Casebook 1899: The Leipzig Murders set to open in early 2023

Written by Jack Allin — January 8, 2022 at 10:03

While London may be the most renowned location for Victorian-era murder mysteries, other cities had their fair share of crime as well. One such place is the titular German city of Casebook 1899: The Leipzig Murders, an upcoming investigative pixel art adventure from historic crime fiction author Gregor Müller. 

The turn of the century is a time when Leipzig is "characterised by industrialisation, progress and innovation," but also by "theft, robbery and murder." It's here that detective Joseph Kreiser "takes up the fight against crime," and he'll soon have plenty of mysteries to investigate. Over the course of four seemingly disparate cases, with a fifth tying them all together in surprising ways, players will need to examine crime scenes for clues, question witnesses and interrogate suspsects in pursuit of the truth. Your most important tool – besides the "sharp eye and an alert mind" of any good cop – is your notebook, in which you'll record "all observations and witness statements." Once acquired, you'll need to "combine the right clues to unlock new conclusions." Unlike many hand-holding games, here the "success or failure of the investigation depends directly on your skills as a police officer." There are multiple endings to each case, but "only one of them will convict the real culprit." 

The first interactive adventure from Müller following a pair of German-published crime novels, Casebook 1899 sends players through a variety of "meticulously researched historical locations" presented in a retro pixel art style. Described as a "classic point-and-click adventure with a few special features," the game does include an inventory in which to collect and combine items, as well as other environmental obstacles to overcome along the way, but the primary focus here will be "more on dialogue and logical thinking" to identify the guilty party (or not) in each case rather than solving traditional puzzles. 

It's too early for a definitive release date just yet, as Casebook 1899: The Leipzig Murders will soon be getting a crowdfunding campaign (including a stretch goal for full English voice-overs) to help finance its production. A playable demo will be released at that time, and if all goes well we should see the full game arrive on Steam for Windows PC sometime in early 2023.