Seven years after release, my favorite detective game of all time just set a new Steam record out of nowhere

If someone asks me to list my favorite games, you have to go dangerously far before a triple-A title rears its head. Citizen Sleeper. Disco Elysium. Before Your Eyes. Return of the Obra Dinn. Only then does a triple-A sneak into my top five, either Titanfall 2 or Dragon Age: Origins, depending on my mood that day. I'm no gaming hipster, I just love games that try new things, and that tends to happen in the indie scene. Our list of the best indie games is full of bangers, but there are more and more low-priced gems releasing every year. I'm just glad that, seven years after release, more players than ever before are playing Return of the Obra Dinn. I'm just not totally sure why.

Let's get the obvious reason out of the way: Return of the Obra Dinn is currently on sale. At 50% off, this price matches its lowest ever in numerous regions, but it's hardly a rarity for this game. This is the fourth time it's been on sale this year, although you save an extra five bucks on this occasion.

Other than that, I'm not sure why everyone has decided to jump onto Lucas Pope's iconic detective game now. With over 1,300 concurrent players clocked on Steam today, according to SteamDB, it's just achieved a bigger peak than it did at launch. No big streamers are playing it, no YouTube documentaries have recently featured it. It seems people just love a bargain and, truthfully, who can blame them?

I couldn't be happier that more people are playing Obra Dinn than ever before. From the 'ditherpunk' art direction, to the mystery that slowly unravels as you play, few games come close to a singular vision as this. With most detective tales, you can either see the twists and solutions coming, or they appear out of thin air to such an extent that you doubt you could have ever figured it out.

Not only are Obra Dinn's puzzles the perfect balance of frustrating and satisfying, the answers always feel like they're on the tip of your tongue. You always believe that one more investigation will blow the whole thing wide open, will be the key that solves the problem.

And yet, the game is full of surprises, too. I won't give them away, but if you're playing for the first time right now, you're in for a treat. If you're returning to it, fully understanding every twist knowing the answer to every puzzle, you'll notice more details that you missed the first, second, third time around. I've never known a detective game be so replayable.

I've tried to dance around spoilers here, so I apologize if this has been a little vague, but I hope you've gathered that this is a very special game. Don't ask me, ask 96% of Steam reviewers, whose collective opinion ranks this as one of the best PC games of all time. I'd be inclined to agree with them.

Whether you're an indie connoisseur or just dipping your toes into the ocean of independent gaming, this is the natural next step on your journey.

You can buy Return of the Obra Dinn for 50% off right now, making it $9.99 / £8.37, with the current offer ending on Thursday, October 23. You can buy it on Steam here.

If you want more games like this, why not check out our list of the best puzzle games on PC? If it's ocean-based gaming you're after, our picks for the best pirate games might be more appropriate.

What are your favorite games of all time? Will Obra Dinn make a dramatic entrance in your rankings, seven years after release? Let us know in our community Discord server, where staff and readers share their top picks and discuss the latest gaming news.