Comparison

Cold Case Bureau vs Dark Verdict

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

Head to head
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.

About

Dark Verdict

Features
Read full description

Every day, a new mystery lands on your desk. One crime. A handful of suspects. A trail of clues. And only one verdict to deliver. Read the case file. Study the suspects. Examine the evidence. Then name the culprit. You get one shot. Make it count. CASE TYPES Murder - Heist - Theft - Disappearance - Corporate Espionage - Art Forgery - Blackmail - Cold Case DETECTIVE RANKS Rookie Detective - Beat Cop - Street Detective - Senior Investigator - Lead Detective - Chief Inspector - Master Detective - Legendary Sleuth How far can you go? DARK VERDICT PRO Unlock the complete archive of past cases — hundreds of mysteries to solve on demand. Never run out of cases again. - Full archive access — every past case, any time - New case types as they are added - Support independent game development Dark Verdict is designed for people who love mystery, crime fiction, puzzle games, and the daily ritual of one focused challenge — like Wordle, but for detectives. One case. Every day. Can you deliver the Dark Verdict? Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.insidersdigital.com.au/terms.html Privacy Policy: https://www.insidersdigital.com.au/privacy.html

Screenshots

Cold Case Bureau4 screens
Dark Verdict4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Cold Case Bureau at none against Dark Verdict's 2. Dark Verdict's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months) and device support (3 vs 1). On price and ads 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. Dark Verdict sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Cold Case Bureau asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Cold Case Bureau ships an update every 2 months, Dark Verdict every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Cold Case Bureau versus Dark Verdict: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCold Case BureauDark Verdict
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.2 (9 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings9 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.615.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size22 MB48 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperThomas MastersTHEO LIKOS

In-app purchases

None

Cold Case Bureau

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Dark Verdict

Subscriptions2
  • Dark Verdict Pro$9.991 Month
  • Dark Verdict Pro$59.991 Year

Questions

Is Cold Case Bureau free?
Cold Case Bureau is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Dark Verdict free?
Dark Verdict is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Cold Case Bureau or Dark Verdict have ads?
Neither Cold Case Bureau nor Dark Verdict shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Cold Case Bureau or Dark Verdict?
Cold Case Bureau ships an update every 2 months, and Dark Verdict every 2 weeks. Most recently, Cold Case Bureau was updated on October 25, 2026 and Dark Verdict on October 29, 2026.

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