The Mystery Cartridge

What Makes a Game a "Palette Cleanser"? There is a particular kind of game that we have come to appreciate at The Mystery Cartridge. It isn't necessarily the best game we've played that month. It may not have the biggest budget, the most impressive graphics, or a story that we're going to be thinking about five years from now. Sometimes, it's a game that we play because we need a break. After spending hours investigating a murder, navigating a psychological horror story, trying to determine which character is lying to us, or generally wondering whether the next room contains a clue or a horrifying surprise, sometimes we want to play something that asks us to do absolutely none of those things. We call those games palette cleansers . And no, we don't mean that the game is bad. Quite the opposite. A good palette cleanser can be exactly what we need. What Is a Palette Cleanser? The term comes from food. If you're eating several courses, something small an...

The Biggest Problem With Mystery Games Might Actually Be Their Best Feature Mystery games have a problem. Once you solve the mystery, you've solved the mystery. That sounds obvious, but it's actually a pretty significant limitation. Take something like the Unsolved Case Files games. The whole point is to investigate a crime, examine the evidence, connect the dots, and eventually figure out whodunnit. The first time you play, there's nothing quite like it. You don't know the answer. Every piece of evidence matters. Every suspect is potentially guilty. You're looking for inconsistencies, trying to connect timelines, and occasionally accusing someone because "there is no way it could be this obvious." And then you solve it. Congratulations. You know who did it. Which means the next time you play, you're not really solving a mystery anymore. That's one reason mystery games have relatively low replayability compared with other types of games. A role-pl...

 Can a Video Game Actually Change the Way You Think? There is a question that tends to come up whenever people start talking seriously about video games: Can a video game actually change the way you think? Not just make you laugh. Not just scare you. Not just give you something to do for twenty hours. Can a game actually change the way you look at people, decisions, morality, relationships, or even yourself? We think the answer is yes. And we're not talking about a game suddenly turning you into a completely different person. We're talking about something considerably more subtle, and potentially much more interesting. Sometimes, a game gives you a different way of looking at something you've encountered a hundred times before. Sometimes, it makes you uncomfortable. Sometimes, it forces you to make a decision when there isn't a good answer. And sometimes, hours after you've turned the console off, you're still thinking about what you did. That's when a game ...

  Fell: Feral City Eight issues. One collection. One very important question: Is there ever going to be an ending? Format: Comic Collection / Trade Paperback Publisher: Image Comics Writer: Warren Ellis Artist: Ben Templesmith Collects: Fell #1–8 Published: 2007 (our copy was purchased around 2010-2012). Genre: Crime / Detective / Horror TMC Classification: Mystery Rating: NOPE Welcome to Feral City We like mysteries. We like detectives. We like weird shit. So when we picked up Fell: Feral City , a collection of the first eight issues of Warren Ellis and Ben Templesmith's Fell , it seemed like a pretty safe bet for The Mystery Cartridge (decades before the site was founded). Detective Richard Fell has been transferred to Snowtown, a nightmarish urban wasteland where crime, corruption, violence, and general human depravity seem to be the natural order of things. It's a detective comic. It's dark. It's weird. It's got Ben Templesmith's distinctive art. A...

Night Trap: 25th Anniversary Edition The game Joe Lieberman told your parents about back in 1993. Platform: Nintendo Switch Genre: FMV / Interactive Movie / Strategy Developer: Digital Pictures Publisher: Screaming Villains Original Release: 1992 Players: 1 Time to Finish: About 30 minutes TMC Classification: Palette Cleanser Rating: Recommended — But Wait for a Sale The Game Joe Lieberman Told You About, Who Knew He Was Such a Nice Guy? There are video games that become famous because they're revolutionary. There are games that become famous because they're terrible. And then there is Night Trap , which became famous because a United States senator decided that this game was a threat to America's children. Yes. This is that game. If you grew up in a Nintendo household like we did, there's a pretty good chance you never played Night Trap when it originally came out. We certainly didn't. And honestly? That's probably for the best. Not because Night Trap...

