Guayota
Guayota
Game
Game2024
Mindcop
Developer Andre Gareis
Mindcop is a non-linear „whodunnit“ detective game. It mixes a story driven adventure with real-time puzzle gaming. As the infamous Mindcop, you can dive into the minds of your suspects to uncover their secrets and unravel their lies. From the Steam store page
243 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Lemmy, Mastodon) · newest Oct 31, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
90
LovedLoved
167 positive · 18 negative
95% range 85–94%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 167 | 18 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 16 | 0 | 34 |
| Lemmy * | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Mastodon * | 1 | 0 | 3 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
231 of 251 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
90% recommend · 165 yes, 18 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 183 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (457 of 488 positive).
Players praise Mindcop for its stylish art, music, and atmosphere. [1][2][3] Many find the time management mechanic both engaging and frustrating. [4][5][6] Some reviewers note that the game requires careful attention and rewards deduction. [7][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [20]
I went back and forth on whether or not I recommend this. I picked it up on sale, and I think it's worth the price on sale, but at the same time, I left the experience with too many gripes to feel like I personally would play it again given the chance. The good: The art, music, atmosphere, etc are all great. The style of the characters is fun, and the mindsurf scenes are really, really interesting and experimental …
- [7]
One of the best detective games ever. Do you hate detective games that are glorified point and click adventures where you "deduce" the killer by collecting enough evidence for your character to go "AHA" and solve it for you? Do you hate the ones that are fill in the blanks that hand hold you through them? Do you actually want to pay attention to what people are saying while taking into account facts and motivations …
- [5]
A little bit conflicted here, but yes - the game is great. Big warning though - there's no railroading here and you really have to pay attention. That said - it feels like you need to be lucky to actually manage to solve this on your first attempt. There's so much information everywhere, and you can just not go to some specific places to know the most important things. Combining that with the time limit mechanics, …
- [11]
What a cool little game. I absolutely love the time management mechanic and how it's central to the game - you have to decide what to pursue and which threads look the most promising. That in turn makes you feel like *you* actually solved the mystery in the end, and not was guided to the solution regardless of your decisions (even though also the game is really not hard and I think you'd have to try really hard to …
- [1]
Mindcop is a stylish and intellectually demanding narrative adventure that reimagines the murder-mystery genre through time pressure, psychological insight, and player-driven deduction. Developed by Andre Gareis and published by Dear Villagers, the game places the player in the role of a peculiar investigator known as the Mindcop, a figure with the uncanny ability to dive into the subconscious of suspects. From the …
Summarised from 34 of the 246 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 13, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Mindcop sits at 90% positive across 185 opinionated reactions from 4 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Reactions
60 of 243 · most liked firstIn about an hour, Marty Sliva and I are MINDCOP-ing. That is to say we're doing a sponsored stream... playing MINDCOP over at @secondwind.bsky.social A game about being a Cop... with your MIND
neutral · AI labelView post →I went back and forth on whether or not I recommend this. I picked it up on sale, and I think it's worth the price on sale, but at the same time, I left the experience with too many gripes to feel like I personally would play it again given the chance. The good: The art, music, atmosphere, etc are all great. The style of the characters is fun, and the mindsurf scenes are really, really interesting and experimental visually. The mystery itself is interesting and I genuinely wanted to solve it.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Amateur Detectives? Whodunit fanatics? I am giving away 1 Steam Game key for "MindCop" a non-linear detective game! 🤍 To enter: ✧ Follow @pinkumbrella.bsky.social ✧ Subscribe to my YouTube Channel youtube.com/@Pink_Umbrella ✧ Like & repost this You have until December 23 at 11:59 pm ET ! 💫
