Inspector Schmidt – The Ebbing: A New Standard for Indie Detective RPGs
In a sea of detective games, Inspector Schmidt – The Ebbing emerges as a distinctive voice, weaving historical fiction, RPG mechanics, and immersive storytelling into a coastal mystery drenched in atmosphere.
Developed by the indie team at Active Fungus Studios in Munich, Germany, this narrative-driven game launched on PC on April 7, 2025, and has been quietly gaining attention from genre enthusiasts and narrative-focused gamers alike.
“Like its predecessor, A Bavarian Tale, this title places a strong focus on dialogue, quirky characters, branching storylines with multiple endings, and a richly historical setting,” the studio said in a press release.
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A Mysterious Death on the Coast
Set in the year 1870, just as the first transatlantic telegraph cables were changing how the world communicates, the game transports players to the fictional North Sea town of Havstedt. Amid the sweeping backdrop of the Franco-Prussian War and Europe’s rapid industrialization, the story begins with the suspicious death of a telegraph worker, Bente Hansen.
Valentin Schmidt, a Bavarian ministry official on a brief holiday, finds himself wrongly accused of the murder. With his reputation and freedom at stake, Schmidt must unravel the town’s secrets and uncover the truth behind Hansen’s death.
From the outset, The Ebbing taps into the grounded realism of its historical setting. The cobbled streets, faded wallpaper, and creaking floorboards of Havstedt evoke a world teetering between progress and decay. The setting isn’t just aesthetic, it’s a character in itself.
Since The Ebbing is set in the fictional town of Havstedt on the North Sea coast, characters speak in authentic northern German dialects, but subtitles and an English voiceover are also available.
Players interact with residents who have their own grudges, secrets, and suspicions, creating a web of interpersonal drama reminiscent of classic detective fiction.
Classic Mechanics with a Fresh Twist
Gameplay centers on exploration, interrogation, and deduction, but what sets The Ebbing apart is its integration of RPG-style skill checks. Dialogues are not just about selecting the right option, they’re tied to the player’s skills, which can be improved, and dice rolls, similar to systems seen in Disco Elysium.
Players can upgrade Schmidt’s attributes to tailor his investigative style, whether it’s through persuasion, observation, or stealth. Exploration is open-ended, with players free to search for evidence, solve puzzles, or sneak into restricted areas in search of answers.
The developer, Active Fungus Studios, previously released A Bavarian Tale – Totgeschwiegen, a historical RPG that laid the groundwork for the studio’s narrative ambitions. Studio co-founder Jörg Baer, perhaps not widely known in mainstream circles, has quietly earned a reputation for meticulous world-building and historically rich storytelling. His influence is palpable in The Ebbing’s methodical pace and immersive attention to detail.
Possible Console Release
While there’s no word yet on console ports, the developers have hinted at future updates, including controller support and localization improvements. Given the game’s atmospheric style, it could receive expanded narrative content or even an episodic follow-up, if the sales numbers point in the right direction.
If it continues to build momentum, Inspector Schmidt – The Ebbing could mark the beginning of a new cult detective series, one rooted not in noir clichés, but in the quiet dread of history itself.
