Crime Reaper

About

Crime Reaper is a single player casual puzzle game with a mystery theme. It was developed by Terra Lauterbach and was released on May 12, 2021. It received positive reviews from players.

It's murder sudoku — solve crimes and impress Death in your new afterlife puzzle career! Crime Reaper takes the intrigue of murder mystery logic puzzles, like Cluedo and Inspector Parker, and combines it with the ingenuity and simplicity of Sudoku. There are over 16,000 possible murder scenarios that can occur and likely millions of different puzzle variations. To top it off, there are 14 differe…

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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89%Audience ScoreBased on 38 reviews

gameplay4 positive mentions

grinding1 negative mentions

Innovative and clever twist on Sudoku with deductive reasoning and logic puzzle elements, offering a refreshing puzzle experience.
Adjustable difficulty and customization options (such as turning off timer and mistake limits) allow players to tailor the experience to their comfort level.
Procedurally generated puzzles provide endless replayability, and the tactile UI with satisfying sounds enhances engagement.

Career mode is thin with repetitive dialogue and minimal story depth, making the narrative feel like filler between puzzles.
Lack of important quality-of-life features such as pencil marks to note possible placements and the ability to save and resume puzzles.
Higher difficulties can feel less challenging or unbalanced, and puzzles may become repetitive without more varied or hand-crafted content.

story
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
60%
20%
The story is charming, humorous, and light, serving mainly as a simple framing device for the puzzle gameplay rather than offering deep narrative progression or strong connections to the puzzles. While some find the procedural and minimal plot engaging and fresh, others feel it is underdeveloped and acts more as filler between puzzle rounds. Overall, the story adds a delightful thematic touch without overshadowing the core sudoku-style mechanics.
- “The writing is genuinely funny and remarkably fresh, and the game mechanics mesh extremely well with the story.”
- “Having a very innovative take on the classic sudoku formula, "Crime Reaper" is a game that teases the mind like the aforementioned game, while also treating you to a fun and humorous story.”
- “The story is full of humor but doesn't take up your time in between rounds.”
- “I made the mistake of assuming that the gameplay would get progressively harder as I played through the main missions, so played the whole thing on easy, and finished the main story in half an hour feeling underwhelmed.”
- “It's just a sudoku variant more focused on chaining together a set of rules to place pieces, with a tentative (not really impactful) crime framing where all the crimes are procedurally generated and solving crimes barely correlates with the story (which is just mini-vignettes that don't tie together or build to anything).”
- “I wish that the puzzles connected more to the story rather than feeling like the story was filler in between the puzzles.”
gameplay
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
16%
17%
The gameplay combines sudoku and logic puzzles with clever mechanics, offering an easy-to-learn but engaging experience enhanced by fresh, humorous writing. Its unique difficulty selection provides player control, though some may find the pacing unconventional or the overall format less compelling.
- “It turns out you're actually supposed to choose to level up the difficulty yourself when you feel ready, which is an unusual mechanic, but actually pretty cool because it gives you a high degree of control.”
- “It's scratching the same itch for sudoku but with some really fun writing and clever mechanics that put a super fun, logical puzzle twist on it.”
- “The gameplay is a fun mix between sudoku and a logic puzzle, and is quite easy to play once you grasp the rules.”
- “I made the mistake of assuming that the gameplay would get progressively harder as I played through the main missions, so I played the whole thing on easy, and finished the main story in half an hour feeling underwhelmed.”
humor
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's humor is highlighted as genuinely funny and fresh, providing an enjoyable contrast to the darker, brooding atmosphere of the levels. The absurdist and witty dialogue enhances the story without overshadowing gameplay, creating a well-balanced and entertaining experience.
- “The story is full of humor but doesn't take up your time in between rounds.”
- “"Crime Reaper" is a game that teases the mind like classic sudoku, while also treating you to a fun and humorous story.”
- “The writing is genuinely funny and remarkably fresh, and the game mechanics mesh extremely well with the story.”
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Replayability in this game is seen as limited by some users, who feel it lacks depth, while others appreciate the deduction element and potential for ongoing engagement. Overall, opinions suggest there is room for improvement in making the game more consistently replayable.
- “I love the endless replayability, and the deduction element.”
- “I hope the developers make another innovative puzzle game in the future, with much more depth and replayability.”
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game demonstrates excellent stability, running smoothly on Linux without issues.
- “Runs great on Linux.”
graphics
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's graphics are visually appealing and complemented by a simple narrative that enhances the overall experience in a refreshing manner.
music
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The music features a brooding soundtrack that creates a darker atmosphere, contrasting with the game's absurdist and humorous dialogue between levels. This tonal mismatch is noted by users as a distinctive aspect of the game's audio design.
grinding
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding is characterized by increased tedium rather than challenge, as harder difficulties simply expand the board size without adding meaningful complexity.