The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark
Give it 7 hours
What the data shows
- In the first 2 hours 1 in 7 reviews are negative (15%); after 7h it's 1 in 40 (3%).
- The opening is criticised less than in 82% of games we track.
- Few early reviews, so this is a rough estimate.
- 61% of players who start reach the ending.
- The biggest drop-off is between “You Answered The Call” (Completed Case 1: Missing, Presumed Darkside) and “Two Days To Retirement” (Completed Case 2: Twilight Years): from 95% to 85% of starters.
- Only 68% of owners have even the first achievement — the rest barely played.
When it gets good
Share of positive reviews by how many hours the reviewer had played when writing the review.
before it gets good opening up fully opened up
Based on all 2,053 Steam reviews in every language. Median playtime in a sample of 300 reviews: 10.7h for positive, 5.3h for negative. Almost every game is rated lower in the first 2–3 hours: that window includes refunds and quick first impressions. What matters is how deep the dip is and how fast the game recovers.
Where players quit
Share of players who started the game and reached each story milestone. 100% is the most common achievement (67.7% of owners), so people who bought the game and never launched it don't count.
- Started playing 100%
- You Answered The Call Completed Case 1: Missing, Presumed Darkside 95% −5
- Two Days To Retirement Completed Case 2: Twilight Years Most players quit here 85% −11
- The Luck Of The Irish Completed Case 3: Druid's Delight 78% −7
- Sircus Survivor Completed Case 4: Funfair Dismissal 72% −5
- Tag Team Champs Completed Case 5: Royal Fumble 68% −4
- High School Graduates Completed Case 6: Class of the Titans 62% −6
- Death's Door, Left Ajar Completed Case 7: Ghosts Of Christmas Passed 52% −9
- Thunderstruck Completed Case 8: One Flew Into The Cuckoo's Nest 50% −3
- Cryptkeeper Complete Case 9: Tales from the Darkside. 39% −11
- The Boys Are Back In Town Credits watched, Division reinstated. 61% +22
story milestone ending biggest drop-off
Story milestones were labeled by AI from achievement names and descriptions; mistakes are possible.
All achievements (30)
story milestone ending side
- An Eye For Detail You spotted what Gary was up to on the switchboard roof. 100%
- You Answered The Call Completed Case 1: Missing, Presumed Darkside 95%
- Two Days To Retirement Completed Case 2: Twilight Years 85%
- The Luck Of The Irish Completed Case 3: Druid's Delight 78%
- Sircus Survivor Completed Case 4: Funfair Dismissal 72%
- Tag Team Champs Completed Case 5: Royal Fumble 68%
- Busy Body You examined all of Nanny Dooley's stash. 68%
- Bum Ride You broke the clown car. 66%
- Time Cop You found all the flashbacks of Dooley's darkside adventures. 64%
- Too Cool For School Dooley's a cool cat. 64%
- High School Graduates Completed Case 6: Class of the Titans 62%
- The Boys Are Back In Town Credits watched, Division reinstated. 61%
- Heavy Petting You pet all the animals in the game. 58%
- Unwanted Dinner Guest You interrupted a scary yet romantic dinner. 57%
- Death's Door, Left Ajar Completed Case 7: Ghosts Of Christmas Passed 52%
- Thunderstruck Completed Case 8: One Flew Into The Cuckoo's Nest 50%
- The Grump Of Christmas Passed What a nice night for some star gazing. 43%
- Cryptkeeper Complete Case 9: Tales from the Darkside. 39%
- Playing With Fire You ruined the demon's downtime. 32%
- Beautiful Nerd You read all ten plaques in the Botanic Gardens. 31%
- Resource Hogs Drain Nanny's supply of sandwiches and tea. 25%
- Manhandler Poke McQueen 50 times. 25%
- Matchmaker You helped find true love. 24%
- Light Reader You found the pop-up image in each case. 24%
- Teach An Old Dog New Tricks Wait... Did you teach him a trick or did he just trick you? 23%
- Well Well Well... You discovered the well's secret... 22%
- Wisdom Seeker Ask the masters for their worldly wisdom. 20%
- Even Lighter Reader Find and read the popup in each vignette. 20%
- Slender Fan Listen to all Inhuman League tracks. 14%
- Kind Words Find encouragement in the most unlikely of places. 13%
Similar games
Similar genres and Steam tags; many also take a while to get good (this one: around hour 7)
Sherlock Holmes: The Silver Earringfrom hour 7
Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhousefrom hour 5
Kathy Rainfrom hour 5finale 93%
Sam & Max 301: The Penal Zonefrom hour 5
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishmentsfrom hour 7finale 51%
Loco Motivefrom hour 7finale 39%
In collections:New slow-start games (2020 and later)