Game review: Detective Dotson, an entertaining caper that takes off well but struggles with the landing

A review of Masala Games’ Detective Dotson, an Indian indie mystery adventure.

I begin this review with a disclaimer: if you are playing this game with the same degree of anticipation and expectation for games like The Blue Prince or Sherlock Holmes Chapter One then I request you to reconsider. Detective Dotson is an indie project that draws heavily from its Indian setting and therefore the experience of play it offers is despite its limited scope. For its maker Masala games, it is a strong start and a positive way to announce themselves for fans of the genre.

The game set in the fictional world of Dot city tasks its detective protagonist Dotson to examine the mystery of his father’s death – a mystery that is both deep and intertwined with several other occurrences in the vicinity. Aided by the journalist Jotson and his trusty journal, Dotson begins his adventure solving one mystery at a time.

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The game introduces the player to its log, murder board, and hints system by getting Dotson to investigate who dropped the paint on his dog “Papadam.” As you go about identifying who dropped pink paint on your dog, the game’s mechanics and world open up quite smoothly.

The pink Papadam caper is followed by the mystery of the lost Hyderabadi Biryani (made from a secret recipe), and then the mystery of the secret admirer who threatens to jump in a well on the day of Holi. The game gets its central mystery quite right and I have few complaints with that aspect despite the linear world and the limited character depth.

The game’s makers could have reduced their reliance on the murder board mechanic by letting the players guess aspects of the mystery – but I understand the visual appeal of a tangled web. The game also offers the player mini-games to take part in and some contracts/ fetch-jobs to fulfil in order to earn in-game money. Despite how fun the mini games are – they do get repetitive and grinding for the final clue becomes tedious.

Despite its flaws, Detective Dotson integrates its mini games with the central story quite well. I enjoyed the cricket on offer and the various characters’ tricky bowling. I also had fun competing in the dance games set in a baraat and Bollywood.

Detective Dotson is a great start and is largely a fun experience for the six-hour journey.

However, there’s a lot of room for improvement and experimentation in terms of character development, depth of dialogue, and narrative mechanics. A solid first step, I am excited for what could come next.

Sneak Peek:

Title: Detective Dotson

Developer and Publisher: Masala Games Private Limited

Game Type: Strategy Puzzle Platformer with Open World elements

Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Linux, Xbox Series X and Series S, and Macintosh

Price: INR 450 on Steam (10% discount till May 8), 499 on the Xbox Store

Verdict (all scores out of 10):

Innovative Gameplay: 7

Game Handling and Quality: 7.5

Value for Time: 7

Overall: 7.2

What Stands Out

• The game gets the mystery bit quite right – despite its simple mechanics, linear navigation, and limited degree of conversation, its central story is quite interesting.
• The background music (composed by Nikhil Rao) is pleasant and the ambient noise of the crowd in certain areas is spot on.

Fails to impress

• The monetary side of the game is extremely repetitive and in the latter stages of the game it seems like an unnecessary time sink.
• The game’s controls, instructions, and objectives need to be introduced better. It expects the player to figure out too much on their own.