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Start with Murdered: Soul Suspect if you want the closest literal match: you investigate your own murder as a ghost, using possession, mind-reading, wall-walking and interrogation of the dead. Choose Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective for a tighter, puzzle-led version of that premise; Sherlock Holmes The Awakened for Lovecraftian cult horror; and Return of the Obra Dinn when rigorous, evidence-based deduction matters more than conventional detective presentation. Sherlock Holmes: The Devil’s Daughter is a worthwhile adjacent pick for a traditional London case structure, but the cited Steam description does not establish it as supernatural.

The five best choices at a glance

Game Supernatural role Case focus How you solve it Horror and pressure Best fit
Murdered: Soul Suspect Core premise: you are a murdered ghost Your own murder Possession, reading or influencing minds, passing through walls, questioning the dead Supernatural thriller with demonic- spirit combat Most literal supernatural murder mystery
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective Core premise: an amnesiac ghost Your own murder, before sunrise Possess and manipulate objects; rewind events Stylized puzzle tension and a hard time limit Best compact, puzzle-driven mystery
Sherlock Holmes The Awakened Cthulhu Mythos and an Ancient God cult Disappearances across Europe and the United States Crime-scene investigation mixed with psychological-horror exploration Strongest occult and psychological-horror emphasis here Best Lovecraftian investigation
Return of the Obra Dinn Horror atmosphere and an uncanny death-investigation premise Identifying what happened to every person aboard a ship Exploration, logic and cross-checking evidence Minimal hand-holding; noir and horror tone Best deduction-first experience
Sherlock Holmes: The Devil’s Daughter Not established as supernatural by the cited Steam description Intricate London mystery Structured investigation, puzzles and consequential choices Dark detective-adventure tone Best adjacent traditional detective game

The split is useful: the first two make the protagonist’s death the central case; The Awakened turns investigation toward cosmic horror; Obra Dinn makes deduction itself the main mechanic; and The Devil’s Daughter supplies a more conventional Holmes-style framework.

1. Murdered: Soul Suspect — the closest literal match

Steam describes Murdered: Soul Suspect as “a supernatural detective thriller which challenges players to solve possibly the hardest case of all… their own murder.” That setup answers the most specific version of the question: which game lets you solve your own murder as a ghost?

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What you do

You play Ronan O’Connor from the afterlife. The investigation is built around abilities that a living detective cannot have:

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  • Possess people to observe situations from inside another character.
  • Read or influence minds to extract information or affect what a person does.
  • Walk through walls and move through spaces that would be inaccessible to a living investigator.
  • Interrogate the dead, turning the afterlife into an evidence network rather than a backdrop.
  • Fight demonic spirits, adding direct supernatural danger to the investigation.

Those powers are not optional flavor. They define how you gather clues and how the case is framed, so this is the strongest recommendation when “supernatural” and “murder mystery” must carry equal weight.

Where it sits on the mystery spectrum

The game is more guided than a pure deduction simulator. You are given a concrete murder to solve and supernatural tools that open investigative routes, but the experience also includes thriller pacing and combat against hostile spirits. Choose it when you want narrative momentum and paranormal mechanics together, rather than a case notebook that demands you infer every answer unaided.

Steam reception snapshot

In 2026, Steam showed 82% positive English reviews from 4,322 reviews. That percentage is a changing store snapshot, not a permanent score; Steam’s total and rating can move as new reviews arrive.

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2. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective — the best compact puzzle mystery

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective starts with Sissel waking as a ghost who has no memory. The central questions are who killed him and why. Steam’s description gives the investigation a clear deadline: “With only a few hours until sunrise — and oblivion — to uncover these answers, Sissel must solve the mystery of his own murder.”

How the ghost investigation works

Sissel does not investigate by interrogating witnesses in a conventional dialogue tree. Instead, you:

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  • Possess objects in the environment.
  • Manipulate those objects to change what happens in the physical world.
  • Rewind time to revisit the moments surrounding a death and alter the chain of events.

The result is a cause-and-effect puzzle structure. You learn by testing how one object or action changes another person’s fate, then use that knowledge to move the investigation forward. The supernatural premise supplies the viewpoint, while the object puzzles provide the actual deductions.

Why it works for a short waiting-period game

The HD remaster launched on Steam on June 29, 2023. Its campaign is the most compact-feeling option in this group, with a focused puzzle loop and a defined overnight deadline rather than a sprawling open-ended investigation. The tone is more stylized and puzzle-oriented than bleak, realistic crime horror, so it suits players who want a supernatural murder story without sustained combat.

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Steam reception snapshot

In 2026, Steam reported 97% positive English reviews from about 2,100 reviews. Treat “about 2,100” and the percentage as a dated snapshot that may change.

3. Sherlock Holmes The Awakened — the best Lovecraftian investigation

Sherlock Holmes The Awakened combines Holmes-style casework with the Cthulhu Mythos. Sherlock investigates disappearances in Europe and the United States that are connected to a cult worshipping an Ancient God. The game released on April 11, 2023.

What makes the investigation supernatural

The occult element is not a single ghost mechanic. It is the case’s escalating explanation: apparently separate disappearances point toward a cult and a cosmic entity. Investigation therefore shares space with psychological strain and horror. You are still examining evidence and following leads, but the meaning of those clues becomes increasingly disturbing as the cult connection emerges.

