Free puzzle games where you’re a spy

Covert Front is a free series of point-and-click adventure puzzle video games wherein you play as a spy hunting for clues as to the whereabouts of a missing scientist. Developed by Mateusz Skutnik, Covert Front has you as a female agent codenamed “Kara”, who has been tasked with investigating the disappearance of Professor Karl von Toten. The world is in an alternate reality wherein World War I came a decade too early, technology is more advanced, and von Toten seems to have discovered something that could change the world forever.

I spy

Covert Front is composed of 4 chapters detailing the adventures of Agent Kara as she hunts down clues about the missing scientist—all chapters being separate game applications. Chapter 1: All Quiet on the Covert Front and Chapter 2: Station on the Horizon take place in Karl von Toten’s house, wherein Kara has to solve puzzles in order to access secret rooms to keep finding more clues as to what happened to von Toten. She hands over all her findings and soon moves to Zurich to continue the hunt. 

In Chapter 3: Night in Zurich, she encounters an enemy who is also looking for the professor and is very much interested in getting his hands on the invention Kara had discovered. They end up in a race to find von Toten first in Chapter 4: The Spark of Life. The whole series is full of references and Easter eggs pertaining to the other games the developer created.

Manually investigate yourself

Covert Front’s art style will remind you of gritty war drama comics, with lush backgrounds filled with details that will require you to pay closer attention if you want to find a puzzle solution. Everything is in simple 2D and there are only a few animations in play, especially in the first two chapters. 

It looks like the game was made in Adobe Flash, but the mechanics of hovering over items and places for text and action prompts to appear above show that the game is at least sophisticated enough to really be optimized for point-and-click gameplay and extensive clue-hunting. Covert Front’s interface is pretty simple, not requiring an item inventory for you to open and just displaying everything on a line for easy access. 

The puzzles can be easy or hard depending on the number of red herring items you’ve collected, as Covert Front is fond of letting you pick random objects up. The game challenges you to look beyond the obvious things you see lying about and properly investigate like a spy would in a hurry. The plot isn’t too spectacular but ties in well to the puzzles you have to do and doesn’t force you on a goose chase much.

From Lisbon with love

If you’re looking for a wholly beautiful puzzle game, Covert Front may not be your cup of tea if you care about character designs. The game can also be pretty difficult with how you have to manually use items on other items. However, Covert Front is challenging enough for a point-and-click puzzle game and can be an addicting series with how it properly pans out its story across four separate games.