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I'd like to throw Jonathan Creek into the ring.

It's a BBC TV series from the 1990s and 2000s, in which Jonathan (who devises magic tricks for a living) solves a different mystery each episode, enlisted by a tabloid-y true crime writer named Maddy (although she doesn't feature in the later, IMO weaker, series).

The mysteries are usually murders, often of the 'locked-room' variety. The solutions are often clever, if highly elaborate (don't expect to get them before the reveal). The emphasis is always on figuring out how the crime was committed, not whodunnit. There are always a couple of 'mini mysteries' thrown in throughout, so you don't have to wait till the very end to get a taste of that 'aha' feeling.

In many ways, it's similar to Monk (which I've also enjoyed, although I haven't seen that much of it).

The show is old enough that you should be able to find it floating around online somewhere. It used to be on Netflix in the UK, but not anymore. I recommend starting from the beginning. It's not one of those that takes two seasons to find its stride, from what I remember.

[SIGNAL & ECHO: IRIS IS MISSING (DEMO)]

For your consideration:

SIGNAL & ECHO: IRIS IS MISSING (DEMO)
Play it on AGS | Play it on Steam | Play it on itch.io

Help Ollie, a fledgling reporter on his first day at the Signal & Echo newspaper, to solve the mystery behind a schoolgirl's recent disappearance.
This one-hour-plus demo, developed by a former journalist, uses a mix of traditional point-and-click mechanics and a unique text parser system to really test your deduction skills.
Ask characters about any hotspot or proper noun, and use the same system to find new locations on your map and past news articles on your computer.

By Kini Games, with player character animations by Hobo

Trailer

Screenshots (click to enlarge)

Please consider for:

• Best Demo

Thanks so much for the kind words, @heltenjon. They mean a lot!

I haven't played yet, but I checked out the first couple of minutes of that GSDBoxer video and, well, colour me impressed! Very cool of you to share your code, too.

I'll return here to give feedback, once I've had a chance to play the game myself.

Thanks so much, @lorenzo and @RamoramaInteractive!

@SarahLiz, I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for your interest!

Hi all,

I've just launched the demo of my game (made in AGS), Signal & Echo: Iris is Missing, which I'm billing as "a point-and-click adventure with innovative detective mechanics". This is my first 'proper' game, so I'd really love some feedback.

(I hope it's OK to publish this under 'Completed Game Announcements', given that it's a demo. There's at least an hour of game there. Basically, it's 'Day 1', but I didn't want to make it episodic. Still, if this doesn't fly, please let me know and I'll happily remove the post.)

The game's about a young reporter named Ollie (my background is in journalism). On his first day at the local paper, he's been tasked with solving the mystery behind a schoolgirl's recent disappearance.

Alongside inventory puzzles and verb interactions, the game uses a unique text parser system, which I designed so that I could use puzzles like you might find in a detective game in an otherwise traditional P&C adventure.

Here are the links:

AGS page
Steam
itch.io

And here's the trailer:

If you give it a try, please let me know how you got on!

Thanks!

Just dropped the trailer. Not long till the demo comes out, if all goes to plan 

Thanks for your continued interest, Cap'n!

Yup. Your own notes indeed (you're a reporter, after all!). In this GMTK video about detective games, there's an interesting example of a puzzle from Discworld Noir at the 10-minute mark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwV_mA2cv_0 Having the player write their own notes, and then use the parser system, is my way of trying to address the problem Mark highlights in that section. Some of the nouns you'll be noting in my game aren't just handed to you; you have to deduce them.

In case you want more info about the parser, it accepts:

1. Any proper noun found in-game (the examples I use repeatedly, in both marketing copy and the tutorial section, are John Smith, London and The Beatles - the idea being to stress that proper nouns cover much more than just people's names)

2. Any hotspot name, from any location

Steam and itch.io pages are now live! (Trailer will be added soon.)

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2128530/Signal__Echo_Iris_is_Missing_demo/

https://kini-games.itch.io/signal-echo-iris-is-missing

For anyone interested in seeing the parser system in action, check out these short videos:

Thanks heltenjon

I'm sure you're right about the video request. If I don't get enough volunteers this way, I'll update my post to make clear that I no longer need testers to do that.

[EDIT:]

EDIT: I launched the demo on November 2. There's about an hour of game there. If you play, I'd love to hear your feedback!

Here are the links:

AGS page
Steam
itch.io

And here's the trailer:

---------------------------------------------------

Hi everyone,

I have no idea why it's taken me so long to post here about my game, Signal & Echo: Iris is Missing. It's going to enter beta testing any day now (I've posted about that in the 'recruitment' section - if you're interested, please take a look). Well, better late than never!

Here's the copy from my website, www.kinigames.com, along with some screenshots. (EDIT: I've also now added some short videos a couple of posts down, showcasing the three main ways of using the text parser system.)

Any thoughts appreciated 



Just gimme the gist!

Informed by the developer’s past career in journalism, you play as Ollie, a wannabe reporter on his first day of work experience at the Signal & Echo newspaper, in the fictional town of Runeton, England.

Ollie thought he’d be chained to his desk all day, rewriting press releases. Instead, he’s been given a real assignment: find out what happened to missing schoolgirl Iris Wood.

Using a unique text parser system, alongside traditional point-and-click mechanics, help Ollie impress his colleagues and break the story wide open!



What’s this about a unique text parser?

Alongside the usual verb interactions and inventory puzzles, Signal and Echo: Iris is Missing uses an innovative text parser systemâ€"for conversations, searching the newspaper’s computer archive, and finding new locations on your map.

The system allows you to type any proper noun (i.e. capitalised noun, like John Smith, London, or The Beatles), so long as you’ve found it in-game. The system also accepts the name of any hotspot, from any location, including inventory items.

This means you can ask anyone about any of these things. You'll need to take notes and think for yourself! (All the puzzles use real-world logic, as opposed to cartoon or moon logic.)



I’m sold! When and where’s it coming out?

The demo is about to enter beta testing, so there’s not long to wait!

Once it’s ready, the demo will be free to download from Steam, itch.io, and (possibly) the Kini Games website.

Check back here for updates, or follow the developer,  Will Ackermann (aka Kini), on twitter games_kini