Puzzles in Inspector Waffles are short, fun, and simple, with help aplenty should you get stuck. You’ll be completing elaborate trade sequences to bribe secretaries, assembling MacGuyver-style contraptions to unlock doors, and presenting evidence to press reluctant witnesses. Waffles’ mother is always a quick phone call away when the next objective is a little unclear, but if you’ve ever played an adventure game before you won’t be needing her. There are no red herrings or ridiculous “moon” logic leaps to be found here. Usually, you can solve puzzles quickly with some exploration, tinkering with your inventory, or simple trial-and-error. There’s even a setting to highlight clues needed to progress during dialogue. While the base difficulty definitely errs on the side of too easy, there are some optional collectables in the form of “Woolball” cards that can alter the game’s ending and are a little trickier to find for someone craving more thought-provoking puzzle solving. More experienced adventure game veterans will breeze through the story without much trouble.

The pixelated art style contributes to Inspector Waffles’ simpler difficulty, with each scenario only being able to contain a finite number of interactable objects. This, however, is an incredibly clever design choice. The blocky character models and abstract shapes representing each scene allow for just enough structure for the player’s imagination to fill in the blanks. This also reduces the level of “pixel-hunting” required, a welcome blessing for any point-and-click adventure game. Paired with its fabulously jazzy noir soundtrack and unashamedly camp animal puns, there’s a unique level of charm and atmosphere in Inspector Waffles that really resonates.

Cutscenes feature some special hand-drawn artwork to emphasise dramatic moments, such as flashbacks to Waffles’ traumatic past. While the artwork is gorgeous, only employing it for specific cutscenes does feel a little jarring. Waffles and the various pals and miscreants he encounters are imbued with emotion and energy in each of the static images – we see every whisker of regret and pain on his furry face, and the maniacal villain Snowball is painted as an almost Disney-esque megalomaniac. This, unfortunately, forces some personality whiplash when the visuals transition back to the simplistic pixel art present during gameplay. The static characters rely heavily on dialogue to express their unique and outlandish personalities, which makes the cutscene artwork feel inconsistent and out of place. It might have been more effective to save the artwork as some kind of reward to be earned, like the secret ending unlocked by collecting the game’s eight hidden “Woolball” cards.

Where Inspector Waffles truly shines is in its dedication to theme. The story revolves around murder, investigation, corruption, and mystery, all in a city entirely populated by anthropomorphic animals. The commitment to worldbuilding is extreme and hilarious. There’s a dog slum neighbourhood full of hot dog sellers, Waffles has a milk-drinking problem, and the entire plot revolves around a mega-corporation that makes boxes: not boxes for storage, they’re boxes for the cats to play in. The tongue-in-cheek references, excruciating puns, and delightfully zoological puzzle solutions play beautifully off the rather dark subject material (there are several murders to solve, after all). This sense of fun makes investigating the world of Inspector Waffles a joy, with a sense that there’s always going to be something witty to find in every scene.