How to play PLAY INQUEST

PLAY INQUEST is a free murder-mystery game you play in the browser. Each case opens with a dossier: the scene, the victim and a short report. Your job is to work out who did it, with what, and why, then make one accusation. There is no undo, and the game never tells you when you have found enough.

Working a case

  1. Read the case file. The CASE tab holds the setting, the victim and the scenes you can search.
  2. Search the scenes. Each search can turn up a clue. Found clues are filed under EVIDENCE.
  3. Question the suspects. Every suspect has an account of the evening. Some questions only open once you hold the clue that challenges them, and what they say is recorded under TESTIMONIES.
  4. Find the contradiction. Line up the alibis against the evidence. The killer's story is the one that cannot be true.
  5. Accuse. Name the killer, and the weapon and motive if you can. Only the killer decides the case: a correct accusation reveals the confession, and a wrong one closes the file.

Ways to play

The Daily Dossier is a new case every day, free without an account. Each daily has three suspects and five clues, and you must find all five clues and open all four dossier tabs before you can accuse. The casebook holds longer Classified cases set across India; a free account lets you pick five of them, and Premium opens the rest. You can also invite a friend to two-player co-op, where you share one case and each make your own final call.

Before you start

New to deduction games? Our guide to how to solve a murder mystery walks through building an alibi timeline, and ten types of evidence detectives use explains what each kind of clue can and cannot prove. Read more about the game on the About page, or browse the Journal.