Detective Rainy Night Review: A Motel Mystery Gone Missing

TL;DR

Feels like a brilliant pilot episode someone accidentally released as a full game.

Detective Rainy Night is a fantastic idea locked inside a very small box. The atmosphere? Chef’s kiss. The mystery? Intriguing. The actual experience? A guided tour through a horror short that ends just when you’re finally leaning forward.

It’s not bad. It’s just… underfed. Like a game that wanted to be a wolf but was raised on salad.

Detective Rainy Night doesn’t outstay its welcome, mostly because it leaves before you’ve had time to enjoy yourself.

If you want an actually meaty crime game instead of a one-hour motel pamphlet, grab something from our Heist Games Hub or just buy a real banger like Payday 3 on GMG. Honestly, for the price of this motel mystery you could be elbow-deep in a vault already.

👉 Crime/Thriller books on Amazon (affiliate) - for when you want more detective work than the detective game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgfmZsN9FGw

Freedom of Crime - Zero. Less than zero. Negative freedom.

If you came here for chaos, improvisation, or even the basic pleasure of accusing the wrong person with gusto, forget it. Detective Rainy Night gives you the “freedom” of a guided museum tour where touching anything results in a stern look from the security guard.

You walk down the hallway. You speak to the person the game points at. You click the object that’s basically screaming TOUCH ME like a lonely fridge magnet. That’s your sandbox: a corridor and the faint hope of variety.

The whole place feels like a criminal underworld that’s been “safely laminated for your protection.” Honestly, I’ve seen IKEA showrooms with more opportunity for mischief.

Criminal Fantasy Fulfilment - You are the cop. Congratulations, fun cancelled.

CRIMENET always roots for the villains. Bandits, psychos, the sort of bloke who steals catalytic converters just for cardio, that’s our tribe.

But here? You’re playing Detective Iker Carmona, a policeman who investigates things on purpose.

Absolutely ghastly. You’re not allowed to bend rules, break ribs, hide bodies, or whisper “I’ll look the other way if you slip me a twenty.”

Instead, you politely ask motel guests questions like you’re filling out a satisfaction survey. Meanwhile the real criminals, the horror, the vanishings, the weird symbols, are having the time of their lives while you stand there, dripping in rainwater and obedience.

It’s like ordering a steak and receiving a laminated pamphlet about cows.

Mission Design - “Click here, champ!” The game.

Twelve chapters. Five days. A thousand opportunities to feel like your mouse is doing all the detective work.

The “investigation” mostly consists of walking to someone, listening to them waffle on, then being escorted to the next plot point like a child at a zoo. The alleged “deduction” shows up only at the very end, in the form of a pop quiz that punishes you for blinking earlier.

This isn’t mission design, it’s a very nice PowerPoint presentation pretending to be dangerous.

If you expected something like LA Noire but trapped in a motel, adjust those expectations until they resemble a pancake.

Money & Progression - Lovely little story… for the price of lunch.

There’s no XP, no money, no gear, no “grind,” unless you count grinding your teeth at the runtime. You pay roughly ten euros for an experience shorter than some fast-food queues.

Short games can be magical. They can punch hard. But this one starts building tension, gives you a whiff of mystery, and then, poof, you’re watching end credits like someone ripped the plug from the socket just as the kettle boiled.

For the same cash you could buy an older crime classic, commit 400 felonies, and still have enough left to treat yourself to a banana.

World & Sandbox - One motel. Moodier than your ex.

The Holiday Motel is the star of the show: eerie neon, heavy rain, the vibe of a place where you absolutely would get tetanus from the pool ladder. It’s wonderfully gloomy… for about ten minutes.

Then you start noticing the cracks: the stiff animations, the flat lighting, the general feeling that everything was built by someone who ran out of budget, time, or patience, possibly all three.

There’s no sandbox here. There’s a hallway. A room. Another hallway. You’re less “exploring a sinister underworld” and more “inspecting a crime-scene diorama in a museum gift shop."