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Locations and tone

The route moves through recognizable Holmes territory and more unsettling environments, including Baker Street, a Swiss psychiatric hospital and the wetlands of Louisiana. That geographic range helps distinguish it from the self-murder premises of Murdered and Ghost Trick: the focus is a widening conspiracy rather than one dead detective reconstructing his own final moments.

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Who should choose it

Pick The Awakened if you want investigation to remain important while the atmosphere becomes overtly occult and psychologically threatening. It is the clearest choice for readers specifically asking for Cthulhu Mythos material, cult horror or a detective story in which supernatural forces reshape the case.

4. Return of the Obra Dinn — the best deduction-first option

Steam calls Return of the Obra Dinn “a first-person mystery adventure based on exploration and logical deduction.” That sentence captures its priority: you are expected to reason from evidence, not simply follow a sequence of highlighted objectives.

The investigation model

The shipboard mystery asks you to reconstruct deaths and identify the people involved. You explore, inspect scenes and compare details across cases. Progress comes from forming a consistent explanation for identities, causes and circumstances, then checking whether later evidence supports it.

Why it feels different from the other four

Obra Dinn offers minimal hand-holding. It does not primarily sell the fantasy of being a supernatural detective with special powers; it sells the satisfaction of solving a large, interconnected puzzle. Its horror and noir tags describe the atmosphere and subject matter, while the actual challenge is logical deduction. The multiple endings reinforce that your conclusions matter rather than serving only as a route through a fixed story.

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Steam reception snapshot

In 2026, Steam showed 96% positive English reviews from more than 18,000 reviews. As with every Steam percentage, that figure is a moving snapshot rather than a guarantee of your own experience.

5. Sherlock Holmes: The Devil’s Daughter — the adjacent traditional detective choice

Sherlock Holmes: The Devil’s Daughter belongs on a broader waiting list for dark murder-mystery fans, but it needs a precise qualification: the cited Steam description presents an intricate London detective adventure and does not establish a supernatural premise.

What it offers

Steam frames the game around tracking evil through London and untangling a complex mystery. Its tags include detective, puzzle, crime, thriller, investigation and choices matter. That points to a structured case format in which you collect clues, solve puzzles and make decisions that can affect how events unfold.

When it is the right substitute

Choose it when the part you value most is the Holmes-style rhythm of visiting locations, examining evidence and following a chain of cases. Do not choose it as a direct paranormal replacement for Murdered, Ghost Trick or The Awakened; its fit is the detective-adventure side of the brief, not the supernatural side.

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How the games compare by the decision that matters to you

If the protagonist’s own murder is non-negotiable

Start with Murdered: Soul Suspect for a direct afterlife investigation with multiple ghost abilities. Move to Ghost Trick if you prefer manipulating objects and rewinding events to combat or free movement.

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If you want the deepest deduction

Select Return of the Obra Dinn. Its design asks you to establish identities and causes from connected evidence with little guidance. The game is less about supernatural powers than about whether your explanation survives logical testing.

If Lovecraftian horror is the priority

Choose Sherlock Holmes The Awakened. It is the only option in this group explicitly built around a cult serving an Ancient God and the Cthulhu Mythos.

If you want traditional detective structure

Sherlock Holmes: The Devil’s Daughter is the adjacent pick. Its cited description supports a dark, choice-driven investigation, but not a supernatural classification.

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If you have short sessions

Ghost Trick is the natural first try because its puzzle structure is focused and its story has an explicit sunrise deadline. No hour counts are provided for any title, so exact completion times should not be inferred from this comparison.

If you want action or threat as part of the case

Murdered: Soul Suspect includes fights with demonic spirits. The other descriptions emphasize puzzles, investigation, psychological horror or deduction rather than a comparable combat requirement.

A practical play order while you wait

  1. Play Murdered: Soul Suspect first if you want the title that most literally combines a murder case, a ghost protagonist and supernatural investigative powers.
  2. Follow with Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective for a more concentrated puzzle interpretation of solving your own death before sunrise.
  3. Move to Sherlock Holmes The Awakened when you are ready for a longer-feeling investigation shaped by cult horror and psychological strain rather than a single personal murder.
  4. Choose Return of the Obra Dinn when you want to slow down and test your own deductions with minimal assistance.
  5. Use Sherlock Holmes: The Devil’s Daughter as the adjacent option if you want another structured Holmes mystery and can accept that its supernatural status is not established by the cited store description.

What the Steam ratings do—and do not—tell you

The listed percentages are useful signals about broad player reception, but they are not fixed review scores, professional verdicts or guarantees of fit. Steam’s store pages listed these percentages in 2026, and they are tied to English-language review counts:

Game Steam English-review snapshot How to read it
Murdered: Soul Suspect 82% positive; 4,322 reviews A dated store snapshot with a substantial review base
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 97% positive; about 2,100 reviews A very positive snapshot, with an approximate count
Return of the Obra Dinn 96% positive; more than 18,000 reviews A very positive snapshot with the largest cited review base

No comparable percentage was supplied for Sherlock Holmes The Awakened or Sherlock Holmes: The Devil’s Daughter, so this article does not assign one. Steam ratings can change as reviews accumulate, and they should be rechecked on the store page when you make your decision.

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Bottom line by player type

  • Most literal supernatural murder mystery: Murdered: Soul Suspect.
  • Best ghost puzzle with a clear deadline: Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective.
  • Best occult detective horror: Sherlock Holmes The Awakened.
  • Best pure deduction challenge: Return of the Obra Dinn.
  • Best non-supernatural-adjacent Holmes adventure: Sherlock Holmes: The Devil’s Daughter.

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