Ludography
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

Tangle Tower cover

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

PlatformReleasedRegions
iOS19 September 2019Worldwide
Nintendo Switch21 October 2019Europe · Worldwide 22 October 2019
macOS22 October 2019Worldwide
Windows22 October 2019Worldwide
PlayStation 46 October 2021Worldwide
Xbox One6 October 2021North America
Android26 September 2023Worldwide
StadiaUnreleased

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Platform libraries

Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.