1983 · Adventure · Puzzle

Sleuth

As you begin a game of Sleuth a murder has just been committed. Your job is to mingle with the house guests and to search the contents of the house until you feel you have solved the crime. Every game of Sleuth is different so you must fully explore the house each time that you play. As your investigation proceeds the murderer will begin to grow suspicious and will most likely start plotting your demise. If you have not figured out who the murderer is by this point in the game, your chances of survival are slim.

Released: 1983
Platforms: MS-DOS
Genres: Adventure Puzzle Text adventure
Developers: —
Publishers: —
Perspective: Bird view / Isometric
Themes: Mystery
Country: United States

About

Sleuth is a text-based "whodunit" adventure video game created by Eric N. Miller of Norland Software (now defunct). It was first released in 1983 for IBM PC compatible machines running MS-DOS. Instead of utilizing a true CGA graphics mode, the game makes use of the semigraphical characters found in the IBM PC's Code page 437 character set.

›Story

In the tradition of the famous board game Clue/Cluedo, a murder has been committed in a lavish mansion and it is now up to you to investigate the crime and expose the murderer.

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

When the game starts, a murder has just been committed in the victim's estate. As an investigator, the player must solve the murder mystery by examining the estate and talking to its occupants. The player can move the character using the arrow keys, and interact with persons and objects (after locating the magnifying glass located randomly in one of the rooms) by issuing commands (from a fairly limited vocabulary list) at the game's prompt (similar to Sierra's "Quest" games). To win the game, the player must accurately identify the murder weapon, room the murder took place, and the murderer.

The player can do this by examining different objects in the game, talking to the occupants and observing their behavior. The murderer is the one whose alibi contradicts everyone else's. After identifying the three clues, the player must then collect the murder weapon, gather everyone in the room of the murder, and accuse the murderer.