[Amsterdam, Netherlands] September 23, 2024 — Mystery City Games, in partnership with independent publishing platform indie.io, is proud to announce that A Death in the Red Light has officially launched on Steam! In this adventure puzzler players will face a gritty true-crime mystery as a hard-boiled detective of the Amsterdam Police, brought out of suspension to solve a case that stumped every other officer on the force. It's his last shot at redemption–and the players' opportunity to explore and experience Europe's most famous city from a completely different perspective.

Discover A Death in the Red Light on Steam

In 1988, Amsterdam was not a world-famous vacation destination, but a city awash in crime, drugs, and social unrest. Urban blight will accompany players every step of the way as they work on the case, analyzing evidence and connecting clues to figure out the case of a dead body mysteriously appearing in the bleakest part of the city: Zeedijk, the Heroin Alley, where cops don't go in without back-up. Every piece of evidence is both a self-contained puzzle and a piece of a greater whole. Successfully solving the puzzle will yield a clue to advance the investigation, leading players down the trail, down to the seedy underbelly of Amsterdam.

The story-driven puzzle experience draws on its source material, Mystery City Games' escape game of the same title that received the 2020 Bullseye Award for the Best “Mystery” Genre of the Year. Designed to provide an authentic detective experience, both games challenge players with puzzles cleverly designed to replicate the feel of police work. These include the mundane, such as sifting through piles of items to find a critical piece of evidence based on a vague recollection, through ballistics and blood tests, to identifying suspects and prying out confessions.

A Death in the Red Light is no mere port, however: The video game has been rebuilt from the ground up to leverage the unique advantages of the format and provide a memorable experience for players, even those who previously experienced it as an escape game. The overhaul included expanding the storyline with new puzzles, creating a unique, noir art style to present it with, and of course, fleshing out 1988 Amsterdam as the star of the game. Rooting the game in real life was a deliberate choice, continuing Mystery City Games' long-standing policy of merging fact and fiction.

“Of all the historical escape games we've created across Europe, this story has always captivated me,” said Ben Sillevis, lead designer and creative director of Mystery City Games. "The blend of mystery, intrigue, and true-crime detective work made it a perfect fit for a video game adaptation. With this game, we’re bringing our love of history and the excitement of exploring Amsterdam's iconic district to players everywhere. We can't wait for them to dive into the adventure!"

Mystery City Games has followed this principle since its foundation in 2018, creating escape games and treasure hunts set across Europe. Each of these games is designed not only to entertain players with non-linear adventures across the continent's most famous cities, but also immerse them in their history, thanks to in-depth research.