Agatha Christie Hercule Poirot: The First Cases

First Cases is a significant change of direction from The ABC Murders, Poirot’s last outing also published by Microids. Stepping comfortably into visual novel territory and casting aside the puzzling that would hold back narrative flow, your fantasy is one not of being Hercule Poirot but rather of enjoying a Poirot novel. The Switch let’s you indulge in that as you would a great book, whether in the wingback of your stately home’s library or, indeed, on the toilet of your bedsit. For storytelling, the game format is ideal – even ingenious. The trademark Christie web of connections between events, evidence and the psychology of the characters is planned out in front of your eyes – either to pore over on a diagram or to stroll through in the neatly presented settings. The game’s main limitations are the inanimate world and workaday writing that fail to lend the sparkle of life to a well-machined story. Nonetheless, while puzzle-loving gamers shouldn’t pick this one up, visual novel fans and Hercule-heads won’t be able to put it down.

73%Game Brain Score

story, gameplay

grinding, replayability

74% User Score Based on 506 reviews

Critic Score 69%Based on 4 reviews

Platforms

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About

Agatha Christie Hercule Poirot: The First Cases is a single player action adventure game with a mystery theme. It was developed by Blazing Griffin and was released on September 27, 2021. It received mostly positive reviews from both critics and players.

Discover an untold crime story from the mysterious youth of the famous detective Hercule Poirot.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Agatha Christie Hercule Poirot: The First Cases screenshot

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74%

Audience ScoreBased on 506 reviews

story138 positive mentions

grinding25 negative mentions

Engaging story with interesting characters that captures the essence of Agatha Christie's Poirot.
The mind map mechanic for deductions is innovative and adds a unique layer to the gameplay.
Good voice acting and a charming atmosphere that immerses players in the mystery.

Gameplay is overly linear, with little room for player agency or exploration, making it feel more like a visual novel than a true detective game.
Some deductions in the mind map feel arbitrary and can lead to frustration when connections don't make logical sense.
Lack of replayability due to no chapter select or save options, forcing players to replay the entire game for missed achievements.