neutral · AI labelView post →Funny thing, the human mind. There's always much more to a person than meets the eye. But you can't literally dive into someone's mind, so you can never know this, unless they tell you or you find out some other way. Unless you're the Mindcop. Then you can. It's kinda the same with this game. There's much more to it than meets the eye, but you can't know it without having played it. I dove into this game, but I won't spill its secrets; they're for you to find out. I'll tell you one thing,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →TLDR: the game is designed to be played more than once, however, 2nd and later playthroughs force you to repeat everything and wastes your time. First run: great detective game with realistic constraints (e.g. limited time in searching/questioning) that make the game really stand out against super linear detective games. Because of those limits, the games is meant to be played for more than 1 playthroughs, which leads to: Subsequent runs: anti-gamer time waster. The goal of typical NG+ is to…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Every aspect of this game turned out to be a disappointment. It doesn't take long to get the idea; you only have a limited amount of time and therefore you have to prioritise your actions and sift the useful things from all the chaff - not the worst idea for a detective game. The problem with this is that 99% of it is chaff, and there is 0 guidance or sense to why or where or how you acquire the 1%. The amount of times I finally found something useful and took it to anybody who was slightly…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →****LIVE**** Mindcop #sponsored stream begins now! A new whodunnit, timey-wimey detective puzzle game. Available now on Steam, PS5 and Switch: mindcopgame.com?utm_source=z... zeke3.tv
neutral · AI labelView post →We're currently signing sponsors on Second Wind for Jan - Feb as we're all booked up for December! My email is in my bio. Here's our latest work for Mindcop, a non-linear "whodunnit“ detective game. We had a fantastic stream with this one last week too.
neutral · AI labelView post →MindCop is fun, but the grueling time system makes exploration feel like a punishment rather than a fun thing you can do, making you feel more like an errand boy than anything else. The Mind Surfing minigame is also very boring and feels like a chore, with it's grueling slow place and lack of actual challenge.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Mindcop is a stylish and intellectually demanding narrative adventure that reimagines the murder-mystery genre through time pressure, psychological insight, and player-driven deduction. Developed by Andre Gareis and published by Dear Villagers, the game places the player in the role of a peculiar investigator known as the Mindcop, a figure with the uncanny ability to dive into the subconscious of suspects. From the outset, it establishes a moody, introspective tone that favors interpretation…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I was actually quite enjoying the mind surfing, the questioning of suspects, piecing together what the doors were trying to say or not say and the mystery of the game. However, the time mechanic just doesn't mesh at all. For me, I figured out who the killer was on day 3 and could puzzle out what had happened, but because MC hadn't and I couldn't know where the clues to give the character this information was without testing every random box and warranting everyone I had a very odd ending where…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One of the best detective games ever. Do you hate detective games that are glorified point and click adventures where you "deduce" the killer by collecting enough evidence for your character to go "AHA" and solve it for you? Do you hate the ones that are fill in the blanks that hand hold you through them? Do you actually want to pay attention to what people are saying while taking into account facts and motivations to uncover truths? This is the detective game for you! It may not be a perfect…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Just finished #Mindcop after watching @jackpackard.bsky.social stream a bit of it the other day… a GREAT game and an absolute blast to play.
