
- 76/100
- Players34 ratings
- 74/100
- Metacritic5 critic reviews
More scores
- Metacritic usersuser score
- 77/100
- GameFAQsEasy
- 3/5
- Player reviews
- 94% positive6,546 reviews
- Steam Deck
- Verified
- Runs on
- Windows, Mac
- Price
- US$19.99
Where to get it

2019 · SFB Games · Adventure · Detective
Tangle Tower
Timed Nintendo exclusive
Unravel a thrilling mystery by exploring a strange and twisted mansion, discovering curious clues, interrogating peculiar suspects and solving unique puzzles.
- Released
- 2019
- Platforms
- AndroidNintendo SwitchPlayStation 4StadiaWindowsXbox OneiOSmacOS
- Genres
- AdventureDetectiveIndiePoint-and-click adventurePuzzleVisual novel
- Developers
- SFB Games
- Publishers
- SFB Games
- Series
- Detective Grimoire series
- Modes
- Single-player
- Perspective
- Side view
- Themes
- ComedyMystery
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Age ratings
- ACB PGESRB TCLASS_IND LUSK 6PEGI 7CERO AGRAC ALL
- Languages
- Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Dutch, English, English (UK), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil) and 4 more
- Time to beat
- 5.5hmain story6hcompletionist
About
Tangle Tower (also known as Detective Grimoire: Tangle Tower) is a murder mystery point-and-click adventure game developed and published by SFB Games. It is a sequel to the 2014 game Detective Grimoire and the third entry in the Detective Grimoire series. The game was launched with the Apple Arcade service on 19 September 2019 and was later released for Nintendo Switch and Steam on 22 October 2019, followed by PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on 6 October 2021.
›Story
There has been a murder at Tangle Tower, a place where multiple generations of two separate families at odds with each other live.
Players say
Media
The articlegameplay, story, development, reception
Gameplay
The game follows Detective Grimoire and his partner Sally (who appeared in the previous game with a different hairstyle) as they travel to the eponymous Tangle Tower to solve the murder of a girl named Freya Fellow, who was seemingly killed by a painting. Players progress through the game by conversing with the various suspects and searching each room of the tower for clues. Searching the environment will often unveil puzzles that must be solved in order to obtain a new piece of evidence. When certain conditions are met, the player can question each suspect about something they're hiding.
Development
After Detective Grimoire had been completed in 2014 with a light cliff-hanger ending, the team didn't have an immediate rush to do a sequel; however they soon learnt about the Creative Europe’s funding programme which offered funding for narrative driven games, leading to SFB formulating a sequel; they entered into in programme in January 2015. The original development of Tangle Tower was put on hold after Nintendo approached SFB Games to make Snipperclips, but resumed after the game's expansion, Snipperclips Plus, was completed. The team "dusted off" the project and continued working on it for a 2 years before release. Designed in Unity, the team ensured the game was compatible on a variety of platforms from the get go.
The Apple Arcade deadline pushed the development team to tie up loose ends and finish the game. Adam noted that the game went from 90% completion to 80% due to the pushed-up deadline, but that the team were able to finish the project with minimal sacrifices. Due to Apple Arcade's requirements, the game was translated into 17 different languages by Universally Speaking. SFB Games attended their first PAX East Indie Showcase with this title.
Reception
Tangle Tower received mainly positive reviews, holding an 82/100 score on Metacritic. The game was praised for its voice acting, dialogue, and art style. Negative comments were given about the undeserved ending and lingering plot holes.
ScreenRant wrote it "keep[s] you guessing until the surprising final reveal". Pocket Gamer deemed it "gorgeous" and "thrilling". PC Gamer write it was a "light-hearted, comfy murder mystery", while Rock Paper Shotgun praised its "winsome cast, gorgeous music and sharp writing". CBR highlighted a moment of dialogue that was "endearing" and effectively establishing the dynamic between characters.
Awards
Releases by platformdates and regions as published
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Collections1 collection
Platform libraries
Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.
