Games like Murdle: what to play when the daily puzzle is done
Murdle is the free daily murder logic puzzle (and the best-selling book series it grew into). Each one is a tidy five-minute whodunit: a handful of suspects, a set of weapons and locations, a stack of clues, and a grid you fill in by elimination until only one killer is left. It is the perfect small deduction habit, a murder you solve with your morning coffee.
The catch is right there in the appeal: it is small, and it is once a day. When you have finished today’s, you want the next fix, or something you can actually sink into. Here is the honest map of games like Murdle, from more daily logic puzzles to bigger deduction games, in free and in paid.
More daily logic puzzles (the closest fix)
You want the same grid-and-clues elimination, just more of it.
The Murdle archive and books. The obvious first step. The site keeps an archive of past puzzles, and the books collect hundreds of them by difficulty. If what you love is exactly that format, the cheapest next move is simply more Murdle.
Logic grid puzzles. Murdle is built on the classic logic grid (sometimes called a “zebra” puzzle): a set of categories and a list of clues you cross off until the answer is forced. Puzzle apps and printable books are full of them. Less story than Murdle, but the same deduction muscle, and effectively endless.
The INQUEST Daily Dossier. This is the one we make, so here is the honest pitch. It is a fresh, free murder case every single day, sitting at the top of the casebook. Think of it as the step up from a daily grid: instead of five minutes of elimination, it is a short case file with witnesses who lie and one accusation you have to earn. Same daily habit, more to chew on. It is free at playinquest.com/play, and there is a write-up of how the Daily Dossier works if you want the detail.
When you want more than a grid
Murdle is deliberately compact. If you liked the deducing and want something with a story you can fall into, these trade the grid for a full case.
INQUEST. Read a case file, interrogate a roster of witnesses who all lie, cross-check their alibis against a timeline, and make one accusation you cannot take back. Twenty to forty-five minutes a case, in your browser, no install. The hand-crafted casebook is free, with a new daily case and two-player co-op on top. It is the natural next size up from a Murdle: the same “catch the lie, name the killer” feeling, stretched into a real mystery.
The Case of the Golden Idol. Around $15 one-time, and the closest in spirit to Murdle’s fill-in-the-blanks. You study a grisly scene and complete sentences that name who did what, and why. Pure logic, no hand-holding, and a brilliant fit if Murdle’s deduction is the part you love.
Return of the Obra Dinn. Around $20 one-time. Board a ghost ship and reconstruct sixty deaths from frozen moments and a logbook. Heavier and longer than anything above, and the best deduction game of its decade.
Her Story. Around $6 one-time. Search a police database for keyword fragments and piece together what really happened from video clips. Deduction as detective work rather than a grid.
For a wider rundown, see the best detective games to play right now.
Free options, if your budget is zero
- Murdle itself, free every day. Nothing wrong with staying put.
- The INQUEST casebook at playinquest.com/play, free in the browser, no sign-up, plus a new free case daily.
- Logic grid puzzle sites and apps, for an endless supply of the underlying puzzle type.
We keep a full list at free murder mystery games you can play online right now.
How to pick in ten seconds
- Five minutes and a coffee: a daily Murdle.
- Five minutes but you want a story: the INQUEST Daily Dossier.
- Twenty minutes and a browser: start an INQUEST case.
- A whole weekend: Return of the Obra Dinn or The Case of the Golden Idol.
Murdle is a great daily habit, and it is fine to just keep doing it. But if the part you actually love is the moment an alibi cracks and you finally know who did it, there is a lot more of that waiting once five minutes stops being enough. If you want the method behind it, we wrote up how to solve a murder mystery.
Try one now
Play an INQUEST case in your browser. Free casebook, a new case daily, solo or two-player co-op. No sign-up.