Guides

3 games like Return of the Obra Dinn on PC

For games like Return of the Obra Dinn on Windows PC, choose The Case of the Golden Idol for reconstructing crimes, The Roottrees are Dead for tracing identities and family connections, or Chants of Sennaar for decoding languages. Start with the kind of deduction you want to do next.

By Cartridge · Published 14 October 2026 · Updated 14 October 2026

A guide by Cartridge. Sources and methodology.

Official The Case of the Golden Idol artwork with four characters, a magnifying glass and the title on a green background — **The Case of the Golden Idol**Reconstruct a crime

Official The Roottrees are Dead artwork showing a newspaper with the game title and a photograph of three women — **The Case of the Golden Idol**Reconstruct a crime

Choose the clues you want to follow

Obra Dinn’s official description centres on exploration and logical deduction. These picks follow that interest in three directions: explaining a scene, connecting records, and making sense of unfamiliar symbols.

Crime scenes

The Case of the Golden Idol

Our starting point if you want to inspect a death scene and work out who did what, how and why.

Connected identities

The Roottrees are Dead

Choose it if following names, photographs and documents sounds more inviting than examining a crime scene.

Unfamiliar symbols

Chants of Sennaar

Choose it if the part you want more of is turning observations into a meaning that finally fits.

The Case of the Golden Idol: explain what happened

Golden Idol asks you to inspect frozen scenes of death and reconstruct the events behind them. The developer describes identifying suspects, motives and murder weapons across connected cases.

It is our first suggestion if the attraction is building an explanation from small details. The important difference is the format: these are pixel-art crime scenes, rather than Obra Dinn’s first-person ship exploration. The official content description includes depictions of murder; choose another kind of puzzle if that is not what you want tonight.

See Golden Idol’s official description and requirements

The Roottrees are Dead: connect the records

Roottrees turns the investigation into a family tree. Its 1998 setting sends you through an in-game version of the early internet, gathering photographs, books and articles to establish family relationships.

This is our pick for the pleasure of connecting one identity to another. Instead of reconstructing a single scene, you work across records and decide where people belong. We are recommending the Steam release here; its official description distinguishes it from the earlier free browser version.

See the Steam version of The Roottrees are Dead

Chants of Sennaar: work out what the symbols mean

Chants of Sennaar moves from identifying people to interpreting languages. As you explore a tower, conversations and surroundings give you context for unfamiliar glyphs. A notebook helps you record symbols and work out their meanings.

Pick it if you want the discovery of a pattern more than another murder investigation. It is an adventure as well as a language puzzle: the publisher’s overview includes evading guards and avoiding traps. If you want to stay with records or still scenes, start with Roottrees or Golden Idol.

Which should you start with?

All three have Windows PC versions on Steam. Check the current system requirements on the linked listings before buying.
Game	What you piece together	The main difference
The Case of the Golden Idol	Events, suspects and motives	Pixel-art crime scenes
The Roottrees are Dead	Identities and family relationships	Research across in-game records
Chants of Sennaar	The meanings of unfamiliar glyphs	Exploration, with guards and traps

If you already own one of these, give it a place in your next-game shortlist before buying another. For help deciding among games in your backlog, use our next-game guide.

Choose your next game from your backlog

Keep a ‘Next mystery’ Stack in Cartridge

Save the reason for each recommendation while it is fresh. Cartridge’s free Stacks let you collect games under a name and add your own notes; your Library, ratings and reviews are free too.

Search for the games that interest you in Cartridge and save them to Want to Play.
Create a Stack called ‘Next mystery’ and add your shortlist.
Add a brief reason to each pick: ‘crime scenes’, ‘family-tree research’ or ‘language clues’.
Choose one to play on your PC. Afterwards, record what you liked in a spoiler-free review to help with the next choice.

Cartridge keeps this shortlist on your iPhone while you play on your PC. An account and iOS 26 or later are required.

Sources and editorial note

This guide is published by Cartridge, not an independent review site. We selected these games from their documented mechanics, not hands-on testing. Similarity and suggested starting points are editorial judgments. We checked the official store descriptions, Windows requirements and publisher information on 14 October 2026. Official game artwork is reproduced unchanged for identification, with credits above. Cartridge is not affiliated with these games.