Murder by Numbers Collector's Edition

Los Angeles, 1996. A fired TV actress, a discarded reconnaissance robot, and a trail of dead bodies. The Murder by Numbers Collector's Edition for Nintendo Switch is what happens when Phoenix Wright meets Picross, and the result is one of the most charming detective experiences on the platform.

Honor Mizrahi's boss fires her and then immediately turns up dead. Teaming up with SCOUT, a robot with a mysterious past, she launches into a murder investigation that spans TV studios, glitzy award shows, drag clubs, and deeper into a dark conspiracy. The gameplay loop is elegant: solve pixel puzzles to uncover clues, then use those clues to interrogate a wild cast of characters designed by Hato Moa, the creator of Hatoful Boyfriend. The energetic soundtrack from Masakazu Sugimori, the composer behind Ace Attorney, Ghost Trick, and Viewtiful Joe, keeps every investigation humming with personality.

The 90s aesthetic is fully committed. Fashion, attitude, humor, and a level of sass dialed to maximum. The writing is sharp, the puzzles are satisfying, and the character work gives you real reasons to care about cracking each case. It's the kind of game that makes you feel clever without ever feeling condescending.

Physical copies of games this uniquely positioned tend to become collector conversation pieces. A puzzle-adventure hybrid with this much style, this much pedigree in its creative team, and this much personality is exactly the kind of Switch release that belongs in a curated collection.