Play Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective Online

I first played Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective back in 1991 on MS-DOS. It was developed by ICOM Simulations, and it stood out among the text-heavy adventures and pixelated platformers of the time. The game used full-motion video clips and digitized photographs to bring Victorian London to life, which felt ambitious for the era. You weren't just reading about Holmes; you were stepping into his world, or at least a low-resolution version of it.

You control Sherlock Holmes himself, or sometimes his partner Watson, as you investigate a series of cases across London. The main objective is to solve each mystery with fewer clues and visits than Holmes would require, which is tougher than it sounds. You spend your time scanning through in-game newspapers for leads, visiting locations on a map, and questioning suspects in brief live-action sequences. The pacing is slow and thoughtful; you have to take notes and pay close attention to details. Getting it wrong means accusing an innocent person, and the game doesn't hold your hand. It feels like genuine detective work, rewarding patience and observation over quick reflexes.

Each game uses different controls, most DOS games use the keyboard arrows. Some will use the mouse , "Alt" ,"Enter" and "Space bar".