Broken Minds

About this game

Broken Minds is a murder-mystery visual novel set in 90s Japan.

When lonely 20-something Noa Karada finds herself being stalked by a mysterious killer in a rabbit mask known as The Orphan, she contacts the Yamagata Private Detective Agency for help. However, as her case grows more complex, the detectives grow more distant and eccentric. Perhaps Noa would’ve been better off never letting them into her life at all…



Because you are playing as a client, and not as a detective or a lawyer, the gameplay consists of logic and reading comprehension puzzles based on Noa arguing with the detectives about the solution of the mystery.



• Explorable environments
• Many choices & hidden secrets throughout
• Six different endings
• Over an hour of original music
• Flowchart to help navigate routes

Latest news

• Patch Notes·29 Oct 2023Official

  Update Notes for Oct 29

  Should fix glitch where Logic Train would not unlock even if you gave it the correct answers
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• Patch Notes·5 Aug 2023Official

  Update Notes for Aug 5

  Finally added achievements to the game! You should be able to unlock them simply by loading a save near the ending screen if you've already gotten all the endings! Enjoy!
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• Announcements·9 Jul 2021Official

  Broken Spirits Gameplay Trailer

  I'm very excited to show the first look at gameplay in Broken Spirits! This trailer runs buttery smooth because I'm using Unity's in-engine capture, which keeps the framerate constant no matter what. But it actually has a pretty good framerate when playing the game normally as well (no noticeable hiccups)! That might change once I add more rooms and stuff though. I had the Midori model mostly ready, and a few of the textures and props, but the rest of the content in this trailer was entirely created in just a week for the trailer itself. I don't know if that's representative of how long it takes for me to make three rooms. Some rooms had more props to make than others. The thing that will probably change the most from what you see in this trailer and the final game is the exterior. I slapped it together with assets from an even older prototype to finish this in time. But I plan to add much more detail to the roof, extra design elements, redoing the foliage, etc. The outside of the mansion will likely be an entirely separate level to ensure I can add more detail. There will probably be other changes as well once I bring a cultural consultant on board to help make the environments and story more accurate. That was something I wanted to do on Broken Minds, but lacked the resources for. Midori's model was initially created by vidavic. I tweaked some things about it afterwords, but it is 90% made by her. I used bits and pieces from this model in other models — for example the models in Catalyst Wake are all mashed together with bits from this Midori model. It's also been super helpful as a reference for myself when modeling human characters. I can't thank her enough! You'll notice there's a new look for the logo! The calligraphy was drawn by shodowave. It's so cool to have custom work done for this logo, and they did a great job! The maneki-neko is my first in-game photogrammetry object. I scanned it myself. It's a great technique, but you shouldn't use it for everything...
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• Patch Notes·2 Jun 2020Official

  "Sparkling Melon" Update Now Live!

  {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32796120/161a47b656f02d96710a0da2de96e7b8b8bb0bdc.png Introducing Sparkling Melon, the latest update to Broken Minds! Sparkling Melon introduces a brand-new difficulty mode system. Now you can choose to play as a "Casual Sleuth" or a "Master Detective". {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32796120/1480a760190e79709d0a96ef5a9a60d16934c432.png Casual Sleuth is for players who would rather focus on the story than get bogged down in confusing puzzles. Instead of Logic Trains, players simply select the right answer between several choices to proceed. Currently there is no penalty for getting it wrong, but that may change in a future update with a scoring system of some kind. For now though, it's pretty simple. Master Detective includes all the Logic Trains you know and love. If you want a challenge, this is the mode for you! Sparkling Melon also makes some updates to the sprites. Before, sprites kept their heads in a static position as their expressions changed. Now the sprites move their heads, like they do in Methods — it makes them seem more alive. Some expressions have also been altered or cleaned up, and Hiroki's body has been redrawn. The thick borders around the characters are now more consistent. Other small changes: Fixed confusing Puppet Theater minigame answer. Fixed bug with detectives swapping normal and blinking expressions during deduction section. Fixed bug where dream music would not stop playing if you moved through the dialogue quickly. Added apostrophes to minigame text As for Broken Spirits, I'm sorry that I wasn't able to fulfill my goal of monthly updates. As I recently announced on my website lockedongames.com, I am changing the way I work on projects to be one at a time instead of switching rapidly between them. Treating each game's development like a "marathon" forces me to work on them more frequently, and gets them done much faster. And focusing on one at a time prevents whiplash from reorienting myself to working on something different. By ...
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• Announcements·2 May 2019Official

  The Reiwa Era

  https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/32796120/e0e26afaed4d5836701743b0a3af6516e22f6048.png May 1st, 2019. It's now, like, the end of the Heisei Era. Nobody really liked him anyway. In the brand? New? Reiwa era? Things will be a lot different? In the Reiwa era, there won't be gross things like bread sweat or market-based economies. Everything will be 100% provided by me. You will all get glasses, but only non-prescription. They will be sunglasses. Sunglasses are my favorite shades. Congratulations to the new Emperor? I love how emperors still exist but like, in an ornamental way like how my lamp complements my rug, that's soooooo cool? Imagine if the emperor didn't match my rug? Yuck Keep on doing those awesome emperor things. reiwa~
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