Captivating crime solving games don’t always need yellow tape and a brooding detective. Some of the best options comprise hidden object puzzles, merge mysteries, and even solitaire titles with secretive stories. One clue leads to another, pulling you deeper and deeper into an engaging riddle that’s begging to be solved.
Mistplay makes your mystery solving even more rewarding. When you play games on this rewarded gaming app, you’ll earn points redeemable for gift cards from brands like Amazon.com, Google Play, and Walmart.1
Ready to put on your detective hat and earn rewards along the way? Below, you’ll learn what makes for a great mystery investigation game and discover some of Mistplay’s top picks for crime connoisseurs.2
What makes a great mobile crime solving game?
The best crime mystery games on mobile blend rich stories with interactive gameplay. Hidden object crime games, mystery titles, or even puzzle formats with mystifying narratives all bring a unique twist. But great titles usually feature the following characteristics:
- Case-driven structure: Chapters unfold like a real investigation, with evidence gathering and clear resolutions instead of an endless loop of levels.
- Atmospheric world-building: A gothic manor, foggy urban environs, or even a spooky alien base give the mystery somewhere to live.
- Satisfying pace: Great games reward armchair detectives who slow down and look closely, rather than rushing them toward the next level or screen.
Best crime solving games on Mistplay
If you want to earn rewards while you scratch your crime-solving itch, start with these investigation games for Android and iOS.2
Love & Pies — Merge Mystery
Love & Pies wraps its mystery in bakery boxes, family drama, and a café in desperate need of renovation.2, 3 You play as Amelia, who returns home to find her family’s restaurant in ruins and her mother missing. It’s your job to uncover what happened and why everyone in town seems to know more than they let on. From there, the game blends cozy renovation with a story full of secrets and small-town gossip.
Gameplay centers on merging matching items like flour and sugar to create cakes and pies customers will love. Every order you fill earns you in-game coins to clean up and rebuild the café. And progress you make in the renovations unlocks new chapters of the story. While Love & Pies isn’t a gritty detective game, it still delivers a familiar case-solving rhythm: Gather pieces, follow the story crumbs, and merge until you find the next clue.
Hidden Spots — Hidden Objects
Most hidden object crime games ask you to spot what's already there. Hidden Spots — Hidden Objects flips the script.2, 3 Rather than finding hidden objects, you figure out where each object in your tray actually belongs on the screen. Place enough pieces correctly, and the picture fills in and unlocks the story’s next chapter.
Your detective skills still take center stage. Every level is a search-and-place mission requiring a razor-sharp eye for details. You’ll need to notice what’s out of place, check around every corner, and question anything that blends too nicely into the background.
Scavenger Hunt Hidden Objects!
Scavenger Hunt Hidden Objects!2, 3 is a puzzle game and treasure hunt hybrid that turns the classic seek-and-find format into a bright, busy search through an illustrated town. Sharpen your detective skills to find various items by zooming in on suspicious details and tapping the items. As you progress, each level reveals a new part of the map, and items often turn up in the last places you think to check.
This game also offers a customization option, letting players build their own scavenger hunts by picking locations, objects, and hints. Plus, nothing runs on a timer here. So, you can settle into a rhythm and search at your own pace.
Adventure Escape Mysteries
This title’s a murder mystery, escape room game, and detective puzzle rolled into one. Adventure Escape Mysteries puts the case work front and center across a rotating library of standalone stories.2, 3 Depending on the chapter you choose, you might step into the shoes of Detective Kate Gray, team up with characters from NCIS,3 or save a fantasy kingdom suffering from a mysterious curse.
The gameplay mixes classic point-and-click adventure with modern escape room puzzles where you collect tools and treasure by searching illustrated scenes. Meanwhile, you interpret clues, crack codes, and solve logic puzzles to unravel the mystery. With myriad scenes and offline chapter downloads, this title offers plenty to investigate.
