The Mermaid Mask is a perfect vacation murder mystery

The Mermaid Mask, the next point-and-click game from Tangle Tower developer SFB Games, has everything you could ask for in a great murder mystery.

It starts with a compelling setup: The captain of a submarine is found dead in a locked room, his body next to a mysterious cauldron with blood trickling across the floor. The colorful cast of suspects stationed aboard are delightful to talk to, including a grumpy author trying to draft a sequel to his hit novel, an actor playing the lead in a movie based on that novel, a young woman who puts on elaborate illusion performances, and even a man who studies dreams. The submarine works as an excellent setting that elevates the mystery — in a vehicle that already has such a small footprint, how does a locked-door crime happen in the first place?

Like other crime-solving games, such as the Ace Attorney series, The Mermaid Mask is essentially a visual novel. As Detective Grimoire and his partner Sally, the returning protagonists from Tangle Tower, you’re primarily talking with suspects, investigating rooms, poring over objects, and solving puzzles. But each room is packed with nooks and crannies and knickknacks to click around on, investigate, and learn about, so there’s almost always something to dig into.

The whole thing is backed by excellent voice acting; I often went out of my way to click on every detail I could find just to hear what the characters would say. The puzzles, which have you doing things like turning dials in exactly the right way or organizing skulls on a shelf, also do a good job breaking up what would otherwise be a whole lot of text conversations.

Even though I haven’t played Tangle Tower, I didn’t feel like I was missing any meaningful context. The Mermaid Mask borrows a tried-and-true model from other franchises starring a returning detective, like with Knives Out’s Benoit Blanc: You can come into this story cold without missing anything important, but Detective Grimoire and Sally are a fun hang that make a few nods to their previous work together.

Eventually, after you gather enough evidence about somebody, you’ll confront them in Ace Attorney-like sequences where you’ll be able to make observations or accusations that the suspect rather wished you wouldn’t. These were extremely satisfying; it always felt good to figure out a tiny detail that would break someone’s facade wide open. Whenever the opportunity to do another one came up, I couldn’t wait to jump in.

I had a few issues with The Mermaid Mask, but they’ll be familiar to anyone who likes playing these sorts of games. Presenting every clue to every suspect to get their reaction can be tedious. It’s not necessary, but I didn’t realize that until about halfway in my 10-hour playthrough when I spotted the hint system that suggests what you might want to show someone. Sometimes you have to make your case by presenting evidence in a specific order, even if you have already worked out where it might lead, so that the characters can talk things out as the script demands. At one point, I ran out of leads to explore and couldn’t figure where to go next until I manipulated one clue in one specific way that opened up a bunch of leads. More than once, I couldn’t figure out the exact clue that would advance things, so I just brute-forced guesses until I could move forward.

These roadblocks were frustrating. But that’s mostly because they stopped me from moving forward in a story that had me staying up way past my bedtime. When I reached the game’s finale — which begins with a classic murder mystery parlor room scene — I could hardly put my Steam Deck down because I wanted to see how all the pieces came together. When I finally finished The Mermaid Mask after a three-day tear, I felt like I had just closed the book on a satisfying murder mystery novel.

^{The Mermaid Mask is out now on Nintendo Switch, PC, and PS5.}