Tangle Tower

About Tangle Tower

Tangle Tower is a point-and-click adventure game built around a murder mystery set in a creepy, family-run mansion. Developed by SFB Games and released in September 2019, it blends puzzle-solving with narrative-driven investigation. Players explore Tangle Tower’s eerie grounds and upper floors to uncover clues, interrogate suspects, and piece together a story involving two feuding families. The game’s twist? A painted portrait is a key suspect. It’s a visual novel-style experience with inventory-based puzzles and dialogue choices that shape the investigation. Available on PlayStation, PC, Switch, and mobile, it’s a pick for fans of slow-burn mysteries and atmospheric exploration.

Gameplay

Tangle Tower tasks players with navigating its large, gothic mansion using point-and-click controls to interact with objects, people, and environments. Each area, like the overgrown gardens or candlelit library, hides items that trigger puzzles, such as reassembling shattered glass or decoding cryptic letters. The core loop involves exploring rooms, collecting clues, and interrogating characters via dialogue trees that influence trust levels. Time pressure adds tension; some puzzles have strict deadlines, like catching a suspect before they leave the premises. Inventory management is key: items like a magnifying glass or flashlight unlock hidden details. The game’s branching choices affect later story reveals, but most outcomes are predetermined. Sessions feel methodical, with each chapter focusing on a specific suspect or clue.

What Players Think

Tangle Tower holds a 79.7/100 on IGDB, with 25 critic reviews praising its atmospheric design and clever puzzles. Community ratings skew positive, though completion rates hover at 62.7% for achievements. Average playtime is around 12 hours, with 10 achievements split into story milestones and puzzle completion. Players highlight the mansion’s unsettling aesthetics and the satisfaction of solving layered mysteries. Critiques focus on repetitive dialogue and pacing issues in later chapters. One review calls it “a spooky, well-acted mystery with a few missteps,” while another notes the “overreliance on inventory trial-and-error.” Most agree it’s a solid but uneven entry in the adventure genre, best played in shorter sessions to avoid fatigue.

PlayPile's Take

Tangle Tower is worth a playthrough for fans of narrative-driven adventures and classic mystery tropes. It offers a self-contained story with decent replay value via branching choices, though the lack of a New Game+ mode limits depth. The 10 achievements provide moderate challenge, but the 62.7% completion rate suggests some are more accessible than others. Priced at a typical $20-$30 range, it’s a budget-friendly pick for PC and console players. While not impressive, its spooky setting and satisfying puzzles make it a solid mid-length diversion. Skip if you crave modern mechanics or nonlinear storytelling.

Storyline

There has been a murder at Tangle Tower, a place where multiple generations of two separate families at odds with each other live.