The Mermaid Mask

2026 landslide, not a sleeper hit

The Mermaid Mask feels like a game that knows exactly when it’s showing up. It drops on July 16, 2026 on PC, Switch, Switch 2, and PS5, and the reception so far has been strong — Metacritic sits at 84, which lines up with the general buzz. This is also the fourth Detective Grimoire game, and yes, it’s the proper follow-up to Tangle Tower, not some side note. If you’ve been waiting for this series to tighten up, it does. Even Game Informer reportedly called it the best one yet, and honestly, that makes sense once you see how confident it is about pacing, presentation, and tone.

What makes it feel current is that it doesn’t just rely on puzzle-box nostalgia. The clues are 3D objects you can physically spin around, the whole thing is fully voiced, and the score was recorded by the Budapest Art Orchestra. That combo gives the game a weirdly cinematic energy for a point-and-click mystery. It’s still a locked-room murder story on a sketchy submarine, sure, but it plays more like a little movie you’re helping steer than a cold logic exercise. That’s the real selling point here.

If you want to solve it yourself, this may be too nice to you

Here’s the blunt part: this is not the game for hardcore detective players who want to wrestle the case to the ground. The difficulty is low, the hint system is eager, and a lot of the puzzle flow feels closer to matching up a bank of 50-plus clues than doing brutal, freeform deduction. The story is also heavily guided, so if you like staring at a notebook and building your own theory from scratch, you’re probably going to feel boxed in pretty fast. The ending is easy to guess, too, which takes some sting out of the final stretch.

But if you like good writing, strong performances, and a mystery that keeps moving, that’s a different story. Amber Lee Connors gets a lot of room to bounce between sarcasm and empathy, and the rest of the cast all have their own voice identities, so the submarine crew never feels like wallpaper. This is the kind of game that works for people who enjoy being led by the nose a little, as long as the writing is sharp enough to make that feel fun instead of lazy. If you’re a puzzle newbie, that’s actually a plus.

The best buy is the one that matches how patient you are

If you’re wondering where to play it, I’d keep it simple. On PC, it’s the cleanest fit for a point-and-click mystery like this, especially if you like clicking through dialogue and clue screens without fighting the controls. Switch and Switch 2 make sense if you want it as a handheld case to chip away at in shorter sessions. PS5 is there if you just want to sit back on the couch and let the whole thing play out like a TV mystery. There’s no DLC to wait for, and with a main story that runs about three to four hours across six chapters in two acts, you’re not signing up for some giant endless commitment.

And that short runtime is part of the calculation. If you’re the kind of player who wants replay value, multiple branches, or a mystery that keeps changing under your feet, this probably won’t stay in your rotation for long. But if you care more about script, character work, and presentation, then The Mermaid Mask is easy to recommend right now. It’s a sharper, more welcoming pitch than Return of the Obra Dinn, which is still the harder nut to crack — but also the one that’s more likely to bounce off newer players. This one wants to be watched, heard, and enjoyed as much as solved.