A text-driven murder mystery set in the cutthroat world of fashion, the game is set for a Q1 2027 release on Steam.

Detective Turner: If Looks Could Kill, the debut title from Johannesburg-based developer Riker, has officially been revealed during the Story Rich Showcase hosted by Fellow Traveller.

Set to launch in Q1 2027 for Steam on Windows and macOS, Detective Turner: If Looks Could Kill is being published by ALL DAY ALL NIGHT and introduces an unusual twist on the murder mystery genre: players investigate crime scenes by literally reading them.

The game places players in the role of Detective Turner, tasked with uncovering who killed Margot Voss, the powerful and divisive editor of fashion magazine Mirage. Rather than relying on traditional environmental interaction, Detective Turner transforms text itself into the environment, asking players to search words written across walls, floors, and objects for hidden clues.

According to Riker, the game’s central design philosophy is simple but distinctive: players do not simply inspect rooms they read them.

The murder investigation unfolds within a world inspired by ensemble mysteries such as Knives Out while drawing influence from the cutthroat fashion industry dynamics popularised by stories like The Devil Wears Prada. At the centre of the mystery is Margot Voss, a figure described as brilliant, feared, and impossible to ignore, whose death pulls players into a network of suspects with overlapping motives and complicated relationships.

Throughout the investigation, players will photograph evidence using a Polaroid camera, record discoveries in an integrated notebook system, interrogate suspects, and use contradictions and collected evidence to build their case.

What makes Detective Turner particularly notable is how it approaches environmental storytelling. Text does not function as passive narration or descriptive flavour; instead, language itself becomes the puzzle space. Every sentence, placement, and detail potentially contains evidence, encouraging players to slow down and examine information more carefully than they might in a conventional detective game.

Detective Turner: If Looks Could Kill is currently scheduled to release in Q1 2027, with pricing yet to be announced.