Death and Taxes Platform: Nintendo Switch Genre: Narrative / Puzzle / Adventure / Dark Comedy Developer: Placeholder Gameworks Publisher: Placeholder Gameworks Release: 2020 Players: 1 Time to Finish: A few hours, depending on how many endings you pursue TMC Classification: Mystery-ish Rating: Recommended - Open the Case Finally, a Game About Death and Taxes There are two things you can count on in life: death and taxes. And since Bradley is a tax expert, it was probably inevitable that Death and Taxes would eventually end up on The Mystery Cartridge. Unfortunately, the game doesn't let you prepare anyone's 1040. Instead, you play a junior Grim Reaper , sitting at a desk in an office and deciding who gets to die. Which, when you think about it, sounds like a pretty straightforward job. A list of names shows up. You look at the information. You decide who lives. You decide who dies. You stamp some paperwork. Go home. Repeat tomorrow. What could possibly go wrong? Well....

 Forensic M.E. Protocol Why did I put my roll of tape on top of the murder weapon? I hope no one asks... Platform: Nintendo Switch  Developer: K148 Game Studio Publisher: Jandusoft Genre: Simulation / Investigation / Mystery Review Code: Provided by the publisher Our Verdict: Open the case You're the Medical Examiner. Good Luck. First, a thank you to Jandusoft for providing The Mystery Cartridge with a review code for Forensic M.E. Protocol . Now, with that out of the way, let's talk about the hardest part of being a medical examiner: Apparently, you're supposed to already know how to be one. Forensic M.E. Protocol puts you in the role of a medical examiner investigating a series of deaths. Across several different types of incidents, you're tasked with examining the scene, identifying the deceased, determining how they died, figuring out what happened, and, when appropriate, determining who killed them. It sounds like exactly the sort of game that should be righ...

Why Is the Elevator Always a Bad Idea? ...Or how do we know something is going to happen in the elevator? There are many things we have learned from playing video games. Don't trust the suspiciously friendly stranger. If there's a locked door, we'll eventually need to find the key (Yes, even in Mideel, if you know, you know). If someone tells you not to go into the basement, you should probably go into the basement. And if you walk into an elevator? Something is about to go horribly wrong. It doesn't matter what kind of game you're playing. Horror game? Definitely something terrible. Mystery game? Something suspicious. Action game? The elevator is going to break. Metal Gear Solid ? Guys in stealth camo are about to attack. Final Fantasy VII ? Rude's going to pop in and ask you to take him, and you, to the prison floor. And if you're playing Silent Hill ? Well... You'd better check the floor indicator. Because there may be a floor there now that absolutel...

A Short Hike Review: Sometimes the Best Adventure Is the One You Don't Have to Rush A Short Hike A charming little adventure about exploring, making friends, and remembering that sometimes the journey really is the point. Developer: adamgryu Publisher: adamgryu Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation, Xbox (As usual, we played it on the Switch) Genre:   Walking Simulator, Adventure, Exploration, Casual Playtime: Approximately 4–5 hours Our Verdict: 9/10 Palette Cleanser: ★★★★★ Mannequin Warning: None Sometimes You Just Need a Break There are times when you finish a game and immediately realize that you need to play something completely different. After spending hours investigating murders, uncovering conspiracies, wandering through creepy buildings, and generally making questionable decisions about which ominous hallway to walk down, sometimes you don't want another mystery. Sometimes you just want to be a bird. That's where A Short Hike comes in. We played A Sh...

 Unpacking It's a game about putting things away. Somehow, it's also a game about growing up, love, heartbreak, finding yourself, and the life you build along the way. And yes, emptying a box feels really freaking good . Platform: Nintendo Switch Genre: Puzzle / Life Simulation / Storytelling Developer: Witch Beam Publisher: Humble Games Release Date: November 2, 2021 Players: 1 Time to Finish: Approximately 3–4 hours Mystery Cartridge Classification: PALETTE CLEANSER Rating: OPEN THE CASE — RECOMMENDED The Case We were looking for a palette cleanser. After playing murder mysteries and psychological thrillers, we wanted something different. Something relaxing. Something that didn't involve investigating a disappearance, finding a dead body, or wondering which suspicious person was lying to us. So we bought Unpacking . How complicated could a game about taking things out of boxes and putting them on shelves possibly be? Well... Holy shit. We were not prepared for Un...