| Quick Verdict: Little Problems: A Cozy Detective Game is a fill-in-the-blank style game where you find clues through observation and then use those to solve the mystery. I enjoyed that the cases were short and sweet with a hint system that ensured you didn’t get stuck at any point throughout gameplay. |
| Game: | Little Problems: A Cozy Detective Game |
| Developer(s): | Posh Cat Studios |
| Publisher: | Amplified Games |
| Review Score: | 8 |
| Cozy Score: | 8 |
| Price: | $9.99 |
| Pros: | The hint system is a godsend and helps keep the frustration at bay even when you’re truly lost. The art style is adorable, and I feel like it’s a great little game with a low-stakes challenge. |
| Cons: | Some of the puzzles can feel a little convoluted because sometimes the solution is the absence of knowledge instead of finding it somewhere. It’s not a dealbreaker; it can just make you feel a little lost at times. |
| Platforms: | PC |
| Genres: | Puzzle |
Little Problems: A Cozy Detective Game is a word puzzle game that relies on attention to detail. If you’ve played the Duck Detective series, then you’ll be familiar with this particular gameplay. You’ll look at the scenario, gather clues as words, and then you’ll use those words to fill in gaps in the “case”.
It follows the story of Mary, a girl trying to navigate her everyday life. You won’t be cracking huge mysteries or solving major cases. Instead, you’re invited to solve the more mundane issues of a teenage girl’s life. You’re solving the “little problems” through 10 levels that change up the information you’ll need to glean and how you’ll need to solve the issues at hand.
There’s really not much to tell about the story because we’re not dealing with the bigger integrals of life with Mary, her family, and her friend circle, so let’s just dive into the gameplay and the features in Little Problems.
I like that the puzzles aren’t straightforward for each level because it invites you to look at things differently every single time.
Personally, I found Little Problems to be a bit challenging in what you’re meant to parse out with the details provided. Sometimes, you have to find the information that’s missing by looking at the clues you have and inferring from there. It can be a little challenging at times, but there is a hint system and the ability to kind of brute force the answers if you’re truly lost.
In this game, you’re having to fill in the blanks of the “case”, but you may need to fill in other details as well. Each case has the main issue that once it’s solved, you can move on, even if you don’t have other extracurricular things filled in. You may be asked to fill in someone’s first and last name or what book they may be checking out of the library. While filling those in will help to accomplish a 100% completion, it’s not necessary if you want to move forward.
We all fill the void in ourselves with Steam achievements, right? Or is that just me?
I would encourage getting everything filled in because getting 100% is how you get the achievement. If you’re lost, you can always come back to the case at a later date and fill in the blanks with no penalty to you for returning later.
Little Problems generally has several items to look at and may show you small snippets of a text conversation, notes in a book, or pictures with hidden clues. Most of the time, the information you need is right in front of your face, but other times, you may get half the information you need; you just need to put it together.
I’ve had situations where I found the correct answer by ruling out the things I already knew. For instance, there’s a library scene where you have to help match up the books to what someone is looking for. Rather than having them tell you what they need, you may have to look at other people who have interacted with them to learn what they’re looking for.
If you’re lost, there is a hint system that can help. In order to use it, you have to fill in the blanks as best you can and then ask for it to check what you’ve done. If there’s something wrong, you’ll get one hint. This means that it will tell you only one thing at a time that is incorrect. There could still be additional things that are wrong, but you’ll have to wait for the cooldown to try again.
It’s about 30 seconds before you can ask for another hint, but what I love about this hint system is that it will remain wrong until you get it right. So, if you had someone’s name wrong and the hint system flagged it, you can try all of the options and when you land on the right one, it will no longer show that it’s wrong.
Watch the trailer for Little Problems: A Cozy Detective Game!
This is invaluable for people who really can’t figure out what the clue is, and it will help them move forward with minimal frustration.
I feel like Little Problems really took the player into account by adding this failsafe system. It helps it live up to the cozy claim. And, while I don’t love how vague some things can be, I appreciated that I was challenged with a safety net. Even when I needed help finding the answers, I still felt like I achieved something when I ultimately got to move on with that sweet, sweet 100% achievement.
If you’d like to try out Little Problems: A Cozy Detective Game, you can grab it over on Steam for $9.99. If this isn’t your cup of tea, then you can check out some of the other reviews we’ve done lately, like Out and About or Hello Kitty Island Adventure.
