Inspector Waffles challenges you to solve the murder of the cat who didn’t land on his feet.

It all starts when a falling cat doesn’t land on their feet. There are not many people out there who would have wanted Fluffy dead, but it’s up to Inspector Waffles to figure out who is responsible for the murder.

Inspector Waffles is a pixel-art point and click adventure game which isn’t quite as cute as my opening paragraph might insinuate. It is, after all, a murder mystery. The CEO of Box Furnitures is dead and nobody really knows why. Ties to suspects are sketchy at best and there’s a nuisance journalist tracking your every move. The mystery is afoot and the stakes are high.

All of that said, a city populated by humanoid creatures leaves plenty of room for puns and jokes, but there is definitely all the feelings of a more serious point and click game (albeit not as unforgiving as the Sierra classics). Inspector Waffles isn’t just contending with the rest of the police force, a murderer on the run, and that nosy journalist, but he’s also got to deal with the legacy of his mother — a recently retired, famous detective. Thankfully, while the main character is reluctant to use it, she’s on hand to help out if things get a bit too tough — although I was confused that she wasn’t the replacement for a hint system, instead of being integral to in-game progress. 

I played through the first few areas while at AdventureX late last year, even in the opening scenes there are hidden-rooms and backstory aplenty. Hopefully, that level of creativity continues with the puzzles through the rest of the game, but time will tell. At the moment there’s no release date beyond 2020 — but that doesn’t mean that there’s too long to wait.

Inspector Waffles will be available for PC, Mac and Linux at some point this year, you can find out more about the game on the developer’s Twitter.