The story then skips forward a year as the first of ten chapters sees Poirot – now a full-fledged detective – return once more to the manor.

This early in his career, some of his more familiar traits like his obsessive fastidiousness have not yet emerged, and he is shaken when his investigation ultimately leads to injustices between social classes. At this point, Poirot is just a simple police officer who believes steadfastly that the law will out. After that brief setup, Poirot himself appears in an interactive prologue that goes through the basics of gameplay as he investigates the theft of a bracelet at the Van den Bosch estate, home to a high-society family that’s fallen prey to financial difficulties. That is, until a shootout goes wrong and he’s demoted to a beat cop with such important duties as judging the annual Garden of the Season competition.

That added challenge, combined with hints of what the renowned detective Poirot will go on to become later in life, makes it a treat for the little grey cells.Įvents open with a montage of newspaper headlines detailing Poirot’s rise within the ranks of the Brussels Police Department. The First Cases sees Poirot trapped in an isolated manor, where he must investigate theft, blackmail, and … murder! With a focus on drawing connections between pieces of evidence, suspect motivations, and Poirot’s own inferences, this entertaining and surprisingly substantial isometric outing asks more of players than many mystery games starring famous sleuths. Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot has had a spotty record when it comes to making the jump from book page to interactive adventure, but Blazing Griffin Games hopes to change that by going all the way back to the start of the great Belgian detective’s career.

Poirot by Agatha Christie