Screenshots
Watch trailer on Steam ↗Inspector Schmidt - The Ebbing - Prolog
Active Fungus Studios · Published by Active Fungus Studios · Official site ↗
Positive — 93% positive (30 reviews)
Last updated 4 Oct 2026
This is the prologue to Inspector Schmidt - The Ebbing. In this detective RPG, the captain of a steamship collapses under mysterious circumstances during lunch. What happened? Question the passengers, discover and combine clues, and succeed in dice-based skill checks to solve the case.
Adventure, RPG, Free To Play · 2025 · More free games
Question passengers and combine clues to solve the captain's mysterious collapse aboard Inspector Schmidt - The Ebbing Prolog. Experience detective work through dice-based skill checks in an immersive free-to-play RPG.
About this game
NOTE: This free game is the official prologue to our main game Inspector Schmidt - The Ebbing. You will solve a tricky case that takes place right before the main storyline of The Ebbing. This case is not part of the main game but serves as the narrative link between Part 1 and Part 2 of the Inspector Schmidt series.
Valentin Schmidt, a Bavarian civil servant with truly bad timing, actually just wants to go on a well-deserved vacation to the North Sea. But right from the start, this is overshadowed by a drama: The captain of the steamship that is bringing Valentin and the other passengers to an idyllic North Sea island suddenly collapses during lunch and struggles for his life.
Was the captain poisoned? Valentin is tasked with finding out what happened – and discovers a web of relationships, dependencies, and motives among the ship's crew and passengers that he must unravel to find the true culprit.
Gameplay
Explore the Open World: Move freely on the North Sea steamship in 1870 and search for clues.
Initiate a Confrontation: Question the suspects and convict the perpetrators.
Engage in Exciting Dialogues: Use the dialogue mechanic to interview passengers, gather intriguing information, and find out who is hiding something.
Go on a Trail Hunt: Use your detective instinct to find hidden clues.
Combine the Clues: Link information and findings to solve the case.
Level Up: Develop your character and decide which skills you want to improve.
Pass the Skill Checks: Use your skills in classic pen and paper skill checks (dice rolls).
Craft Useful Items: Gather resources and build items and consumables to improve your skills.
Make Difficult Decisions: Your actions affect the course of the story. Decide for yourself how you want to solve the tasks—through charisma, diplomacy, etc.—but the mission is clear: Solve the case!
Setting
The year is 1870. The first functioning transatlantic telegraph cable has been put into operation. It creates hope for a communication-rich and peaceful time between the USA and Germany. The world is coming closer together, and industrialization is also advancing by large steps. However, these changes are not only met with supporters among the population. And then there is also the Franco-Prussian War, which is causing unrest among the people, who are being conscripted out of fear.
Valentin Schmidt, a young official from Bavaria, has just solved a tricky murder case in Wolpertshofen, Bavaria. As a thank you, Mr. Haller, the chief commissioner, sends him to the North Sea for rest. After the eventful crossing to Havstedt, Valentin is immediately confronted with the next mysterious death that needs to be cracked...
Supported by funds from nordmedia – Film and Media Company Lower Saxony/Bremen Ltd.
System Requirements
Will my PC run this? →Minimum
- OS: Windows 10
- Processor: AMD 1600X / Intel i5 3rd Gen
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: Radeon RX 590 / GeForce GTX 1660
- DirectX: Version 11
- Storage: 20 GB available space
Recommended
- OS: Windows 10
- Processor: AMD 3600X / Intel i7 6th Gen
- Memory: 16 GB RAM
- Graphics: Radeon 5700 XT / GeForce 2070 Super
- DirectX: Version 11
- Storage: 20 GB available space
Supported Languages
*languages with full audio support
Latest news
AnnouncementsOfficial
⚓ Now, let's get real - have you played The Ebbing yet? ⚓
The last few months here in the studio have been pretty awesome. Not only have we released an incredibly ambitious game, but we've also been working on three other amazing projects. The fact that Inspector Schmidt - The Ebbing is finally being played by you and is constantly improving thanks to your constructive feedback is still an incredible feeling a week later. We are being funded by the FFF! What's also incredible is that the FilmFernsehFonds Bayern is supporting us with production funding for the development of our next but one game! This means that the existence of our studio is secured beyond 2025. In the current highly uncertain times in the games industry, this is an absolute blessing and motivates us immensely to continue to give our best. Many thanks to the FFF, but also to our players and community. Your support shows the industry that we are worth supporting because you love our games. Stay fantastic! Next stop: Medieval Frontiers Things will now be a little quieter on this communication channel for the time being. However, the next release is already in sight: We will be releasing Medieval Frontiers at the end of the year! If you would like to actively help out here, please sign up for our beta test mailing list and you will be notified as soon as we are looking for testers. All the best from the Active Fungus team! Wishlist Medieval FrontiersRead full article on Community Announcements (Active Fungus Studios)AnnouncementsOfficial
Set sail: Inspector Schmidt - The Ebbing is released on Steam!
