 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“The Painscreek Killings is a wonderful game, that proves that to make a game scare you don't need to make it super dark. So many game developers think that by leaving out light, and giving you a ♥♥♥♥♥♥ non functional…”
“Atmosphere is amazing, the best detective game i have ever played”
“For what it is, this game is phenomenal. I played it with a friend, and we had an absolute blast going through and piecing together exactly what happened, and it was a great experience. Don't set your expectations too…”
14 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“I love this game. It is truly a detective game. Would LOVE to see more like this! If looking in every drawer and crevice, and looking deeper into notes and recordings for clues excites you, this is for you! Love that it…”
“It could do with a bit of polish...but this is still the best detective game I've ever played. The hands off approach makes it feel more immersive. It's quite challenging, but not unfairly so, and feels very rewarding…”
“This game is a awesome for anyone who loves detective work. If the idea of scouring every corner, analyzing notes, and piecing together clues excites you, then this is the perfect game for you! It strikes the ideal…”
6 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“I really enjoyed the game! Me and my partner finished it in one sitting! There were times we were definitely both stumped but it was super enjoyable!!”
“Holy heck I had so much fun playing through this game. Just long enough, just complicated enough, just hard enough. Fantastic.”
“Found this game last year, shout out to Vote 4 Holt, and loved every second of it. It's exactly what I've been wanting from a detective game with minimal hand holding, and the clues weren't so bad that I needed anything…”
28 of the 103 reviews raise this · 20 of them still recommend the game.
“"where does that key fit" simulator”
“I really got into the game at first but eventually it just turned into an annoying tedious mess. If you decide to play this game know this: 1) You will be walking back and forth across the map dozens if not hundreds of…”
“It's a solid 6. It has an excellent premise and I think the first 60% or so is really fascinating. Unfortunately, it's pretty easy for the player to put together what happened, and the last 40% of the game becomes you…”
12 of the 103 reviews raise this · 9 of them still recommend the game.
“It could do with a bit of polish...but this is still the best detective game I've ever played. The hands off approach makes it feel more immersive. It's quite challenging, but not unfairly so, and feels very rewarding…”
“It's a solid 6. It has an excellent premise and I think the first 60% or so is really fascinating. Unfortunately, it's pretty easy for the player to put together what happened, and the last 40% of the game becomes you…”
“Game is good for the first half but very meh afterwards. There's no real deduction as all information is spoon-fed to you. The game felt more about finding the right keys and information via visual search rather than…”
9 of the 103 reviews raise this · 5 of them still recommend the game.
“I really got into the game at first but eventually it just turned into an annoying tedious mess. If you decide to play this game know this: 1) You will be walking back and forth across the map dozens if not hundreds of…”
“A solid mystery game. The story lines up well and the majority of the secrets are both well-hidden and not too frustrating to dig up. Graphically it's definitely a ten year old indie game, but it doesn't ruin the mood…”
9 of the 103 reviews raise this · 8 of them still recommend the game.
“Game is good for the first half but very meh afterwards. There's no real deduction as all information is spoon-fed to you. The game felt more about finding the right keys and information via visual search rather than…”
“I love this game! The mystery is exciting and interesting, and I found it so much fun to delve into the characters individual stories. But like many others, I think the game design could use some work. Navigating around…”
“Let's get this out of the way: The Painscreek Killings is kind of a janky game. The music drones on until it becomes grating, and the inventory is finicky if you are using a controller, especially with menus. It can be…”
5 of the 103 reviews raise this · 5 of them still recommend the game.
“Exploration fans, unite! The Painscreek Killings is a bit rough around the edges and there's no doubt that its ending has aged poorly (or maybe it was never good in the first place), but man, does it scratch an itch.…”
“I love this game! The mystery is exciting and interesting, and I found it so much fun to delve into the characters individual stories. But like many others, I think the game design could use some work. Navigating around…”
“PHENOMENAL mystery game! My partner and I adored this, playing it blind after a truly amazing recommendation from Volt 4 Holt on Youtube. We were addicted from the first minute, and were so into it we had poster boards,…”
Counted across 103 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 91.0% positive rating · as of 2026-05-12
“Let me begin by first saying, I'm a grandfather who is nearly 60 that very much enjoys "cozy" games where there is not a huge amount of pressure on me to have conflicts or quick-time events in games. I do love immersive 1st person games like Cyberpunk 2047, Starfield, and the…”
— a player, Steam review · 33 hrs played“A 7/10 detective game with a good amount of genuinely memorable moments. I think everyone complaining about it being too hard might just be stupid, because I didn't find it difficult at all to find where the keys went or where the game obviously wanted me to go next. Honestly I…”
— a player, Steam review · 7 hrs played“Probably the best "true" murder mystery I've ever played. I had fun playing, but this game for me has a stronger place in my heart for what it stands for rather than what it does. An open-world murder mystery that doesn't hold your hand is a terrifying idea executed really quite…”
— a player, Steam review · 6 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.
The Painscreek Killings Soundtrack Release
Hi everyone, We’ve received many inquiries from fans asking whether the soundtrack for The Painscreek Killings would ever be released. We truly appreciate the continued interest and support. Originall
November 2024 Patch Notes
11/30/2024: Changed all locks to start at 0. ex. 6 digit lock will be 000000. Changes to how items are rotated while being Inspected.
July 2024 Patch Notes
7/24/2024: 1. Added 3200x2000 resolution. 2. Fixed an issue with Andrew's House. This fix will only work on save datas that didn't already run into this issue. If you left Andrew's house after interac
A Bold Approach to Mystery | Dissecting THE PAINSCREEK KILLINGS 1 by Vote 4 Holt
Hi everyone! Recently Vote 4 Holt published an essay style video about mystery games and featured The Painscreek Killings as his case study. He invited 4 players to play The Painscreek Killings and co
The Making of The Painscreek Killings Available Now with 10% off!
Hi everyone! We have released The Making of The Painscreek Killings to be available for purchase! To celebrate launch week, it will also be 10% off. The Making of The Painscreek Killings is a 206-page
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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, Indie |
| Player tags | Investigation · Mystery · Detective · Exploration · Story Rich · Puzzle · Atmospheric · Horror · Walking Simulator · Open World · Supernatural · Adventure (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Steam Achievements · Full controller support · Steam Trading Cards · Family Sharing |
| Languages | English * , Japanese, Russian, French, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Portuguese - Brazil, German, Hungarian, Korean, Italian, Spanish - Spain, Polish, Spanish - Latin America * |
| Controller | Full support |
| Achievements | 33 |
| Official site | https://www.eqstudios.com/painscreekkillings |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Minimum: OS *: Windows 7/8/10 64-bit Processor: i3-2120 @3.3GHz Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 745 (or AMD equivalent) DirectX: Version 11 Storage: 11 GB available space Additional Notes: *Subject to change after updates