positive · AI labelView post →"Wonderfully quirky cartoon side-scroller is a no-brainer for fans of investigative mysteries" - Daniel Yam reviews Mindcop for Adventure Game Hotspot. adventuregamehotspot.com/review/6440/... #indiegame #adventuregame #cozygame
neutral · AI labelView post →Was enjoying it until the game crashed with an error after mindsurfing the dog. Can't load my save file. There's no multiple save files, so, once it errored, you lose all your gameplay. Can't recommend
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The world of mindcop is dense is rich. Everything is there for a reason , and you can inspect it , although not everything will be helpful.It was fun exploring the town and putting the pieces together. There are a lot of red herrings and " sub stories " you can find if you choose to . What makes all that hard to enjoy is the timed aspect of the game. Time is a resource and you have to use it to do everything ( talking to people , entering buildings , looking at piles of trash) . It felt…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Mindcop Review: Immersive, trippy, and nicely varied in its gameplay, Mindcop is a well-paced non-linear whodunit that strikes just the right balance between emotional and hilarious in its gritty murd. - [Mindcop on Itch.io](https://mindcopgames.itch.io/mindcop) - [Mindcop on Steam](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1517180/Mindcop/)
neutral · AI labelView post →Huge bummer to dump on a solo dev that put out an incredibly high quality product. This game does not deliver. The mind investigation mechanic is just an awful reverse tetris-ish minigame. Outside of that, it’s a great incredibly polished detective game. But I was promised a MINDCOP game and I did not get it, so I just had a bad taste in my mouth through my entire play through. and while writing this.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →An interesting game with a terribly bad gimmick of having to complete a giant murder mystery where the more questions you ask the faster the clock goes
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It was OK but I didn't love that I felt like I would need to replay to understand what had really happened. The world wasn't interesting enough to go through a second run.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I liked the art style and the music. I thought the game had a really interesting premise but honestly, what ruined it for me was the time mechanic and how tedious the mind surf puzzle became. I felt the time mechanic was too restrictive and had way too many things dotted around purely just to waste your time. I failed my first go around. I did as much as I could but every lead I tried chasing down didn't seem to really pan out and ultimately I was just left confused and frustrated. As much as I…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Mindcop Review: Immersive, trippy, and nicely varied in its gameplay, Mindcop is a well-paced non-linear whodunit that strikes just the right balance between emotional and hilarious in its gritty murd. - [Mindcop on Itch.io](https://mindcopgames.itch.io/mindcop) - [Mindcop on Steam](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1517180/Mindcop/)
neutral · AI labelView post →Fantastic game. I love whodunits. This one is hard. Thought I knew who the killer was. Wasn't the person I arrested. Now I'm befuddled. Mega kudos to anyone who can solve it the first time 'round.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Read minds and solve crimes in the quirky whodunnit detective shenanigans of Mindcop! 🔎 Delve into the mind of our reviewer to find out the juicy secrets within: www.qualbert.com/reviews/mind... #Mindcop #IndieGame #IndieDev
neutral · AI labelView post →Mindcop is a detective adventure game where you are working to solve a murder at a camp. You play the titular Mindcop, a detective who is capable of "Mindsurfing", which allows him to reveal secrets from a suspect's mind without them willingly providing that information. Your tasks are straightforward: interview suspects, gather evidence, and ultimately, find the killer. Presentation Visually, the game does an excellent job standing out. The characters are drawn in an almost web comic style…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Llevo tres días que no me quito de la cabeza el Mindcop. What a game.
positive · AI labelView post →There was a lot of good with this game, and although I wouldn't recommend it, that's not to say objectively, that I think it's a bad game - it just wasn't for me. I finished one run though, not being confident on who the killer was and I just did not feel inspired to run through it again. I saw what was trying to be achieved with the time restrictive element of tasks, but it made it stressful and went against the typical pattern of a PNC where you want to discover and explore everything to try…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The developers' strong suit is clearly symbolic imagery, and while I adore the presentation with it and the backgrounds look great, the whole thing is undermined by being mismatched with characters that look like they're meant to be for a free idle game. The game mechanics seem like they were thought of in the moment and implemented without much thought as to how they intersect with each other and enhance the game. The "time management" mechanic has you enter a house, talk to one person, and…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There's a lot of love to this, what with the art style and just all out competence the game has But ultimately this was a very, very dull mystery case with mechanics I just don't think work here. None of the mind surfing and detective exploration does anything to change the fact that it's a very, very simple groundhog day mystery that may as well have just been a visual novel where you can just skip to parts you have yet to see. And this isn't helped by the fact that when you repeat the day,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Non-linear detective adventure game Mindcop is coming to PS5, Switch, and PC in Q4 2024: www.gematsu.com/2024/09/whod...
