It's been exactly one year since we launched our big ambitious catalogue of thinky games, and we've been constantly adding to it ever since. Today a huge batch of visual novel detective games have landed, greatly expanding our coverage of the genre.
These big additions covering new niches of the thinky world have become a regular occurrence, previously in categories like automation & engineering games, little compact roguelikes, and cryptic puzzle-books . The database now contains over 800(!) titles, and we're inching ever closer to that big 1000-games mark.
The database isn't only a big list of games: so much work has been put into many powerful search and filter tools that let you find exactly what you're looking for, from splitting games up by platform to sorting by difficulty and choosing from dozens of specific genres and vibes. We've really tried to make it the most useful and comprehensive place to find these kinds of puzzle-adjacent games on the internet.
Not long ago we added the ability to create custom playlists of games that you can then link and share: meaning users can now break down this huge pool of games into any specific grouping they can conceive of. Recommend to friends the games you've completed or loved the most, or perhaps curate a more niche selection like Joe and his bunny-related games list.
This week's large influx of new titles is all about the visual novel genre, a character-driven type of game often putting you in the role of detectives, lawyers or other parties interested in untangling a complex narrative and getting to the bottom of what's happened. We've added many of the Ace Attorney games, a series that stands as an inspirational pillar in the genre alongside other classics like Professor Layton, and then we've got lots of lesser known recommendations coming from the community.
There are games that take direct inspiration from the greats, such as Aviary Attorney and Turnabout in the Lighthouse of Lunacy, unusual mashups like Hero of Law, games of investigating miniature 3-dimensional scenes like Little Locked Rooms, and even crimes that require Picross logic grids to solve like those in Murder by Numbers.
I'll be honest here: I'm a little bit out of my depth when it comes to genres like this, because thinky games are just such a wide space that one person can't hope to keep tabs on all of them. Which is why you'll have to explore the database for yourself to discover and learn about all of the latest additions.
If you feel like an expert in one specific area of this world, or just want to see your favorite game in the database, we love getting suggestions and we plan on tackling even more genre niches in the future such as tactics and strategy games, point-and-click adventures, etc. Join our discord to join the conversation and learn where to send us game recommendations!
Disclaimer: Thinky Games is part of the Carina Initiatives and may have professional relationships with individuals and businesses related to the subject of this article. Please see our Editorial Policy for details.
