Games like Murdoku
The games most like Murdoku are other puzzles where clues tell you where people stand on a map: Cozy Culprits (free in a browser as Murder Sudoku), LinkedIn’s Queens for the pure placement logic, and Lie of Sight, a free daily case we make, where you place a family in a room from what each one saw. For a mystery told in words, try Murdle, Clues by Sam or Mystery-o-matic.
Games like Murdoku at a glance
Here is how they compare. All of them are free to start, and most have a new puzzle each day.
| Game | What you do | Daily? | Free? | Plays on | Time per puzzle |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lie of Sight | Work out which of a family is lying about what they saw in a room | Yes, at midnight your time | Yes: the daily, plus 25 more | Any browser, phone or computer | 2 to 5 minutes |
| Murdoku | Place suspects on a crime-scene map, one per row and column | No: a new web puzzle each week | Web puzzles free; books sold | Browser; books | Varies, easy to expert |
| Cozy Culprits | Place six suspects in a manor, one per row and column | Yes, in three levels | Yes; the app has ads, with a one-time purchase to remove them | iPhone and iPad; browser as Murder Sudoku | Varies by level |
| Queens | Crown one square in every row, column and color region | Yes | Yes | Browser or the LinkedIn app | Varies |
| Murdle | Solve a short whodunit: who, with what, and where | Yes | Daily puzzle free; books sold | Browser; books | Varies |
| Clues by Sam | Sort a grid of 20 suspects into innocent and criminal | Yes, harder as the week goes on | Daily puzzle free; puzzle packs sold | Browser | Varies |
| Mystery-o-matic | Fill in who was where, and when, to name the killer and weapon | Yes | Yes | Browser | Under 5 minutes |
| Puzzle Baron’s Logic Puzzles | Classic logic grids: match up the details from a list of clues | No: over 25,000 to play any time | Yes; ad-free upgrade sold | Browser, tablet apps, printable | Varies by size |
Checked on each game’s own site in October 2026. Prices and offers change, so check there too.
What makes Murdoku work, and where to play it
Murdoku, by the Montreal puzzle maker Manuel Garand, takes the placement logic of sudoku and turns it into a crime scene. You get a drawn map split into rooms, with furniture, plants and the odd animal. Each suspect has one clue about where they stood or what they stood beside, every row and every column holds exactly one person, and the killer is whoever ends up alone in a room with the victim.
You can play it free on Murdoku’s own site, with a new puzzle each week and free ones to print, and there is a series of books that runs from easy to expert. So a game like Murdoku should do two things: make you place people from clues, and give you one answer that the clues prove. The games below do one or both.
7 games like Murdoku
Lie of Sight
Ember Works LLC · Any browser, phone or computer
Our own game, and the closest to Murdoku in how it plays: a room seen from above, furniture that matters, and people you place on the grid from what they tell you. The twist is that one of them is lying. You move the Fibberson family around until every honest story fits, and the one story that never fits is the liar’s. A free case every day.
Cozy Culprits
Alejandro Portillo Guerrero · iPhone and iPad; browser as Murder Sudoku
The nearest relative in rules. Six suspects in a manor, no two in the same row or column, clues that rule squares out, and the suspect left in the victim’s room is guilty. There is a daily case at three levels, in an iPhone and iPad app or free in a browser on the Murder Sudoku site.
Queens
LinkedIn · Browser or the LinkedIn app
If the part of Murdoku you like is the sudoku part, try Queens. You crown one square in every row, every column and every color region, and no two crowns may touch. There is no story, just a fresh board each day and the same click when the last crown drops into place.
Murdle
G. T. Karber · Browser; books
A daily whodunit told in words. Each puzzle is a short story with a few suspects, weapons and places, and a grid where you cross off what can’t be true. Less map, more reading, with the same one-answer finish.
Clues by Sam
Sam, of Ad Artis · Browser
A grid of 20 suspects, each innocent or a criminal. Every person you sort out reveals a clue about the others, and nothing can be decided on a hunch. It gets harder from Monday to Sunday.
Mystery-o-matic
An open-source project · Browser
A short daily murder with rooms and times. You fill in a table of who was where and when until the killer, the weapon and the hour are left. Its makers say a case takes under five minutes, and the room layout is part of the clue.
Puzzle Baron’s Logic Puzzles
Puzzle Baron · Browser, tablet apps, printable
For the logic without the murder: thousands of classic logic grids, from small to large, to play any time online or print out for later.
Lie of Sight and Murdoku: close, but not the same
Both show a room from above, and in both the furniture matters. In both you place people on the grid from what they tell you. Here is where they part ways.
- The clues are sight lines. Each of the family notices things by one rule. Dad sees his whole row and column. The Kid does too, but he’s short, so low things like tables and sofas block him. Grandma sees two squares in every direction, and Rex the dog smells the eight squares around him, even through walls. Walls and tall things block sight.
- One witness lies. In Murdoku every clue is true. In Lie of Sight exactly one story is false, and finding it is the whole puzzle. The honest stories can all be true at once; the liar’s never can.
- No murder, no rows rule. There is no victim and no killer, just a cozy family who can’t keep a straight face. You don’t have to fill every row and column. You only need a scene that fits every story but one.
- One a day, and short. A new case arrives at midnight, your time, and most take 2 to 5 minutes.
In the seven days to 8 October 2026, 218 of the 228 answers given on the daily case were right, about 96%: the puzzle is fair, not a trick.
Questions people ask
Can you play Murdoku online for free?
Yes. Murdoku’s own site has free puzzles to play in your browser, with a new one each week, and free puzzles to print. The Murdoku books have many more.
Is there a daily game like Murdoku?
Yes. Cozy Culprits has a daily case at three levels, Queens has a new board on LinkedIn every day, and Lie of Sight has a free daily case at midnight, your time.
Is Lie of Sight a murder mystery?
No. It is a cozy family puzzle with no murder in it. You’re not finding who did it, just who’s lying about what they saw.
How is Lie of Sight different from Murdoku?
In Murdoku every clue is true and you place each suspect from it. In Lie of Sight the clues are what each person could see, and one of them is false. You place the family to find the one story that can’t be true.
Is Lie of Sight free?
Yes. The daily case is free every day, and so are 25 more: practice, 15 Case Files and 10 Tricky Cases. A one-time unlock adds more, with no subscription and no ads.
More lists like this one
New to Lie of Sight? How to play has the rules and the family, with pictures.
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