neutral · AI labelView post →A little bit conflicted here, but yes - the game is great. Big warning though - there's no railroading here and you really have to pay attention. That said - it feels like you need to be lucky to actually manage to solve this on your first attempt. There's so much information everywhere, and you can just not go to some specific places to know the most important things. Combining that with the time limit mechanics, it's... making it good and bad. I love that you have to deduce things on your…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Well this was a charming little game. The animation, style, music and atmosphere are really good. I'd say the time mechanic was a little annoying. You can look at everything (EVERYTHING) and 99% of it is completely useless and the useful 1% is found quite randomly. Exploring the scene only makes you waste resources unless you're very lucky, and it really fustrated me. The truth/lie doors were interesting, but I didn't like the mind surfing minigame, nor the deep dive. Kinda made the ending…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It is a bit meh. Get it on sale. Pros: great animations, music, characters. Cons: kind of boring gameplay, and the core idea of time limit is not very well executed. You want to solve all the mysteries but simply are prevented from doing so. Replaying seems very daunting due to the pretty slow gameplay.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I liked it but I do agree with the other reviews saying that the time mechanic holds the game back. It feels like there's more to see but I was able to find the killer on my first playthrough and since nothing carries over to the second one I just don't feel like I can be bothered. It's also a bit disappointing that there's so much world-building going on in the game when in the end it seemed like very little of it ended up mattering in terms of identifying the killer (that is to say that…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →an amazing little detective adventure game based on deduction. It has good dialogs, a lot of things to put together, mini games and good art/animation (love Linda!). I have no idea how it is this cheap, tbh - it takes about 5 hours, has multiple ways of figuring out different plots with what you can find on your playthrough and is still worth a second one after your done to tie any loose ends together. a fun game that I highly recommend to all adventure/detective games! Hope we get a part 2!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →What a cool little game. I absolutely love the time management mechanic and how it's central to the game - you have to decide what to pursue and which threads look the most promising. That in turn makes you feel like *you* actually solved the mystery in the end, and not was guided to the solution regardless of your decisions (even though also the game is really not hard and I think you'd have to try really hard to not get it - which is fine too! well balanced I'd say). Add to that really…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The love of my life gifted me this game for Christmas 2024, and it's truly an amazing discovery. I'm deeply grateful; I love her, and I’ll always treasure this gift and the thought behind it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Wish there is a endless investigation time mode after i have played the whole game. i just wanted to seek all the dialogues that haven't discovered before. (the game is good though, don't hesitate to buy it)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →While the world was struggling with Netflix like it was Hotmail in 1997, last night I played and beat Mindcop, a neat non-linear whodunit with great writing and surprising dark undertones. "Small village murder" vibe. Solved the muder on the first run, too. 🧠 store.steampowered.com/app/1517180/...
positive · AI labelView post →🚨I DIDN'T DO IT, I SWEAR!🚨 I'm super stoked to announce that you can hear me as the characters of Reuben and Josh, in the new Murder Mystery game Mindcop! I had such a fun time playing these characters, and I hope you all enjoy it! Download on PS5, Switch, and PC Today!
neutral · AI labelView post →Mindcop – Release Date Trailer – Nintendo Switch. Releasing November 14
neutral · AI labelView post →I'm going to give this a positive review, because overall I had a great time. There is enough things here done really well. That the few things I don't like aren't dragging it down enough into a negative review. It's short and sweet. The presentation is incredible. The art direction is going for a very specific style and is nailing it. The writing is solid. Not mind blowing but certainly caring a lot of charm that won me over. Linda, your partner, is incredible. The voice acted dialogue you…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Disco Elysium lite. Overall good but leaves some things that could be improved. Wasn't a super big fan of the time constraint - there really isn't enough time to go about searching for random things; I took up almost 100% of the time just questioning and mindsurfing everyone. On the mindsurf minigame, I kinda hated it, but you can just turn it off so it's not really a problem. Inspecting items and getting search warrants were kinda useless... as long as you see like 2/3 key mindsurfs and put…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Short but sweet detective game with great ambience and style.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Steam sale is slowly coming to an end so I'd like to recommend a game I discovered this week, Mindcop. If you liked The Séance of Blake Manor or similar detective games it's an absolute delight. It's currently 75% off and has a free demo to give you a taste. store.steampowered.com/app/1517180/...
