It’s Grandma’s 84th birthday. The family has come home, the house is warm and colorful, and something is very wrong. Apple Crumble, the new game from Berlin’s Happy Broccoli Games, the studio behind the Duck Detective series, launches December 3 on Steam, with a free demo available now.
The developer announced the date with a new trailer on October 8 (local time), roughly four months after the game’s debut at Day of the Devs: Summer Game Fest Edition 2026 in June. That reveal gave only a 2026 window. Now there is a firm date and a playable demo.
Apple Crumble is a fully voiced interactive mystery thriller set at Grandma’s 84th birthday party. It aims for a short, dense story of about 60 to 90 minutes.
[Related Article: Grandmother’s 84th Birthday Party Poisoning Case, ‘Apple Crumble’ Revealed]
Someone Is After Grandma
It should be an ordinary birthday party. But with the whole family gathered under one roof, the house is filled with an unease that’s hard to explain.
When the suspicion takes hold that someone is targeting Grandma, the player wanders the familiar childhood home, watching how relatives behave and searching for the truth.
The suspects are anything but ordinary: beloved Grandma herself, a heavily stressed mom, an uncle in the middle of a midlife crisis, and a mysterious man who has suddenly appeared in your bedroom. Even the player isn’t above suspicion.
The developer leans into the tension with a tongue-in-cheek pitch, insisting that nobody is trying to kill Grandma, that you shouldn’t suspect your family or worry about the strange man in your bedroom, and that perhaps you should just have some pudding. It captures the game’s mix of dread and dark humor.
Who Do You Trust?
The game plays as a first-person walking simulator inside the house.
Players explore every corner of the home where they grew up and talk with relatives they haven’t seen in a while, gathering clues along the way. The heart of the story is reading the relationships and behavior of a family that looks normal on the surface, and deciding who can be trusted.
At around 60 to 90 minutes, the runtime is deliberately short. Rather than length, the game focuses on a confined space and a small cast to deliver a fast-moving story with twists.
All dialogue is voiced. Full performances from Grandma, Mom, the uncle, and the strange man in the bedroom convey the awkwardness of the family gathering and the steadily growing unease.
Apple Crumble draws inspiration from the psychological thriller game MOUTHWASHING and the mystery film Knives Out. Its warm, colorful visuals contrast with the suspicion and psychological tension surrounding the family at its center.
A Darker Mystery From the Duck Detective Team
Happy Broccoli Games is a small indie studio based in Berlin.
It is best known for the comedy detective adventure series Duck Detective, in which a duck investigator examines crime scenes and pieces together clues to uncover the truth. The series won players over with its unusual structure and humor and holds an “Overwhelmingly Positive” Steam rating across more than 5,000 user reviews.
Apple Crumble shares the mystery focus but takes a noticeably darker tone. Where Duck Detective centered on lighthearted deduction, this time the studio brings distrust and psychological tension into family, a relationship that is supposed to feel safe and familiar.
Who This Is For
Strong fit for: fans of Duck Detective curious to see the team in a darker register; players who enjoyed MOUTHWASHING or Knives Out-style whodunits; anyone who likes short, single-sitting narrative games; Mac and Linux players, who get native versions.
Cautious fit for: players expecting Duck Detective’s comedic deduction, since the tone here is more unsettling; anyone who values long playtime per dollar, given the 60 to 90 minute runtime; non-English speakers, since only English is listed.
Less ideal for: players who want deep puzzle systems or open-ended investigation over an authored, tightly paced story.
The Takeaway
Apple Crumble takes the coziest setting imaginable, a family birthday in a childhood home, and fills it with doubt. A short runtime, a small voiced cast, and a premise where everyone, including you, might be the danger give Happy Broccoli Games a sharp change of pace from Duck Detective. Whether anyone is really trying to kill Grandma is the question the free demo invites you to start answering before December 3.
Release: December 3, 2026, on Steam (Windows, Mac, Linux). Free demo available now.
Information regarding ‘Apple Crumble’
| item | detail |
|---|---|
| Developer / Publisher | Happy Broccoli Games |
| Genre | Interactive Mystery Thriller / Walking Simulator |
| platform | PC (Steam / Windows, Mac, Linux) |
| Release date | December 3, 2026 |
| Playtime | About 60 to 90 minutes |
| characteristic | First-person exploration, family mystery, fully voiced, short thriller |
| inspiration | MOUTHWASHING / Knives Out |
| Developer’s previous work | Duck Detective series |
| language | English audio, interface, and subtitles |
| Steam Page | Shortcut |
