Detective for Nintendo Switch — top best games in the Detective genre

Silver Pines - a game in the Detective genre

Adventure, Horror, Side view, Exploration, Detective, Metroidvania, Survival horror

Game released: Nintendo Switch → 8 October 2026

Players: 8/10

Steam: 97/100

Metacritic: 84/100

The main character is a private detective, Red Walker, who travels to the mysterious town of Silver Pines to investigate the disappearance of...

Strange Antiquities

Simulation, Puzzle, Logic, Casual game, Detective, Point & Click

Game released: Nintendo Switch → 17 September 2025

Players: 8.3/10

Steam: 95/100

Metacritic: 81/100

A mysterious antique shop in Andermere opens its doors to those who are ready to touch the secrets hidden between the world of the living and the...

Disco Elysium

Role-playing game, Adventure, Isometric, Interactive movie, Detective

Game released: Nintendo Switch → 12 October 2021

Players: 9.2/10

Steam: 92/100

Metacritic: 90/100

Disco Elysium, an isometric text RPG with a point-and-click interface, earned worldwide acclaim for its story and unusual role-playing. Players can...

The Wolf Among Us Remastered

Action, Adventure, Third-person view, Interactive movie, Visual novel, Fantasy, Detective

Game in development: Nintendo Switch → Q1 2027

Players: 10/10

Steam: 90/100

Metacritic: 85/100

An updated version of the iconic adventure from Telltale Games, based on the Fables comic series. The events unfold in a dark New York City, where...

BLACKSAD: Under the Skin

Adventure, Detective, Exploration, Puzzle, Point & Click

Game released: Nintendo Switch → 10 December 2019

Players: 8.3/10

Steam: 78/100

Metacritic: 64/100

BLACKSAD: Under the Skin is a fanatical point and click adventure based on the comic book of the same name about cat detective John Blacksad. In the...

Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong

Role-playing game, Third-person view, Adventure, Detective, Action

Game released: Nintendo Switch → 28 September 2023

Players: 5.5/10

Steam: 64/100

Metacritic: 64/100

Adventure role-playing game, which takes place in the Vampire: The Masquerade universe in accordance with the rules of the fifth edition of the board...

L.A. Noire

Action, Adventure, Third-person view, Puzzle, Detective, Open world

Game released: Nintendo Switch → 14 November 2017

Players: 8.5/10

Steam: 83/100

Metacritic: 82/100

L.A. Noire is a third-person action-adventure game set in an open world. The game will take you to 1947, to the city of Los Angeles. The protagonist...

Call of Cthulhu

Action, Adventure, Horror, First-person view, Detective

Game released: Nintendo Switch → 8 October 2019

Players: 9/10

Steam: 76/100

Metacritic: 66/100

Call of Cthulhu is an action-adventure game with a first-person view and horror elements. The game is filled with a dark and oppressive atmosphere of...

Back to the Dawn

Role-playing game, Strategy, Adventure, Top-down view, Indie, Side view, Detective

Game released: Nintendo Switch → 5 March 2026

Players: 9.5/10

Steam: 95/100

Metacritic: 81/100

An atmospheric adventure that takes you into the harsh reality of a maximum-security prison colony inhabited by anthropomorphic animals. Every day is...

Strange Horticulture

Puzzle, Exploration, Detective, Adventure, Point & Click

Game released: Nintendo Switch → 28 July 2022

Players: 9.4/10

Steam: 95/100

Metacritic: 83/100

Welcome to Andermir — a quiet town surrounded by dense forests inhabited by witches and impenetrable mountains. The player plays the role of a...

Agatha Christie - Death on the Nile

Adventure, Third-person view, Exploration, Detective, Hidden Objects

Game released: Nintendo Switch → 25 September 2025

Players: 10/10

Steam: 77/100

Metacritic: 70/100

Detective adventure in the Agatha Christie series. The main action takes place in the 1970s. The plot tells how detectives Hercule Poirot and Jane...

Night Book

Adventure, Horror, Interactive movie, Visual novel, Detective

Game released: Nintendo Switch → 27 July 2021

Steam: 67/100

Night Book is an adventure horror game in the genre of interactive cinema with point and click elements. Lauralyn works night shifts remotely from...

Inspector Waffles

Adventure, Indie, Point & Click, Side view, Old school, Detective, Puzzle

Game released: Nintendo Switch → 14 October 2021

Steam: 95/100

A detective adventure with pixel art. The main character is Inspector Waffles, an experienced police cat from Cat Town, who is assigned to...

