Blue Toad Murder Files Episodes 1-3 Reviewed

Last year, I had the pleasure of taking a trip to New Jersey to meet my girlfriend’s extended family.  Now, as many of you may have already insinuated from my cavalier use of the words “New Jersey,” they were a loud and boisterous bunch that loved to talk and argue and laugh and generally make noise from their faces.  After the awkward “what are your intensions with my niece/granddaughter/cousin” conversations subsided, we had a lot of fun, but the most fun I had during the entire trip was watching an episode of Criminal Minds with the whole brood.  We all had theories as to whodunit, and at every commercial break, we shouted out our rationales and tried to discount each other.  In the end, my girlfriend was right, and she won the praise and admiration of us all.  I look back on that experience, because Blue Toad Murder Files attempts to recreate that experience while introducing a scoreboard and logic puzzles to justify the controller in your hand.

Blue Toad Murder Files is an episodic tale that follows the four detectives as they attempt to solve a series of mysteries in the Country British town of Little Riddle.  Each episode is divided into twelve chapters, which consist of a logic puzzle sandwiched between two cut-scenes.  The formula is unremarkably similar to the likes of the Professor Layton series: someone has information you need, you ask for the information, they ask that you solve a puzzle first before the story can progress.  Up to four players can participate by taking turns between chapters.  At the end of each episode, players will point a finger at the alleged offender based on a number of subtle clues scattered throughout the course of the game.  It is a very simple premise that tailors itself well to playing with the non-gamers in your life.

Blue Toad was developed by Relentless Software, which some readers may recognize as the team behind the Buzz! franchise.  The pedigree is apparent as Blue Toad sports the same dry, disparaging humor as its quiz show counterpart.  The parched British humor and bizarre European slang make Blue Toad Murder Files seem tailor-written for the crowd that carries on entire conversations using only quotes from Monty Python’s Flying Circus.  Although the story does involve a murder, the subject is handled discreetly and humorously enough that little gamers and the elderly will be left unscathed.

The game’s Achilles Heel is the glaringly apparent restraints placed on development.  The character models are poorly constructed and animated – some citizens of Little Riddle experience bizarre skin-rigging anomalies that result in gaping holes around the mouth and cheeks, while others have wandering, dead eyes.  Every person, building and plant in the game looks as though it were constructed by someone working their way through a modeling tutorial textbook.  The entire cast of Blue Toad Murder Files seems to be represented by a single voice-actor.  Although this could be an aesthetic choice by the games designers to make the game feel more like a story book, it results in many uncomfortable performances, particularly when the British male narrator is tasked to voice a female from a small town in America.

Given the right circumstances, there is a lot of fun to be had underneath Blue Toad’s warty exterior.  The logic puzzles are challenging enough that adults might have to scratch their head, but slower gamers will rarely find themselves too frustrated to press on.  The story and characters are all charming, despite their pock-marks, and there are plenty of chuckles to be had.   There is little fun to be had playing solo (aside from a few easy Silver Trophies) but the real fun comes from sitting on a couch with friends and family and participating in the story together.  If you are looking for a fun one to play with the Missus, this might be something to look into.