One of my guilty pleasures is the murder mystery. One or more people are dead. We don’t know who killed them. Catch them before they either get away or kill again. My preference leans toward the lone (or with just a sidekick) detective as opposed to police procedurals. And I’ve played point-and-click puzzle game going back as far as the old King’s Quest series.

So Whispers of a Machine was right up my alley.

You play as a cyber-enhanced agent called in because the police of a post-apocalyptic city can’t figure out a recent pair of murders. The fun twist: your augments allow you to scan for DNA, compare forensic evidence, and polygraph suspects by monitoring their bio-readings. You also gain additional tech powers over the course of the game based on the personality you develop as you interact with characters.

The plot is solving the murders of a simple factory worker and the woman who runs a tech museum. Over the course of the story, you learn of a world where humanity rebelled against growing religious concerns over the AI singularity, and where even micro-circuitry is illegal (your own government-issued augments walk a fine line). You must unravel cults and conspiracies, learn the secrets of both the victims and suspects, and you have a fun tool kit of cyber-powers to help you do it.

I can’t go into TOO much detail without spoiling the game, but I will say that the game offers multiple solutions to problems based on the particular skills you’ve acquired, and some of the puzzles are both inventive and highly satisfying to solve.

Sound like your kind of game? Check out Whispers of a Machine on Steam or grab the mobile version on Android.

​​(Note: There might be other options, these are just the 2 I know about.)