The big day has finally arrived: Our second game sees the light of day and is available NOW on Steam. We are incredibly proud, excited to see how you like it - and very, very tired. :D Nevertheless, our release party with the whole team is about to start on Discord! From 17:30 (UTC+1) we will celebrate ourselves, play a part of the game and then join a few streamers who will stream Inspector Schmidt - The Ebbing live on Twitch. We would love to have you join us! This way to the release party! Of course, we'd be even happier if you gave the game a go yourself and left us a review on Steam. Our bug channels on Discord and Steam are also open and await your reports. As always, we try to fix bugs as quickly as possible and are very grateful for your feedback. But for now: Cast off, off to Havstedt! Best regards from the Active Fungus TeamRead full article on Community Announcements (Active Fungus Studios)AnnouncementsOfficial
We're celebrating the release of The Ebbing - Are you joining us?
In just three days we will finally be releasing Inspector Schmidt - The Ebbing. This needs to be celebrated! We cordially invite you and your friends to our release party on Discord! When: 07.04.2025, 17:30 (UTC+1) Where: On our Discord-Server in the Ebbing-Events channel What: We'll play The Ebbing ourselves before we drop in on other streamers on Twitch and play a round of stream bingo (we'll explain what that is ;)). We would be very happy if you join us! This way to the release party By the way, if you haven't wishlisted the game yet, now is the perfect time. The Steam algorithm pushes games that have a lot going on on the Steam page in the week before release. Feel free to tell your friends about us - we appreciate any support! Best regards from the Active Fungus team {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45513922/0c8235b9b74251428c650e8e3b4c6c67f7a7e7f9.png {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45513922/d2a1006fae7d819cc0e305b7bd6302f2f60443d0.png {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45513922/5cf01c7d059de541766616d7ca4b9bbcb3d80d93.pngRead full article on Community Announcements (Active Fungus Studios)AnnouncementsOfficial
📣 World Premiere - Steinwallen plays Inspector Schmidt - The Ebbing tonight!
We're super excited to have Steinwallen, a fantastic history streamer, for an exclusive stream. Tonight he will be the first to play the full version of Inspector Schmidt - The Ebbing. We will of course be in the chat and are already very excited! When: 03.04.2025, 20:30 CET Where: https://www.twitch.tv/steinwallen ⚓ Are you going to be there to watch? ⚓Read full article on Community Announcements (Active Fungus Studios)AnnouncementsOfficial
Dev Talk: Character face and body animations in The Ebbing
In today's video, Elli and Julia talk about how we animate our characters in Inspector Schmidt - The Ebbing. Which programs do we work with? Why do we need to be careful not to get lost in detail? Why is efficiency the most important skill as an indie dev? Have fun watching! By the way, if you haven't wishlisted the game yet, now is the perfect time. The Steam algorithm pushes games that have a lot going on on the Steam page in the week before release. Also: Have you heard about our release party on Discord yet? We'd love to celebrate our second game together with you! When: 07.04.2025, 17:30 (UTC+1) Where: On our Discord-Server in the Ebbing-Events channel What: We'll play The Ebbing ourselves before we drop in on other streamers on Twitch and play a round of stream bingo (we'll explain what that is ;)). We would be very happy if you join us! This way to the release party Best regards from the Active Fungus team {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45513922/0c8235b9b74251428c650e8e3b4c6c67f7a7e7f9.png {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45513922/d2a1006fae7d819cc0e305b7bd6302f2f60443d0.png {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45513922/5cf01c7d059de541766616d7ca4b9bbcb3d80d93.pngRead full article on Community Announcements (Active Fungus Studios)