positive · AI labelView post →I was having so much fun following the clues and talking to people. Piecing the story together in fragments, then mind surfing. I 100% forgot that i was trying to solve a murder lol
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is the greatest detective game I have ever played. You have to actually THINK like you would if you were a real detective, and really there. This is the bar, ladies and gentlemen.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Detective games are often very railroady. One answer and one way to get there. You don't need to think, deduce, make decisions. This game is different! You need to manage your time by not investigating every nook and cranny but instead prioritise. Follow your hunches. "Maybe someone threw something into the bushes?!". You need to play favors, not everyone will answer every question if you arrest their relative. And then there's... Linda. <3.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A thoughtful detective game where you actually get to think about the human motivations to extract the solution. Better than most detective games I've played! (I'm glad it had the option to turn off the mind surfing mini game as it's not what I'm here for!)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →'Whodunnit' detective adventure game Mindcop launches in Q4 2024 for PS5, Switch, and PC www.gematsu.com/2024/09/whod...
neutral · AI labelView post →Standout PC game deals today (Metacritic 80+): • Destiny 2: The Final Shape — $2.00 (−96%) on GameBillet, Metacritic 89 • Deaths Door — $1.99 (−90%) on Steam, Metacritic 85 • Mindcop — $1.49 (−90%) on IndieGala, Metacritic 87 #pcgaming #gaming #freegames
neutral · AI labelView post →Standout PC game deals today (Metacritic 80+): • Destiny 2: The Final Shape — $2.00 (−96%) on GameBillet, Metacritic 89 • Mindcop — $1.49 (−90%) on IndieGala, Metacritic 87 • Destiny 2: The Witch Queen — $2.00 (−93%) on GameBillet, Metacritic 86 #pcgaming #gaming #freegames
neutral · AI labelView post →Have you ever played Psychonauts but wished the protagonist was a forty year old cop who pretended he was a cool teen? Yeah me neither but this game made me realize that such a combo makes a fantastic story! The murder is a very grim one and when you go through people’s memories be they lies or the truth you start to realize how compelling the cast of characters are who are shaped by forgotten secrets and generational trauma. Not only is the story and character's great the way you…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Unique mystery game, doesn't quite stick the landing in terms of deduction skills. I may be bitter, but the game tells you things falsely (specifically on the strength required for a murder), that is not accurate
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →#gaming #demos Here we have another curiosity i discovered through game demos on my switch, Mindcop. Most gameplay is executed like a point’n click but it has a fee traits that prevent me from simply labeling it as such. I would actually label it as a detective/investigator narrative game.
neutral · AI labelView post →An absolute masterpiece of a game. I really hope there will be a sequel!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Mindcop: Cranial Cops & Memory Mysteries -Overview: Mindcop is a non-linear detective game about solving a murder in a tourist attraction. You go about the campgrounds finding evidence, talking with suspicious characters, and gaining access to their minds. After completing a short minigame, you are able to view a truth, a falsehood, and something in between that correlates to the specific character's thoughts and memories. Combine that with a strict time system, and you have a rather…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Finished Mindcop. Fabulous game for anyone who wants some fascinating surrealism in their film-noir murder mystery. Clever, intriguing, and polished. Prepare three to five hours because you will not put it down until you finish a playthrough. 10/10 mindsurfs. #mindcop #indiegame
positive · AI labelView post →Our latest episode - an interview with Andre Gareis, the developer of Mindcop - is up ! He reached out to us to come on the show after we discussed his game a couple weeks back. Listen here: upnerd.captivate.fm
neutral · AI labelView post →Good stream! We successfully solved the murder and caught the killer in Mindcop... My thoughts? It is a weird game that deals with some pretty dark subjects, so it's not gonna be for everyone, but it's also pretty good, decent game mechanics and an engaging plot. Worth a try if you like whodunnits.
neutral · AI labelView post →
Posts are quoted from public profiles with links to the original. Want yours removed? Contact us.