Review: The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark

Overview: 5.0/5.0

A Fumble in the Dark is the long-awaited (by us) sequel to the brilliant supernatural detective comedy point-and-click game starring Detective McQueen and Officer Dooley. The new cases are even better than the first game, but we already gave that one a 5.0/5.0, so the same rating will have to do. It’s much easier to write about things we don’t like, but we’ll try to come up with some things to say, or you could save us all some trouble and just go buy it already.

Developer: Spooky Doorway

Genre: Point and Click
Release Date: April 15, 2021
Platform: Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X
Price: $12.99

The humor in this game is very punny, if you find the official game description amusing, you’ll probably love the rest of the game. If you’re a soulless monster rolling your eyes, play it anyway! Just kidding. I’m sure you can find something more suited to your own sense of humor. But we’re here for the puns and saved … * counting * … 185 screenshots of our favorite jokes during our playthrough so buckle up!

Here’s an excerpt from the official game description:

• 6 unique cases, the likes of which you’ve never seen before (not a guarantee)
• Uses both pointing and clicking technology
• Music from Thomas O'Boyle, a totally-living composer, definitely not undead
• Photo-Realistic* Pixel Rendering (*Depends on your definition of photo-realism)
• 1 mail-in rebate per customer on exorcism services for hauntings resulting from play
• A brief recap of the events of "The Darkside Detective" for anyone who hasn't played it and doesn't want to

See? Amazing. Even the settings had us laughing before we started the game:

This game is riddled with jokes about the point-and-click genre, game development, the original Darkside Detective game, pop culture… and those were just the jokes we got the first time around. Who knows what flew right over our heads while we were focused entirely on the nursing home resident swinging from a chandelier. Even talking about this game is fun. “Oh, I’m just trying to increase the volume on these speakers so I can sing into a jumbotron and attract a giant monster that’s currently attacking the city. Typical stuff, really.”

Summary

The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark is able to poke fun at the point-and-click genre as a whole while still being a worthwhile installment within it. The puzzles are not too challenging with just the right amount of “Why did THAT work?!” There’s no voice acting or hyper-realistic graphics, but the game certainly isn’t lacking. From start to finish, this is a thoroughly excellent experience in a charmingly haunted pixel world.

Is that it? Did we hit the word count yet? Good. So go play The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark, and if you haven’t played the first season yet, go play both of them. Right now. Go!

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