The Case of the Golden Idol

Adventure, Side view, Detective, Puzzle, Point & Click

Game released: Nintendo Switch → 25 May 2023

Players: 8.9/10

Steam: 98/100

Metacritic: 84/100

Side view detective adventure game. The game takes place in an alternate 18th century England, where players will have to unravel 12 of the strangest...

L.A. Noire: Complete Edition

Action, Adventure, Third-person view, Collection, Logic, Detective, Open world

Game released: Nintendo Switch → 14 November 2017

Players: 8.2/10

Steam: 83/100

Metacritic: 79/100

Set in post-war Los Angeles during Hollywood’s Golden Age, this detective adventure follows Cole Phelps, an LAPD detective. Amid corruption and...

Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments

Adventure, Third-person view, Logic, Detective, Puzzle

Game released: Nintendo Switch → 3 February 2022

Players: 8/10

Steam: 89/100

Metacritic: 74/100

Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments is a third-person adventure detective story based on the works of Arthur Conan Doyle. This time the famous...

Case Solved: The London Files

Adventure, Puzzle, Point & Click, Casual game, Hidden Objects, Detective, Logic

Game released: Nintendo Switch → 29 July 2026

Steam: 65/100

A detective puzzle where each investigation is a standalone logical task with a single correct solution. You will need to gather evidence, analyze...

Eternal Threads

Logic, Puzzle, First-person view, Futurism (Future), Detective

Game released: Nintendo Switch → 23 May 2024

Players: 9/10

Steam: 87/100

Metacritic: 73/100

is an adventure puzzle game where the whole point is tied to time manipulation. The story follows Forty-Three, a man from the future, sent to save...

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

Adventure, Puzzle, Side view, Detective

Game released: Nintendo Switch → 30 June 2023

Players: 10/10

Steam: 97/100

Metacritic: 86/100

The main character is Sissel, the spirit of a deceased man, capable of inhabiting objects and controlling them. The goal of the game is to find out...

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

Action, Adventure, Horror, In real time, First-person view, Futurism (Future), Indie, Detective, Walking Simulator, Exploration

Game released: Nintendo Switch → 15 August 2019

Players: 7/10

Steam: 86/100

Metacritic: 80/100

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is an atmospheric adventure with a first-person view and horror elements. You take control of a detective searching for...

Telling Lies

Interactive movie, Adventure, First-person view, Detective, Indie

Game released: Nintendo Switch → 28 April 2020

Players: 5.9/10

Steam: 62/100

Metacritic: 83/100

Telling Lies is an interactive adventure from the creators of the Her Story series. The game tells the story of four characters, one of whom is...

Neon Blood

Cyberpunk, Role-playing game, Side view, Adventure, Science fiction, Indie, Detective, Exploration

Game released: Nintendo Switch → 26 November 2024

Steam: 60/100

An adventure role-playing game set in the cyberpunk future of 2053. The main character is former police detective Axel McCoin, who must uncover a...

Sherlock Holmes The Awakened

Detective, Adventure, Third-person view, Puzzle, Action, Mysticism / Supernatural, Horror, Open world

Game released: Nintendo Switch → 11 April 2023

Players: 8.3/10

Steam: 81/100

Metacritic: 73/100

Remake of the 2007 adventure of the same name, in which the famous London detective confronts a mysterious cult worshiping Cthulhu. A young Sherlock...

Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club

Adventure, Visual novel, Detective, Anime / Manga

Game released: Nintendo Switch → 29 August 2024

Metacritic: 74/100

The hero investigates the murder of a student whose head was covered with a paper bag with a creepy laughing face. The mysterious case turns out to...

Scholar Adventure: Mystery of Silence

Adventure, Puzzle, Indie, Point & Click, Side view, Detective, Visual novel

Game released: Nintendo Switch → 6 March 2026

Steam: 91/100

A pixel adventure in the spirit of 90s quests about a young writer named William, who is searching for inspiration. He goes to an abbey where the...

Kona

Adventure, First-person view, Survival, Detective

Game released: Nintendo Switch → 9 March 2018

Players: 8.6/10

Steam: 81/100

Metacritic: 72/100

Kona: Day One is a survival adventure game with a first-person perspective. The game takes place in 1970, in Northern Quebec. Private detective Carl...

