Comparison

Mentalist Detective vs Cold Case Bureau

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Mentalist Detective

Features
Read full description

**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.**

About

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.

Highlights
  • Analyze case files and evidence
  • Identify contradictions in testimonies
  • Use an investigation board
  • Progress through difficulty tiers
  • Offline play
  • Reputation system
Read full description

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

Mentalist Detective4 screens
Cold Case Bureau4 screens

Verdict

The call

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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Mentalist Detective ships an update fortnightly, Cold Case Bureau weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Mentalist Detective versus Cold Case Bureau: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMentalist DetectiveCold Case Bureau
PriceFreeFree
Rating—4.2 (9 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—9 — better
Update frequencyFortnightlyWeekly — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size109 MB29 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperNIKOLA LAZAREVIC PR NIVA GAMES NISThomas Masters

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Mentalist Detective

Subscriptions1
  • Investigator Membership Upgrade$2.991 Month
One-time3
  • 1000 Tokens$2.99
  • 2500 Tokens$4.99
  • 5000 Tokens$7.99
None

Cold Case Bureau

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Mentalist Detective free?
Mentalist Detective is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Cold Case Bureau free?
Cold Case Bureau is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Mentalist Detective or Cold Case Bureau have ads?
Mentalist Detective shows ads; Cold Case Bureau does not.
Which is updated more often, Mentalist Detective or Cold Case Bureau?
Mentalist Detective ships an update fortnightly, and Cold Case Bureau weekly. Most recently, Mentalist Detective was updated on October 31, 2026 and Cold Case Bureau on November 5, 2026.

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