Puzzle Adventure: Mystery Game
Puzzle Adventure: Mystery Game trades gritty crime scenes for a supernatural world filled with ghosts, monsters, and enchanted artifacts.2, 3 Play as a detective working through mystery storylines like the Werewolf Curse of Blackwood Forest and the Missing Archaeologist with your uncle Richard. Along the way, help characters like Professor Vance and Mayor Higgins translate ancient texts and resolve supernatural disturbances in town.
The game blends logic puzzles, detective quests, and 3D exploration with a spooky adventure vibe. Flip levers and unlock color-coded gates as you discover clues and unlock new areas and story lines. While it’s less structured than a straightforward murder mystery, the underlying goals of gathering clues and cracking codes deliver the same crime-solving satisfaction.
Merge Mansion: Puzzles & Story
Play as Maddie Boulton in Merge Mansion: Puzzles & Story.2, 3 You’ve inherited your family’s long-abandoned estate in Hopewell Bay and must restore it before the city council condemns and bulldozes it. While this one leans into the cute and cozy factor, there's real intrigue simmering beneath the renovation. As you fix up the grounds, work to uncover the secrets behind your grandma’s mysterious past.
Gameplay runs on match-and-merge mechanics, as you combine matching tools and cleaning equipment into high-tier tool chests and maintenance kits. Use these tools to repair gates and clear debris. Each finished task opens up more of the property, while hidden areas and clues pull the mystery forward. Participate in lore events, where characters like Ignatius Bolton and Lindsay reward you with special items like a stone can and a car hood ornament for completing special merge boards.
Riddle Road: Puzzle Solitaire
Riddle Road: Puzzle Solitaire follows journalist Abigail “Abbie” Fletcher into the small town of Oldbridge.2, 3 She arrives to investigate family secrets and uncover the truth behind her father’s disappearance. As she sleuths, Abbie meets magnetic characters, uncovers plot twists, and sharpens her detective skills.
At its core, the game mixes a casual solitaire setup with an adventure story, so each level links to a bigger mystery rather than acting as a standalone card challenge. You’ll also find a blend of solitaire styles, such as tripeaks, card block, and color joker. And between card levels, minigames like hidden objects and home decor challenges break up the action.
Other crime and mystery games (Not on Mistplay)
If you’re hungry for more case-solving mobile games, check out the following options. Just know that they’re not on Mistplay, so you won’t earn rewards as you play:
- Criminal Case: Join the police force in the corrupt city of Grimsborough, investigating crime scenes and interrogating suspects to solve a string of murders.3
- The Case of the Golden Idol: Piece together a series of strange deaths by studying crime scenes in this detective adventure.3
- Suspects: Mobile Detective: Team up with other players to investigate a mystery, gather evidence, and identify the culprits.3
- Murder Mystery: Step into a whodunit where you interrogate suspects and analyze crime scenes across a host of cases.3
Crack your next case and earn rewards with Mistplay
Mobile crime-solving games turn discovery into momentum. You continually gather clues and study details, following those threads to unravel the mystery. Regardless of the genre, these games make you feel like you’re part of the investigation.
And playing on Mistplay makes those sleuthing sessions even sweeter. As you follow the clues, you rack up points redeemable for gift cards from brands like DoorDash and Uber Eats.1 Not bad for some downtime investigating.
Ready to follow a new lead? Download Mistplay for iOS or Android today.
1 Gift cards may vary by region. Merchants do not endorse and are not affiliated with Mistplay.
2Games mentioned are for illustrative purposes, and selection may vary per region.
3All third-party names, trademarks, and brands mentioned in this article are the property of their respective owners and are used here solely for identification and descriptive purposes. Their use does not imply any affiliation with, or endorsement by, those owners.
The information in this article is accurate as of August 20, 2026, based on publicly available data. Mistplay is not responsible for the accuracy of third-party information.
This article is published by Mistplay and reflects Mistplay’s views based on publicly available information as of the date last updated.
