A Salem Witch Trial - Murder Mystery

Introduction

A Salem Witch Trial - Murder Mystery sends players into 17th-century Salem, at the height of witch hysteria, to investigate a double homicide and determine whether something supernatural is really responsible. Developed and published by Digital Bento, it launched on Steam on 22 February 2018 at NZ$4.49. Nearly eight years later, its 52 English-language reviews sit at 58% positive, Mixed. This review read all 22 negative reviews in that sample alongside a range of the positive side.

What draws consistent praise

The one thing this review's negative-review sample rarely disputes is the art. "The art is decent," concedes one otherwise critical review, and another, more generously: "the artwork is period appropriate and, again, it is beautifully rendered." Several positive reviews single out the visual style as the clearest reason to try the game even given its other shortcomings, and one specifically notes enjoying the way the true ending diverges meaningfully from the more common outcomes.

A mystery over almost before it begins

Where this sample converges most strongly is on length and depth. "I finished everything — including every achievement — in 47 minutes," reads one detailed review, a timeframe echoed closely by several others across the sample. That brevity compounds a separate, related complaint: the mystery itself is widely described as too obvious to deliver real deduction. "The clues are so obvious and spoonfed, anyone can guess who did what and why," reads one review, adding that "the entire plot is later explained again by a character, sucking any sort of intrigue out of" what should have been the game's central hook. Gameplay itself draws a related structural criticism — several reviewers describe repeated loops around town asking the same handful of questions, with one summarising the whole experience as "just a click and read the dialogue" rather than genuine investigation.

Text quality and technical issues

A separate, recurring thread concerns the writing itself: multiple reviewers independently flag grammar and editing errors throughout, with one going as far as recommending the developer "lower the price to 99 cents and then use your money to hire a proofreader." A smaller number of reviewers report more serious technical trouble — one describes the Steam overlay ceasing to function partway through before the game froze entirely, forcing a refund.

Checking whether any of this changed

This review checked Digital Bento's own public update history to see whether the reported text errors or bugs had since been addressed. The record shows two bug-fix posts on 23 February 2018, the day after launch, followed by a single "New Low Price!" post in May 2018 — and nothing since. That means the grammar issues and at least the specific freeze/overlay bug reported above have had over eight years to be fixed and, as far as the public record shows, never were. Steam's own achievement data is consistent with the reported brevity: even the hardest ending-specific achievements sit in the high-30s to mid-40s percentage range, an unusually flat, high completion curve for a game rather than the steep drop-offs seen in longer titles — a strong signal that nearly everyone who starts this game finishes it quickly.

Verdict

A Salem Witch Trial - Murder Mystery has real, consistently-praised visual charm and a genuinely interesting historical setting rarely attempted elsewhere in the genre. But this review's full read of its negative-review sample confirms a game that's over almost as soon as it starts, with a mystery too obvious to reward real deduction and text quality that's sat unaddressed for the better part of a decade. Cheap enough to be a low-risk curiosity, but set expectations for a half-hour reading experience rather than a substantial mystery game.