Wolf Peak: The Case of Ruth Choi
In the small idyllic town of Wolf Peak, the murder of a young women called Ruth Choi, shocked the community in 1991.
Two detectives were put onto the case and managed to whittle it down to 6 suspects. However, the detectives were never able to close the case due to insufficient evidence.
Years have passed and now you have been brought into Wolf Peak to solve this case. Through the passage of time, evidence testing and technology has vastly improved.
Coming up to retirement, Captain Simmons would love to get this case solved. He re-opens the case and brings you, an out of town detective, in to solve the case.
Are you up to the task detective?
Wolf Peak: The Case of Ruth Choi is a crime solving game. You have been set-up in one of the rooms of the Wolf Peak Police Department and left alone with the case to solve.
A game where you can convict the wrong person with the right evidence, or let the true killer get away with it due to lack of evidence.
You are never told outright who the killer is unless you convict the true killer.
Use your own mind and deductive reasoning to find out who killed Ruth Choi.
During the initial investigation of the case. Detective Munroe and Detective Williams managed to whittle down to 6 suspects. They brought those 6 in for questioning.
Watch these tapes and see if you can catch any information that the detectives may have overlooked.
Search through all the evidence that has been gathered on the case.
From Article pieces such as, Witness Statements, Detective Notes, Ruth’s Diary to Autopsy Reports.
Evidence items like, Weapons, Personal Effects to DNA Samples.
Unlock bits of additional information by going through these pieces of evidence and find out about certain locations around Wolf Peak.
Since the 90s, evidence testing has come along way.
Test pieces of evidence and get new information that the past detectives would never have got.
Use your detective reasoning to figure out the correct type of testing that you need to do. Careful though… each piece only has 3 samples available.
Use the Crazy Wall to pin important pieces of evidence. Connect them to the suspects using string.
Anything connected to the suspect you convict at the end will be used to convict the suspect. Will you have had enough to arrest them, or will they get away?
Feel like a detective and pin what you find important, to the investigation wall. Connect the evidence pieces using string to the suspect that you believe are connected.
Anything you connect to the suspect can be used for a conviction at the end.
Will you have had enough to arrest them, or will they get away?
Game Discussion
Steam User 10
This is by and far one of the best mystery games I've ever played. I've been trying to find another game that brought me the joy that titles like "Painscreek Killings" and "Paradise Killer" gave me and this scratched that itch and more.
This game is a LOT of reading. It is basically a mystery novel that you read in any order you want. There are interrogations, search warrants, witness statements, newspaper clippings, journals and more. All in all, I'd say there is probably the equivalent of a 200 page novel here. The best part is, it's really good. Outside of a few very minor typo's (I saw maybe 3 or 4), it's all written very well and each character is consistent with their traits.
The gameplay loop is very simple. You're in a room at the police station. You're investigating a cold case about the murder of "Ruth Choi" from 30 years ago. There are 6 primary suspects and it's up to you to look over the evidence to figure out who did it once and for all. You'll need to pin evidence that you find to be relevant on a board, link the evidence to people of interest and piece it all together. There is also a room full of objects seized from suspects homes that you can test for DNA, Impressions, Ballistics and more to see if there is something that was missed in the original investigation. Be careful though because there are 6 different types of testing and you can only do a max of 3 per item. There is a lot of thought required. You can end and try to convict someone at any point, but if you haven't linked enough evidence to the person you think did it, they will walk away free.
This is NOT a game that you can casually just skip through and see to the end. It requires a lot of focus and note taking. I had over 135 lines of notes in a notepad file to help me piece things together and a Twitch chat full of people trying to help. Even then I still didn't quite get all the evidence I needed. This is probably the most hardcore detective sim I've ever played in the best way. Buy this without hesitation if you really want to feel like a detective and want to get absorbed in a story, there is nothing else quite like it.
Steam User 6
The most pure detective game out there. It simply gives you an extended detailed list of information and evidence about the case and lets you tackle it and form your ideas as you go by yourself. The only feedback the game gives you is at the very end. The writing and layers of complexity to the case are excellent and I was hooked for several days trying to figure out all the small details.
