ⓘ Steam

Anyone who enjoys quirky mystery stories and likes playing amateur detective may find an interesting new addition on Steam: No Results Found – a free detective game from South Korean developer Zzangdol Games. Released on August 14, the game has gotten off to an exceptionally strong start on Steam: 98% of the more than 500 reviews posted so far are positive, while SteamDB records a peak of 1,332 concurrent players.

In No Results Found, players take on the role of a religious studies scholar tasked by a government agency with reopening a long-closed case. All 227 members of the so-called “Church of the Nine-Tentacled Octopus” died during a ritual. Authorities believe it was either a mass accident or collective suicide – but the victims’ families do not believe that explanation.

Instead of searching crime scenes or interrogating suspects, players sit at a computer in a small office and dig through websites, emails, files and forum posts. Suspicious names or terms have to be identified independently and entered into a search bar. If the search is correct, new documents appear and the next lead opens up. It is worth noting, however, that the game requires some knowledge of English. The text is only available in English, Korean and Japanese.

Steam reviews particularly praise this authentic sense of investigation. Rather than simply following highlighted clues, players have to identify suspicious terms themselves, make connections and use them to determine their next searches. However, some of the required search terms are said to be very specific, which can quickly bring progress to a halt. Some users also criticize the game's strong resemblance to Lost Wiki: Kozlovka. Most of the reviews were written in Korean, which is not inherently suspicious given the game's country of origin, but the authenticity of the reviews cannot be conclusively verified. For a free game, however, mystery fans will probably find that easy enough to overlook. Steam Deck compatibility is still unknown.

As a child in the 90s, my Gameboy was my steady companion. After school, the PlayStation was fired up. When I finally got my first PC, I was completely hooked. My passion for gaming has never waned since. For me, writing for Notebookcheck means reporting on topics that are really close to my heart - in addition to gaming, I also like to write about e-mobility, photovoltaics and innovative gadgets. When I'm not sitting at my computer, I'm probably on water rescue duty on the Baltic coast or trying to counteract the downsides of my geek life - namely sitting for long periods - at the local swimming pool.