If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.

The Darkside Detective returns with a second series of spookings today

The adventure game has a demo too

The delightful duo of Detective McQueen and Officer Dooley return to solve more spooky mysteries today in The Darkside Detective: A Fumble In The Dark, a second season following 2017's comedic adventure game. Six new cases will send our heroes to places including a carnival, a wrestling league, and (spookiest of all) a retirement home for more pointing, clicking, and laughing. A funny and gentle adventure game sounds ideal right now.

A Fumble In The Dark returns to the mildly spooky American city of Twin Lakes to investigate bothersome supernatural goings-on, though it will also venture over to Castle Dooley in Ireland. I suppose I should've known Dooley would have ancestors—most people do—yet the prospect startles me. He's a strange one, that Dooley.

The first game was a good'un, Adam (RPS in peace) ruled in our Darkside Detective review.

"Like the puzzles, the humour in the game is gentle, poking fun at the entire concept of a paranormal police department and the tropes of point and click adventures, but so many of the jokes land that playing is like having dinner with a well-oiled double act. Dooley and player character McQueen are both underdogs, their Darkside department mocked and poorly funded, but their dishevelled dismay is always jovial. They're such a far cry from the cocky, smarmy balls of ego that often pass as adventure game protagonists – I'm looking at you, Deponia – that I wanted to give them both a big hug."

This second season does has a demo on Steam so you can try it for yourself.

The Darkside Detective: A Fumble In The Dark is out now for Windows, Mac, and Linux on Steam and GOG, with a 10% launch discount making it £9 until Thursday the 22nd. It's made by Spooky Doorway and published by Akupara Games. It's also hitting Xboxes, PlayStations, Switch, and Stadia.

About the Author
Alice O'Connor avatar

Alice O'Connor

Associate Editor

Alice has been playing video games since SkiFree and writing about them since 2009, with nine years at RPS. She enjoys immersive sims, roguelikelikes, chunky revolvers, weird little spooky indies, mods, walking simulators, and finding joy in details. Alice lives, swims, and cycles in Scotland.

Comments
Rock Paper Shotgun logo

We've been talking, and we think that you should wear clothes

Total coincidence, but we sell some clothes

Buy RPS stuff here
Rock Paper Shotgun Merch