The only real issue I ran into was the forensic analysis system, as there were a couple types of tests you could use that were very ambiguous/difficult to understand, and some evidence was on places that you couldn't reasonably put together without guessing. This wouldn't have been as much of a problem if it didn't limit you to 3 tests, so you didn't get the opportunity to properly experiment. Personally I'd recommend making a copy of your save game just before you start doing any tests to avoid having to start all over later on. (To the devs, it would be great if the restriction on testing was removed after you've attempted to convict one of the suspects)
In spite of the mechanical issues, this is still maybe the best detective game I've played to date, and I can't wait to see what the developer comes out with next - an absolute must buy.
Steam User 5
Enjoyable detective game that focuses on solving the case through deductive reasoning. You are provided with most of the information from the beginning (interview tapes, evidence, case files...). There is the option to gain new insights from said evidence (after all, you are working on a cold case and forensics has moved on) though you are limited in your options, so choose wisely.
The dialogue is well-written, the case itself intriguing. The music helps to set the mood.
My only complaint is that it is rather difficult to rule out suspects as there are quite a few red herrings and it isn't too difficult to build a valid case against an innocent party.
If you enjoy detective games with little hand-holding (think Painscreek Killings) you are in for a treat.
Steam User 3
Very detailed game with no hand holding which I enjoyed. The mystery was engaging and the caseboard, whilst not without its flaws, is a simple and decently executed idea. More detail regarding the lab processes would have been nice so perhaps one could have made better decisions with the 3 available, some other quality of life features would have been welcome too.
I do personally wish the solution was as complicated as the journey.. on a personal note I felt it was a little easy work out the perp, but I admit I'm probably the minority on that judging by some comments I've seen so take with a pinch of salt.
All in all, recommended for those that enjoy in depth investigation games and don't mind or actively enjoying reading alot of text (which thankfully I do). Would look forward to any future instalments.
Steam User 1
I recommend this game but with a heavy asterisk. You might get frustrated with it and bounce off hard. The first frustration I ran into was the options menu or lack of important options in there. There was no audio adjustment, so I had to manually turn down my audio when I played the game. The second is the lack of mouse sensitivity slider. It's incredibly frustrating when I'm whipping around at such a high speed because I can barely control myself. I also had to turn on vsync to not have the game wildly generate worthless frames and start heating up my pc. Before I turned it on, the FPS counter was in the high hundreds or thousands and I could hear my PC fans whirring. After I turned on vsync? Kept at a solid 60 fps and the fans turned quiet(er). The final frustration came from the evidence testing. Some of the tests are obvious, some of them are not. I honestly used a guide to find everything just so I didn't feel like I was wasting my time to pick the right ones.
I found the investigation into the story interesting. I enjoyed reading everything and looking at all the evidence and putting things together interesting. I'm a bit mixed on presentation of the various suspects. There are so many red herrings. I kind of narrowed it down to likely 3 people at the beginning and none of the harder evidence convinced me otherwise. Ironically, the person I thought likely did it, did not. I will say that I enjoyed it up until I realized who did it but I couldn't really figure out the why part of it. I figured them out based on means, opportunity, and some really strong direct evidence but motive was lacking which makes it a bit of a letdown. I did enjoy the ending cutscene which makes sure it's clear you got the right person.
TLDR: If you're looking for another investigative game, this can fill that niche but I'd recommend the better games in the genre first (Obra Din, Curse of the Golden Idol series, The Roottrees are Dead, or The Painscreek Killings).
Steam User 0
I thought the game was fun, but I struggled to find clear motive for the true killer. This made it not very satisfying in the end.
Steam User 0
A thoroughly engaging indie detective mystery.
I'm not exactly a detective game connoisseur but I feel like the prevailing wisdom in this genre is to ease the player into the mystery by doling out information bit by bit until they have built a stable of clues they then need to use to finally solve the case or what have you.
So it takes a lot of gumption to design your core gameplay loop around "Here is a mountain of evidence, documents, and interviews for a cold case collected over the course of 30 years. Figure it out. Good luck."
It just feels like a 'real' ass detective experience from how little direction you're given at every turn.
I'd wager that this isn't for everybody (especially with how much dry procedural reading there is) but I really enjoyed my time with it and wish the devs the best on their next project.