Detective Rainy Night may be short, but at least your patience doesn’t have to be. If you’re craving a crime game where things actually happen, try one of the CRIMENET-approved carnage machines in our Villain Video Games Hub.

Or skip the foreplay and go straight for the classics:

👉 Grand Theft Auto V – GMG (affiliate) - cheaper than a motel room and twice as violent.

👉 Psychological thriller movies on Amazon (affiliate) - for when the motel didn’t scratch the paranoia itch.

Crew & NPCs — Seven suspects, zero time to care

The premise is perfect: seven sketchy motel guests, each with a secret that screams “I’ve buried people.”

But the game is so short that meeting them feels like speed-dating hosted by a poltergeist.

Conversations are long, unvoiced, and full of repeated lines, the sort of dialogue that makes you miss silent movies.

By the time you’ve finally warmed up to someone, they’ve either vanished, died, or you’ve rolled credits. No branching routes, no real interrogations, no chance to break a suspect mentally like a breadstick.

It’s less “And Then There Were None” and more “And Then There Was No Time To Develop Anyone.”

Police & Law Response - You’re the only cop, and it’s not fun for anyone

Normally, CRIMENET enjoys mocking useless police AI, but here there’s nothing to mock: there is no police force. Just you. Alone. Trapped with mysteries, wet socks, and the creeping dread that you’re not allowed to do anything morally questionable.

If you wanted the thrill of manipulating evidence, intimidating suspects, or telling dispatch you’ve “lost radio contact” while actually doing crimes, forget it. You are a well-behaved employee of the state.

Boring, beige, paperwork-scented justice.

Style & Atmosphere - Terrific mood wearing discount graphics

Look, I’ll give it this: the atmosphere slaps. The storm, the neon, the isolation, the escalating weirdness, it’s all delicious. You can practically smell the mildew.

But then the visuals wobble, the animations sigh, and the UI makes noises like someone microwaving a pager.

It’s like watching a stylish indie horror film… projected on an old bed sheet.

Still, there’s something charming about its sincerity. You can tell the devs really cared. They just didn’t have the artillery to match their ambition.

Replayability - A one-night stand that already packed your suitcase

Once you finish it, that’s it. That’s the whole thing. The story doesn’t branch, events don’t change, and the mystery is the same every time.

There are achievements, sure, but that’s like ordering a second dessert because the first one didn’t fill you up, technically possible, spiritually pointless.

If you replay this, I guarantee it’s because you forgot to check a drawer, not because the game begged you to return.

Multiplayer — Absolutely not

No co-op, no multiplayer, no chaos with friends. This is strictly “sit alone in the dark and hope the motel doesn’t kill you. ”Fair enough, adding multiplayer would turn this into a comedy sketch faster than you can say “lag spike.”

If you enjoyed this review more than the game, and let’s be honest, that’s likely, treat yourself to something with actual replay value. The kind of title that lets you commit crimes on purpose, not just witness them from a damp hallway. Red Dead Redemption 2 – GMG (affiliate) - crime, chaos, and weather that actually matters.

FAQ – The Motel’s Most Frequently Asked Regrets

1. Is Detective Rainy Night actually worth buying? Only if you enjoy games that end faster than your enthusiasm. It’s atmospheric, yes, but so is a fog machine, and those usually last longer.

2. How long does the game take to finish? About an hour. Maybe 90 minutes if you inspect every drawer like you’re hunting for your lost dignity. Blink twice and you’ll miss the plot twist.

3. Is it scary or just damp? It’s more “slow psychological dread” than “screaming in a hallway with a chair leg.” Think unsettling motel energy, not full-on demon aerobics.

4. Is there real detective work, or am I just clicking things politely? Mostly the latter. You’re not cracking a case, you’re chaperoning it. The final quiz pretends you’ve been deducing, but really it’s checking whether you drifted off.

5. Will I want to replay it? Only if you’re determined to squeeze value out of that ten-euro impulse purchase. The story plays out the same, no matter how lovingly you interrogate the wallpaper.