Wondering just how long it’ll take before you can retire to The Fields in Shadows of Doubt? Well, that really comes down to your detective abilities.
Here is everything you need to know about Shadows of Doubt‘s game length before heading into its multi-layered world of crime.
How long is Shadows of Doubt?
Shadows of Doubt game length depends on how fast you can solve cases and build your social credit so you can retire. You can also set your game length when creating your world seed before heading into your playthrough for the first time. The choices range from Very Short to Very Long, giving you five options that determine how much social credit you need to complete the game.
| Game length | Retirement level |
|---|---|
| Very Short | Three |
| Short | Five |
| Normal | Eight |
| Long | 10 |
| Very Long | 12 |
There are no right or wrong ways to play through Shadows of Doubt. While there are methods to shorten the length of time it takes to solve cases (like downloading all information from the Government Database at the start of the game), the aim in Shadows of Doubt is to retire your trench coat and magnifying glass and settle down in The Fields.
Not only can you increase game length and social credit level, but you can adjust your city size. A densely populated city means it will take longer to solve cases, which increases the time it takes to beat the game. However, you can also play this game indefinitely, choosing never to retire from your detective role so that your save file never ends.
All Shadows of Doubt cases
While Shadows of Doubt is procedurally generated, your time spent as the sole detective and protector of your city will be spread out between major cases and optional cases. There isn’t a compulsory set of tasks you must complete. Rather, you need to solve cases to build social credit so you can eventually retire to The Field.
Cases are divided into the murder cases (main quests) and optional cases (side quests). Murder can start at any point, though we recommend playing through The Dead of Night tutorial case. You can pick up optional cases in establishments and at the phone booths inside official buildings like bars, diners, and restaurants.
Multiple job listings can run at once and you aren’t restricted to a time limit. But, if a murder hits, you need to drop everything and solve it as soon as possible. Time continues without you even in this game, so the killer will strike again if you take to long to identify and arrest them.
Here are all case types in Shadows of Doubt:
Murder cases
| Case type | Description |
|---|---|
| Colleague | Killer is the victim’s co-worker. |
| Cultist | Performs sacrificial murders with blood messages and pentagrams. |
| Sniper | Hardest cases to solve as the killer isn’t near the crime scene. Will either kill from a rooftop or inside their apartment. |
| Stalker | Killer has a deadly infatuation with the victim. |
| Toy | Killer leaves a toy car at the scene of the crime. |
Optional cases
| Case type | Description |
|---|---|
| Arrest | Arrest the Enforcer’s target using Handcuffs. |
| Humiliation | Throw food at the target. |
| Infidelity | Find evidence of an affair and identify both parties. |
| Photograph | Photograph the target. |
| Stolen Item | Identify the thief’s identity. |
| Tailing | Tail and photograph the target’s exchange. |
| Theft | Steal and deliver the envelope. |
| Vandalism | Cause destruction at target’s apartment (break windows and throw food). |