Return of the Obra Dinn

Action, Adventure, First-person view, Indie, Detective, Puzzle

Game released: Nintendo Switch → 18 October 2019

Players: 9.5/10

Steam: 96/100

Metacritic: 89/100

Return of the Obra Dinn is an adventure detective from the creator papers, please, which will tell about the Dinn Disablast, which hides many...

Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter

Action, Adventure, Third-person view, Detective, Puzzle

Game released: Nintendo Switch → 7 April 2022

Players: 7.6/10

Steam: 78/100

Metacritic: 67/100

Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter is an action-adventure game with a third-person view. In the game you will find five cases that Sherlock Holmes...

Tangle Tower

Adventure, Puzzle, Indie, Detective, Point & Click

Game released: Nintendo Switch → 22 October 2019

Players: 7.6/10

Steam: 95/100

Metacritic: 85/100

Tangle Tower is a detective point and click adventure where you have to solve the exciting murder mystery of Freya Fellow. You'll explore a strange...

The Mermaid Mask

Adventure, Point & Click, Mysticism / Supernatural, Casual game, Comedy, Detective

Game released: Nintendo Switch → 16 July 2026

Players: 10/10

Steam: 99/100

Metacritic: 85/100

A colorful quest from the creators of Tangle Tower and Crow Country, where a mysterious murder in a locked room turns into an investigation full...

Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy

Collection, Adventure, Visual novel, Detective, Anime / Manga

Game released: Nintendo Switch → 25 January 2024

Players: 10/10

Steam: 96/100

Metacritic: 81/100

Detective visual novel in the Ace Attorney series, where players take on the role of a lawyer and investigate various cases. The action takes place...

Another Lost Phone: Laura's Story

Adventure, Puzzle, Interactive movie, Text quest, Indie, Casual game, Detective

Game released: Nintendo Switch → 26 April 2018

Steam: 91/100

Another Lost Phone: Laura's Story is an unusual adventure for mobile platforms. The game is based on the gameplay where all the events take place on...

Ace Attorney Investigations Collection

Adventure, Detective, Visual novel, Anime / Manga

Game released: Nintendo Switch → 6 September 2024

Players: 10/10

Steam: 98/100

Metacritic: 83/100

The collection combines two exciting games, offering a unique perspective on crime investigation. Instead of the courtroom, protagonist Miles...

Borneo: A Jungle Nightmare

Action, Adventure, Horror, First-person view, Indie, Detective

Game in development: Nintendo Switch → 2027

Anticipation Rating: 4.6/10

Borneo: A Jungle Nightmare is an interactive horror adventure created from the script of Ruggero Deodato, a famous Italian film director who “ate the...

Edge of Sanity

Survival horror, Exploration, Action, Crafting, Detective, Adventure, Side view, Horror

Game released: Nintendo Switch → 13 September 2024

Players: 10/10

Steam: 68/100

A hand-drawn 2D psychological survival horror game set in the ruthless wilds of Alaska with the intense atmosphere of the Cthulhu Mythos. The main...

On Your Tail

Adventure, Detective, Action, Exploration, Open world, God Simulator, Simulation

Game released: Nintendo Switch → 13 March 2025

Steam: 87/100

Metacritic: 74/100

The game takes place in Borgo Marina, a picturesque coastal town where sunny days are filled with warmth and nights are filled with magic and...

The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story

Interactive movie, Adventure, Historical, Detective

Game released: Nintendo Switch → 12 May 2022

Steam: 79/100

Metacritic: 72/100

The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story is a Japanese-style interactive adventure where you investigate a series of mysterious murders that span a...

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy

Anime / Manga, Visual novel, Detective

Game released: Nintendo Switch → 9 April 2019

Players: 9.1/10

Steam: 97/100

Metacritic: 80/100

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy is an anime visual novel. This episode takes place in a courtroom. You'll experience the thrill of protecting...

Simulacra

Adventure, Puzzle, Horror, Detective, Point & Click

Game released: Nintendo Switch → 3 December 2019

Players: 9/10

Steam: 93/100

Metacritic: 69/100

Simulacra is an unusual detective puzzle game for mobile platforms. You have found a phone belonging to a missing girl named Anna. In it you see a...

The Shapeshifting Detective

Adventure, First-person view, Interactive movie, Indie, Detective

Game released: Nintendo Switch → 5 November 2018

Players: 5.2/10

Steam: 77/100

Metacritic: 72/100

The Shapeshifting Detective is an interactive adventure thriller with a first-person view. The game revolves around a detective who is trying to find...

Detective

Best Games in the Detective genre for Nintendo Switch