Mentalist Detective vs Cold Case Bureau
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Mentalist Detective
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**Solve murder cases. Interrogate suspects. Uncover the truth.** Mentalist is a detective game where you investigate murder cases, interrogate suspects, uncover hidden clues, and decide who is telling the truth. Every suspect has a story. Your job is to find the lies, connect the evidence, and figure out what really happened. **SOLVE THE CASE** Each investigation is a standalone murder mystery. * Investigate unique crime cases * Search for hidden clues and evidence * Interrogate suspects and challenge their stories * Track alibis, locations, and suspicious details * Connect the evidence and uncover the truth * Decide who to trust — and who to accuse **INTERROGATE YOUR WAY** Forget choosing from a list of predetermined questions. Ask suspects whatever you want. AI-powered characters respond to your questions, react to the conversation, and may lie, mislead you, or reveal something you weren't expecting. The questions you ask can uncover new information — or send your investigation in the wrong direction. **THINK LIKE A DETECTIVE** A suspect's story doesn't always add up. Spot contradictions. Compare alibis. Follow leads. Connect evidence. Decide which details matter and which are distractions. There isn't always an obvious answer. You'll have to figure it out yourself. **CREATE YOUR OWN MYSTERIES** Want to make a case of your own? Create crime cases, characters, scenarios, and mysteries for others to investigate. **CAN YOU SOLVE THE CASE?** Suspects lie. Stories change. Evidence hides in plain sight. Ask the right questions. Find the contradictions. Uncover what really happened. **Download Mentalist for free and start your investigation.**
Cold Case Bureau
Engage in a slow-paced mystery game where you analyze case files, evidence, and suspect testimonies to uncover contradictions. Piece together clues on your investigation board to solve crimes and advance your detective career through increasingly challenging tiers.
- Analyze case files and evidence
- Identify contradictions in testimonies
- Use an investigation board
- Progress through difficulty tiers
- Offline play
- Reputation system
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One case a day. The same case for everyone. Nothing to buy, no ads, no account. Cold Case Bureau puts a case file on your desk: the victim, the suspects, the evidence, and somewhere inside it, one story that doesn't hold together. Read the file. Find the two statements that can't both be true. Pin them on the board and watch the string pull tight. Then build your theory, not a guess from a menu, but an argument, element by element. Get part of it right and that part locks in. Get part of it wrong and the case tells you exactly which part, and lets you keep working. THE DAILY CASE Every day the Bureau opens one case, and it's the same case for every player in the world. Solve it, keep your streak alive, and share your result. A spoiler-free grid that shows how you did without giving anything away. SEASONS Six linked cases told in order, at your own pace. Season One, The Ninth Desk: every file holds an older case the Bureau closed too quickly, and the same violet stamp on each one. Close a case, and the Season File tells you what you've found. INVESTIGATE Four Case Hours, and a case that offers more than four hours of leads. Press a suspect with a piece of evidence and what they say depends on what you chose to show them. Pull records nobody asked for. Send evidence to the lab. Earn a warrant with proof from your board. A wasted half hour is on you, but the case can always be closed from the file alone. Nothing is ever locked behind a guess. THE INVESTIGATION BOARD Real red string. Connect two pieces of evidence that contradict each other and the connection is established permanently. The board is where you prove people are lying. THE ARCHIVE More than a hundred past Daily cases, free to work in any order, from quick Rookie files to five-suspect Senior investigations with paper trails that close like a net. FAIR PLAY, GUARANTEED Every case is verified solvable from its own evidence before it ships. Every question has exactly one answer the file supports. If you reason correctly, you win - that's the whole promise. No ads. No purchases. No timers that want your money. Just cases.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Cold Case Bureau at none against Mentalist Detective's 4. Cold Case Bureau also leads on ads (none vs shown). On price, update cadence, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Mentalist Detective sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Cold Case Bureau asks for nothing beyond the download.
Mentalist Detective ships an update fortnightly, Cold Case Bureau weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Mentalist Detective | Cold Case Bureau |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 4.2 (9 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 9 — better |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Weekly — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | — | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 109 MB | 29 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | NIKOLA LAZAREVIC PR NIVA GAMES NIS | Thomas Masters |
In-app purchases
Mentalist Detective
- Investigator Membership Upgrade$2.991 Month
- 1000 Tokens$2.99
- 2500 Tokens$4.99
- 5000 Tokens$7.99
Cold Case Bureau
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Mentalist Detective free?
Is Cold Case Bureau free?
Do Mentalist Detective or Cold Case Bureau have ads?
Which is updated more often, Mentalist Detective or Cold Case Bureau?
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