Sherlock Holmes never struck me as the retiring sort, more the ‘dying in his armchair mid-deduction’ sort. Nonetheless, this is the premise of The Beekeeper’s Picnic—A Sherlockian Adventure, a charming little adventure game that’s just released on Steam.
Finally fed up with the detective lark, Holmes retires to the village of Fulworth to start a new life as a beekeeper. He’s eventually joined by Dr Watson, who Holmes wants to help “rest and recuperate” from his service as a medic in the first world war. As part of this, Holmes decides to arrange a picnic for his pal.
Unfortunately for the (former) world’s greatest detective, reality simply can’t stop throwing mysteries in his path. A woman from the village fete has been kidnapped, a kid’s cat has gone missing, a relic from the British museum has been stolen, and a ‘mermaid’ has apparently washed up on Fulworth beach. Indeed, as shown in the trailer, Holmes can’t even go for a walk without tripping over a corpse. “I feel the need to remind you I am retired”, he jests.
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he game offers a blend of classic and more modern adventure game mechanics. The village of Fulworth is openly explorable, with numerous characters to speak to like a “prickly police officer” and a “clown with a tragic past.” According to developer Afoot games, solving the various mysteries will involve both logical deduction and more narrative-based decision making. “Puzzles have multiple solutions, some of which may please your neighbours more than others.”
Interestingly, the Beekeeper’s Picnic’s Steam page features a badge that proudly proclaims “no gen AI was used in this indie game.” Steam requires developers who use generative AI tools to disclose the fact as part of its terms of service. But this is the first time I’ve seen a developer declare no generative AI was used in the game.
Despite my initial statement, I rather like this more playful take on Sherlock Holmes, especially given Frogwares’ games that star Conan Doyle’s detective tend to be more serious. Frogwares’ most recent effort was 2023’s Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened, which folded Lovecraftian elements into the mysteries and was generally well-liked by players. It’s likely to be a while before we see another Holmes game by the Polish studio, as it’s currently working on The Sinking City 2.
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