story
328 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
42%
56%
2%
The story of the game is generally well-received, featuring an intriguing narrative filled with twists and character depth that aligns with Agatha Christie's style. While many players appreciate the engaging dialogue and the immersive experience of following Hercule Poirot's early career, some criticize the linear progression and predictability of the plot. Overall, it is considered a solid choice for fans of mystery stories, though it may feel more like an interactive visual novel than a traditional game.
- “The story is captivating and the design and art are beautiful.”
- “The fresh plot provides a captivating mix of intrigue, suspense, and classic detective work that honors the spirit of the source material while offering something new to both longtime fans and newcomers.”
- “The story is well-written and a joy to see unfold.”
- “The story is decent but still a fairly pedestrian detective mystery overall.”
- “The plot gave me strong "I asked ChatGPT to try and mix all the tropes of the murder mystery genre in a single story" vibes, with some heavy-handed class struggle on top of everything.”
- “The story is very familiar if you ever read a Christie book, a bunch of people stuck in a house where a murder occurs and Poirot must investigate and solve the case.”
gameplay
139 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
26%
65%
9%
The gameplay is primarily a linear, dialogue-driven experience that combines elements of a visual novel and point-and-click adventure, focusing on investigation and deduction through a mind map mechanic. While some players appreciate the story and atmosphere, many find the mechanics tedious, repetitive, and lacking in challenge, with the deduction process often feeling arbitrary and unengaging. Overall, the gameplay is seen as simplistic and underwhelming, with significant room for improvement in terms of interactivity and depth.
- “The gameplay revolves around exploration, investigation, and deduction, with players tasked to search for clues, interview a diverse cast of suspects, and piece together evidence using an intuitive mind map system.”
- “The gameplay loop is mostly 1) investigate areas for clues 2) talk to people and finally use the cool 'mind map' to link together alibis, events, and deductions.”
- “The gameplay itself is pretty linear but it had the kind of storyline and style that I tend to enjoy, so I was happy enough with it.”
- “The mechanics feel tedious, the puzzles are almost entirely dialogue (and the text is riddled with typos and weird phrasings), and at no point do you actually 'solve' anything.”
- “The gameplay is boring, or one might even say non-existent.”
- “Sadly, the gameplay this has to offer amounts to clicking every on-screen prompt there is to click, then fiddling with a very arbitrary 'deduction' system where you connect nodes on a mind map.”
graphics
69 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
49%
44%
7%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some praising the art style and environmental design as charming and immersive, while others criticize the character models and animations as outdated and lacking detail. Many players noted that while the visuals are decent, they do not meet modern standards, often feeling simplistic or static, which detracts from the overall experience. Overall, the graphics are considered adequate but not exceptional, with some players feeling that they could have been significantly improved.
- “The art style is phenomenal and the colors are very warm, which I enjoy.”
- “Graphically, the game looks really good and runs really well.”
- “The graphics and the art of the rooms are nice, but for 2021, I expected better character art instead of this drawn style.”
- “Although overall better graphically, most of the cut scenes are underwhelming in that aspect.”
- “The graphics are not the best out there; the characters look emotionless with basic animation.”
- “The graphics are dated, to say the least - it comes off as a 2011 game ported into a 2021 engine.”
music
26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
50%
12%
The music in the game is generally praised for its nice, period-appropriate soundtrack that enhances the atmosphere without overshadowing the gameplay. While some players find the music repetitive over time, many appreciate its fitting nature and the quality of the voice acting, which together contribute to a pleasant and immersive experience. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a strong point, even if it doesn't stand out as particularly memorable.
- “The soundtrack complements the setting with period-appropriate music that subtly reinforces the game’s atmosphere without overwhelming the story or gameplay.”
- “Great soundtrack too, found it very reminiscent of the old Hercule Poirot TV show.”
- “This is an engaging point and click game with a great atmosphere and fitting music; the story has so many twists and turns it's hard to guess where you'll end up next.”
- “Music feels repetitive, animations don't look good, voice acting is decent.”
- “I guess it's an ok game, nothing memorable, but not bad either: the case is pretty good (yes, I said case, contrary to the title of the game, there is only one serious case, the other one serves as more of a tutorial and is pretty short.), the music is minimalistic, the characters are unique in their own way.”
- “Opened the game, clicked new game, got a loading screen, after leaving it open and listening to the music for half an hour it still didn't load.”
grinding
25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game to be overwhelmingly tedious and frustrating, with many describing the gameplay as a slog filled with repetitive tasks and clunky mechanics. The deduction process is often seen as unengaging, requiring players to navigate convoluted mind maps and engage in excessive dialogue without meaningful progression. While some appreciate the writing and story, the general consensus is that the tedious nature of the gameplay detracts significantly from the overall experience.
- “The mechanics feel tedious, the puzzles are almost entirely dialogue (and the text is riddled with typos and weird phrasings), and at no point do you actually 'solve' anything.”
- “The inference chart links are tedious, unintuitive, and unrewarding, and breaks the flow of gameplay.”
- “When this happens, the player is reduced to clicking random connections in order to 'brute force' their way through, which is both tedious and dull.”
replayability
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
37%
36%
Overall, the game is criticized for its lack of replayability, with many reviewers noting that the brief gameplay experience and linear story limit opportunities for revisiting the content. Features such as the inability to fail or navigate the user interface effectively further diminish replay value, leading players to feel that the game does not warrant multiple playthroughs. Despite attempts to encourage skill improvement, the execution leaves much to be desired, resulting in a consensus that the game offers little incentive for replay.
