History VideoGame / SherlockHolmesFrogwares

The series lets the player control Holmes, and occasionally his close friend Dr John Watson, to investigate and uncover clues to a mystery through point-and-click gameplay. Common gameplay elements involve having Holmes travelling across multiple locations to acquire information that will uncover more of the mystery, and making connections between different clues that are discovered. Noticeably, it's entirely possible to fail the case by accusing the wrong person and later games also give the player the option to either bring the criminal to justice or decide that they were victims themselves and deserve a second chance.

''Sherlock Holmes'', also known as ''The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'', is a video games series developed and later published by Ukranian based video game studio Frogwares. The series is an adaptation of the [[Literature/SherlockHolmes book series of the same name]] by Creator/ArthurConanDoyle, though each game has an original plot and storyline.

The series got a SpiritualSuccessor with ''VideoGame/TheSinkingCity'' in 2019, which was also developed by Frogwares and much like ''The Awakened'' was based on the Franchise/CthulhuMythos. While not part of the ''Sherlock Holmes'' series, the games in the reboot continuity have had some easter eggs to the game, suggesting a loosely connected continuity.

!!Other Games
!!!Casual Games

!!!''The Sinking City''
A series of CosmicHorror games based on the Franchise/CthulhuMythos by Creator/HPLovecraft. While not officially part of the ''Sherlock Holmes'' series, the reboot continuity feature enough reused assets and easter eggs to bring it into loose continuity.

* ''[[VideoGame/TheSinkingCity The Sinking City]]'' (2019)
* ''The Sinking City 2'' (2025)

** Sherlock's adventures, especially those set between 1894 and 1896, put him through many traumatic and difficult events, especially when it comes to his adopted daughter. Watson also gets this, with ''Versus Arsène Lupin'' revealing that he still suffers nightmares from the events of the ''The Awakened''.

* AnachronicOrder: The original continuity with this, with the first game being set in 1899 and all later games being set earlier in the timeline. This results in ContinuitySnarl often due to continuity not given much focus for most of the series. The chronological order of the original series is: ''Versus Jack the Ripper'' (1888-1891), ''The Awakened'' (1894), ''Crimes & Punishment'' (1894-1895), ''Versus Arsène Lupin'' (1895), ''Secret of the Silver Earring'' (1897) ''The Testament of Sherlock Holmes'' (1898), ''The Devil's Daughter'' (1898-1899) and ''The Mystery of the Mummy'' (1899).

* AnachronicOrder: The original continuity with this, with the first game being set in 1899 and all later games being set earlier in the timeline. The chronological order of the original series is: ''Versus Jack the Ripper'' (1888-1891), ''The Awakened'' (1894), ''Crimes & Punishment'' (1894-1895), ''Versus Arsène Lupin'' (1895), ''Secret of the Silver Earring'' (1897) ''The Testament of Sherlock Holmes'' (1898), ''The Devil's Daughter'' (1898-1899) and ''The Mystery of the Mummy'' (1899).

* AnachronicOrder: The original continuity with this, with the first game being set in 1899 and all later games being set earlier in the timeline. The chronological order of the original series is: ''Versus Jack the Ripper'' (1888-1891), ''The Awakened'' (1894), ''Crimes & Punishment'' (1894-1895), ''Versus Arsène Lupin'' (1895), ''The Testament of Sherlock Holmes'' (1895), ''The Devil's Daughter'' (1896), ''Secret of the Silver Earring'' (1897) and ''The Mystery of the Mummy'' (1899).

* ContinuitySnarl: The original continuity suffered from this, due to it's AnachronicOrder not being firmly defined and resulting in games set earlier in timeline referencing events that haven't happened yet.

* ''[[VideoGame/TheSinkingCity The Sinking City]]'' (2019): Originally not part of the Sherlock Holmes series at all, the following games feature enough reused assets and easter eggs to bring it into loose continuity.

* ''The Sinking City 2'' (2025)

!!Casual Games

* ''[[VideoGame/TheSinkingCity The Sinking City]]'' (2025)

* ''[[VideoGame/The Sinking City The Sinking City]]'' (2019): Originally not part of the Sherlock Holmes series at all, the following games feature enough reused assets and easter eggs to bring it into loose continuity.

* ''[[Video Game/The Sinking City The Sinking City]]'' (2019): Originally not part of the Sherlock Holmes series at all, the following games feature enough reused assets and easter eggs to bring it into loose continuity.

* ''[[Video Game / The Sinking City The Sinking City]]'' (2019): Originally not part of the Sherlock Holmes series at all, the following games feature enough reused assets and easter eggs to bring it into loose continuity.

* AgeLift: The reboot continuity does this to Sherlock, who is 21 in ''Chapter One'' which is set in 1880, placing his date of birth in 1859. In the original books it was stated that Holmes was born in 1854, making him five years younger. In ''The Awakened'', which is set in 1882, this makes him several years younger than Watson, who’s age is left unconfirmed in the books but is usually assumed to be roughly the same and is seemingly left unchanged here. This also applies to Mycroft, who was 7 years older in Sherlock in the books which placed his date of birth in 1847, while the game made the age gap 10 years which means he was born in 1849, making him two years younger.

* Deuteragonist: As usual, Dr. Watson takes on this role in the series and is even playable on occasion.

* AlternateContinuity: The series is divided into two continuities: the original, which covers all the games released between 2002 and 2016 and follows a more experienced Holmes after the events of the ''The Final Problem''; and the reboot, which began in 2021 and follows a much younger Holmes during the early years of his career and partnership with Watson.

Beginning in 2002 with ''The Mystery of the Mummy'', the series was specifically modelled after the 1984 series ''The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'' in regards to the portrayal of the main characters and the overall tone. An example of an AnachronicOrder, the series jumps back and forth in the [[TheGay90s 1890s]] with the first game chronologically being the last in the series being set in 1899. The last game in this continuity is ''The Devil’s Daughter'', which is set in 1896 and despite featuring a new actor as Sherlock Holmes is considered to be canon in BroadStrokes.

* AlternateContinuity: The series is divided into two continuities: the original, which covers all the games released between 2002 and 2016 and primarily follows a more experienced Holmes after the events of the ''The Final Problem''; and the reboot, which began in 2021 and follows a much younger Holmes during the early years of his career and partnership with Watson.

* PublicDomainCanonWelding: The original continuity had Holmes encounter both the Cthulhu Mythos and Arsène Lupin. ''The Awakened'' also has Holmes and Watson briefly interact with a young boy named [[Franchise/HerculePoirot Hercule]] who they advise to use his brain to solve puzzles after the child gave Holmes a puzzle box. The reboot continuity would also have that version of Sherlock encounter the Cthulhu Mythos.