In the Dead of Night
aka Dead of Night
You start In the Dead of Night expecting a simple jewel heist, only to get trapped in a snowbound chalet with a dead actress and a room full of suspects.
A stolen jewel turns into a mountain chalet murder mystery
The setup for this 1995 adventure game pulls a classic double-cross right at the front door. You play as private investigator Tom Scool, hired by a crooked gem collector to steal a famous jewel named Vesnú. To get close to the target, you impersonate a popular thriller novelist named Eric Wells and check into an isolated alpine chalet where a famous actress is staying.
Things fall apart the moment you start looking around. Someone kills the actress, a violent blizzard seals off the mountain pass, and the quiet burglary instantly transforms into a murder investigation. Instead of snatching loot, you have to grill guests and hunt for evidence before the local authorities reach the estate.
Every suspect trapped in the house brings distinct personality traits and hidden weaknesses to the table. Solving the case means talking to everyone, picking up subtle clues, and exploiting those personal flaws to extract the truth.
Exploring the isolated rooms of In the Dead of Night
The game presents its story entirely through a first-person perspective. You move frame by frame through the quiet hallways and dimly lit rooms of the chalet, using a standard point-and-select mouse interface to inspect objects and collect useful tools for your inventory.
Environmental puzzles rely heavily on gathering context clues and applying items found across the house. You might inspect personal belongings in a bedroom to open up new dialogue topics with a guest down in the lounge. Progress demands careful observation rather than speed.
Because every room hides potential clues, methodical searching forms the core loop. Missing a tiny item early on can halt your investigation entirely once you reach a locked door or a uncooperative suspect.
From a canceled comic tie-in to a shareware breakthrough
Italian developer Trecision created the title under unusual circumstances. Founded in Rapallo by Pietro Montelatici, Edoardo Gervino, and Gabriele Pompeo, the studio initially signed a contract with publisher Simulmondo to build an adventure based on the Diabolik comic series. When slow development progress led Simulmondo to cancel the agreement, the team adapted their work.
Programmer Fabrizio Lagorio and the team scrubbed all Diabolik intellectual property from the project. They reworked their code, assets, and story concept into an original murder mystery, publishing the title in 1995 for MS-DOS after an earlier Amiga release.
Distributed internationally as shareware, the game turned into an unexpected commercial success for the small team. That breakthrough enabled Trecision S.p.A. to establish itself in the PC market and go on to develop later titles like Alien Virus and Nightlong: Union City Conspiracy.
Sudden fail states and stiff controls demand patience
While the visual presentation captured the cold atmosphere of a trapped alpine retreat, the gameplay mechanics were far from forgiving. Modern players and classic reviewers alike often point out that the interface feels stiff, with sluggish cursor responses that slow down routine house searches.
The game also gives almost no feedback when you make a mistake. Unannounced fail states are common. Making the wrong dialogue choice or taking an unsafe action can result in a sudden death screen without warning, forcing you to reload an earlier save state.
Despite these harsh design choices, fans of mid-nineties mystery games appreciated the focused narrative. The dual-language release offered full support for both English and Italian text, making it accessible to a wider audience than many contemporary European releases.
Try the mystery right now in your web browser
If you want to test your detective skills in a classic snowbound mystery, you can play In the Dead of Night MS-DOS game online free in your browser right here. There is nothing to install and no complex setup required to launch the game instantly.
When you start your investigation, focus on examining every corner of the entry hall immediately. Talking to the guests twice in a row often unlocks critical conversation paths that you will need before searching the upper floors.