- “I think the game may have been trying to encourage the player to become better with their deductive skills for this point, and I appreciate the gesture to increase replayability.”
- “Would give the game a lot more replayability.”
- “As an interactive story goes, there are many mobile games that do it better and have higher stakes and better replayability.”
- “This brevity limits replayability, though the quality of the content makes the journey worthwhile.”
- “However, there is hardly any replay value as you cannot fail to solve the case and the UI, especially the mind map, is rather clunky to navigate.”
- “I will say one final gripe, however, the lack of any kind of chapter select or multiple saves, coupled with the inability to bring up previously read text, something that is pretty standard for most visual novels, kills any replay value this game might have had.”
atmosphere
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
20%
30%
The game's atmosphere is richly crafted, effectively capturing the elegance of the 1920s through its isometric point-and-click style, detailed character designs, and period-appropriate soundtrack. Set in a lavish country estate during a snowbound gathering, it creates a cozy and immersive environment that enhances the engaging narrative and investigative gameplay. Overall, players find the atmosphere compelling, making it a delightful experience that invites them to savor the unfolding mystery.
- “Set against the atmospheric backdrop of a lavish country estate, the mystery unfolds during a snowbound gathering of the wealthy van den Bosch family.”
- “The early 1900s atmosphere is spot-on, the character designs are solid, and the locations are detailed.”
- “The soundtrack complements the setting with period-appropriate music that subtly reinforces the game’s atmosphere without overwhelming the story or gameplay.”
- “Visually, the game embraces an isometric point-and-click style that effectively captures the elegance and atmosphere of the 1920s setting.”
optimization
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
33%
17%
The game's optimization is a mixed bag; while it runs smoothly on various systems and features strong voice acting that enhances the experience, it suffers from poor optimization that leads to high resource consumption despite its simple graphics.
- “From a technical standpoint, the game is solid and runs smoothly across a range of systems.”
- “The voice performances largely succeed in bringing the characters to life, with distinct personalities and motivations that keep the player engaged.”
- “The performances are genuinely strong, and Poirot’s actor manages to walk the line between charming and arrogant perfectly.”
- “The game is poorly optimized, resulting in high resource consumption that is not justified by the game's plain graphics.”
emotional
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is highlighted by its psychological depth and tension, reminiscent of Agatha Christie's storytelling. While the character models may lack expressiveness, the unfolding investigation reveals complex relationships and histories that heighten emotional stakes, leading to intense confrontations. Overall, players feel a strong connection to the narrative, akin to experiencing a classic mystery novel.
- “As your investigation reveals more truths hidden within the house and its denizens, what starts as an emotionally tense yet physically docile reception begins to escalate as opinions grate and histories clash with deadly consequences.”
- “You can feel Agatha Christie's writing style throughout the story, to the point where it truly made me feel like I was playing through one of her novels.”
- “Then the patient and polite Poirot is like Patrick Jane, a mentalist who specializes in the psychological and emotional aspects while remaining meticulously methodical.”
character development
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
25%
Character development in the game is praised for its engaging story and well-crafted personal arcs, with solid character designs and effective use of color palettes that reflect their traits. However, some players noted inconsistencies between character designs and portraits, which detracted from the overall experience. The atmospheric setting and quality voice acting further enhance the narrative, contributing to a compelling character-driven story.
- “The content of the story is great, and the character designs in the portraits were solid, including color palettes for characters relating to their associations and alignments. The twists of each character and their personal arcs, along with the overall mystery, make for a solid story.”
- “The early 1900s atmosphere is spot-on, the character designs are solid, and the locations are detailed.”
- “I do like the art style and character design, and the voice acting was very good.”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The stability of the game has been criticized for being buggy and tedious, indicating a lack of reliability and smooth gameplay.
- “The game is incredibly buggy and tedious.”
- “Frequent crashes make it nearly unplayable.”
- “I experienced constant lag and stability issues.”

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69%Critics’ scoreBased on 4 critic reviews

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10h Median play time

10h Average play time

9-17h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 4 analyzed playthroughs

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Agatha Christie Hercule Poirot: The First Cases is a action adventure game with mystery theme.

Agatha Christie Hercule Poirot: The First Cases is available on Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, PC, Mac OS and others.

On average players spend around 10 hours playing Agatha Christie Hercule Poirot: The First Cases.

Agatha Christie Hercule Poirot: The First Cases was released on September 27, 2021.

Agatha Christie Hercule Poirot: The First Cases was developed by Blazing Griffin.

Agatha Christie Hercule Poirot: The First Cases has received mostly positive reviews from both players and critics. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its grinding.

Agatha Christie Hercule Poirot: The First Cases is a single player game.

Similar games include Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders, Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments, Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments, Sherlock Holmes The Devil's Daughter, The Testament of Sherlock Holmes and others.

Agatha Christie Hercule Poirot: The First Cases

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