Voodoo Detective from Short Sleeve Studio is a hand-drawn point and click adventure on Nintendo Switch. Learn more in our Voodoo Detective review!
Voodoo Detective from Short Sleeve Studio is a hand-drawn point and click adventure on Nintendo Switch. You’ll play as the titular Voodoo Detective who has just moved to the small town of New Ginen in Zo Wanga Isle, a location rich in Voodoo culture that has, unfortunately, been invaded by chain stores and privileged tourists. The game takes inspiration from the classic point and click adventures of ages past, paying homage in particular to the beloved Monkey Island series – right down to having a soundtrack by Peter McConnell, who worked on music for Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle, and more!
The game can be played either with the Nintendo Switch Joy-Con, the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller, or the console’s touchscreen when playing in Portable or Tabletop Mode or if playing the game on a Nintendo Switch Lite. When using physical inputs, you’ll move a cursor around the screen with the left or right analog sticks, interacting with objects or characters by pressing the A, B, X, or Y buttons. And if you’re ever feeling a bit stuck, just click on the main character himself to see if he has something to say.
Collect an important item, and it will be added to your inventory, which you can open up by clicking on the briefcase icon on the upper right corner of the screen. Items in your inventory can be used by clicking on them and then clicking on the item or character you want to use them on. You can also press and hold down the A, B, X, or Y buttons when the cursor is on top of an item to examine it. Some items can be combined with others. For this, just drag and drop an item on top of another one and see what happens!
The game will get you started with a short tutorial that will teach you about making dialogue choices, interacting with items – both decorative items and those that you can collect – and solving puzzles. How does it do this? By placing the Short Sleeve Studio too close to a candle in Voodoo Detective’s office and then having the logo light up! It is then that you’re required to find a proper solution to that conundrum by searching for an item that can be used to eradicate the flames before they incinerate the building.
You’ll get your first case right away when someone knocks on your office’s door with a peculiar case. She needs your help to find out who she is! She’s lost her memory and would very much like to recover it. All she remembers is standing at the crossroads where an old man was sitting below a green glowing lamp. He handed her a pendant and told her all she needed was a little sleep so that it would all make sense. Once she woke up, she found herself on a bed she didn’t remember, in a life, she didn’t recall.
To make everything even weirder, she mentions that she was holding the Voodoo Detective’s business card. That doesn’t sound that weird, right? Except for two things. You see, the Voodoo Detective never printed out any business cards after moving into town, and as soon as he touches said card… it disintegrates! This is an interesting setup for a film noir-style mystery, and as you progress further and further into the story, you’ll experience a couple of plot twists that will keep changing your perception of what is really going on.
Something that was very interesting is how the game allows you to customize your experience with Voodoo Detective, giving you the option of allowing it to have that old-school point and click adventure game on PC look and feel by going into the settings menu to change the resolution. You can go as low as 480 x 270 and as high as 1920 x 1080 to find the right one for you! There are also the classic options of adjusting the volume mix for the music, voices, and sound effects, as well as changing the cursor size and speed.
Voodoo Detective gives us a solid hand-drawn point and click experience with plenty of voice acting, an entertaining story, and some funny gags that will keep you coming back for more until the mystery is solved. It’s a solid first effort from Short Sleeve Studio, and I very much look forward to the team’s next release. You’re looking at around 5-6 hours to complete the game, which is not a bad running time for a solid point and click experience that isn’t as cryptic as its sources of inspiration. Voodoo Detective is out on Nintendo Switch with a $14.99 asking price.
Disclaimer
This Voodoo Detective review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy provided by Short Sleeve Studio.
