A Fumble In The Dark returns to the mildly spooky American city of Twin Lakes to investigate bothersome supernatural goings-on, though it will also venture over to Castle Dooley in Ireland. I suppose I should’ve known Dooley would have ancestors—most people do—yet the prospect startles me. He’s a strange one, that Dooley. The first game was a good’un, Adam (RPS in peace) ruled in our Darkside Detective review. “Like the puzzles, the humour in the game is gentle, poking fun at the entire concept of a paranormal police department and the tropes of point and click adventures, but so many of the jokes land that playing is like having dinner with a well-oiled double act. Dooley and player character McQueen are both underdogs, their Darkside department mocked and poorly funded, but their dishevelled dismay is always jovial. They’re such a far cry from the cocky, smarmy balls of ego that often pass as adventure game protagonists – I’m looking at you, Deponia – that I wanted to give them both a big hug.” This second season does has a demo on Steam so you can try it for yourself. The Darkside Detective: A Fumble In The Dark is out now for Windows, Mac, and Linux on Steam and GOG, with a 10% launch discount making it £9 until Thursday the 22nd. It’s made by Spooky Doorway and published by Akupara Games. It’s also hitting Xboxes, PlayStations, Switch, and Stadia.
