Hotel Investigation 09

About

Hotel Investigation 09 casts you as Howlz, a bumbling wolf detective with a knack for misplaced footnotes and questionable life choices. Armed with a beat-up camera and a tendency to trip over your own paws, you wander the dimly lit corridors of a hotel that seems to stretch downward instead of upward. Solve environmental puzzles, snap photos of suspiciously animated objects, and piece together why a hostage is being held in the building’s subterranean layers. The gameplay leans on slow, deliberate exploration with a dash of slapstick physics, think creaky doors that refuse to open and elevators that only cooperate after a few off-screen cusswords. This oddball indie title feels like a forgotten prototype given new life, with a charm that clings to its rough edges. Developer Squeaks D'Corgeh leans into the eerie, almost accidental vibe of a project resurrected from a publisher’s backlog. While the puzzles occasionally stumble into frustration (no pun intended), the game’s deadpan humor and unsettling atmosphere have earned a cultish 72% on Steam. It’s not much, but if you’ve ever wondered what a 3 PM coffee-induced daydream about haunted hotels sounds like, this might be your jam.

Storyline

In the game, you play as a wolf named Howlz, a clumsy investigator, and a protagonist of a once-cancelled title from the Cogware Backlog. Armed with an old camera, you set out to rescue a hostage who is seemingly trapped under the hotel itself.