Mindcop: Complete Guide

This guide covers general tips, achievements, gameplay basics, and time-sensitive events in Mindcop.

Mindcop: Complete Guide

Gameplay Basics

The most basic goal of the game is to have the true killer in custody at the end of the fifth day. If this is not achieved, you get the bad ending. You can either arrest someone in person after questioning them, or you can talk to Emilia outside the gift shop on the final day to have anyone placed in custody. This will end the day
After one run, you get the ability to skip ahead days
Time only goes down when you examine items, enter buildings/the woods, question or ask about item/topics, and mindsurf people. If you know what you’re looking for, the clock is very generous, but it will go down quick if you’re not planning ahead.
Mindsurfs can only be performed after questioning someone, so in practice, budget for 45 minutes minimum for each person you mindsurf. You are allowed two tries every time you mindsurf someone and will have to pay time to surf again. Every subject has a mindsurf difficulty rating. Challenging, Hard, and Impossible minds will have stressors that will wipe your board if they hit the brain. It should be noted that the difficulty rating of a mindsurf goes down as you upgrade your bullets; for example, the Dog is an impossible and will become Hard after one bullet upgrade. Harder mindsurfs will usually have more colors, more difficult patterns, stressors, and less generous starting times. Doing sufficiently well will instantly end a mindsurf. Every mindsurf has a pre-programmed pattern
The Truth door shows an unambiguously correct vision. The Lie door shows an unambiguously incorrect vision, typically diametrically opposed to reality. For example, Sean says he always lets his dog run free and his dog isn’t on a leash. The dog’s lie door shows a vision of the dog on a leash, the exact opposite of reality. In a way, the Lie door shows a different truth, one that requires some lateral thinking to understand. The Uncertainty door acts differently for each person and should be cross-referenced with other information
A search warrant allows you to search 1 of the 5 houses on the street after you’ve entered it once. This gains you access to all rooms in the house and the ability to examine everything. They also have the handy effect of allowing you to enter the house even if you’ve upset the owners or if no one’s home. You can use one search warrant per day after the end of the first day, so you can only examine four houses fully in one playthrough. Joshua (and he will if you ask about the Note of Sale and Olivia will not lock you of their homes for using a search warrant, but the others will. If you have a pending mindsurf or any questions/topics/items to discuss, you will need to wrap it up with whoever lives in that house before you leave.
Using a search warrant, arresting a loved one, or asking certain difficult questions will lead to suspects refusing to talk to you or let you enter their house. For example, if you arrest the innocent child Zachory for the achievement, you’ll be locked out of both Benji and Gabe’s houses, and if you encounter Alex or Rueben outside, they’ll refuse to talk to you. You need to be judicious, especially if going for all topics or items, that you don’t burn bridges with people too soon.
Examining items in the environment takes up time. Most items are just flavor text and burn a minute or two. Certain items will open up a choice that allows you to decide whether or not to examine further and eat up more time. Most items in inhabited homes, such as cabinets or bags, cannot be examined fully without a warrant, giving you incomplete information. Certain interactions will give you new Items, Topics, or drop hints about the murder.
The first time you talk to someone (or the first time after Sean is murdered), it eats up more time and allows you to navigate a small dialogue tree. These can only be done once per playthrough and can be navigated to learn more information or learn new Topics.
Asking about Topics and Items is a massive time sink, so be thoughtful of who you ask. Think about who would be a good source for the information you’re looking for
Items can be shown to people, but some open new doors or interactions. They can all be given to Marry the forensic worker for more information. I’ve written down most of the forensic results in the Items section
Marry is typically at Rebeca’s body, but she will be outside Rebecca’s House at the start of the first day and will move to Bombo when Sean is killed. She can also be found at the police station at the end of the day. If you give her an item, she’ll have the results the next time you see her
After certain events, you’ll have the ability to assign Laura a task at the end of the day. These take either one or two days to complete. One gets you a new topic, some get you new information, and some just waste time. You get an achievement for assigning Laura no tasks in one run.

Mindsurfs

Mind surfs are missable if you get locked out of someone’s home or irritate them into noncompliance. In this section, here’s a list of Mindsurfs and the places to find the subject, in addition to some tips for the mindsurf puzzle.

Mindsurf Tips:

At its most basic, the goal of the mindsurf game is to build up the timer by making 3 in a row (row, column, or diagonal) matches in one color (blue, yellow, red, purple). When a match is made, the center piece will become that color
By default, you get 3 seconds per matched bullet. Striking the same spot with bullets of the same color will raise the second per bullet. One double is 4, two doubles is 6, and three double is 9 seconds, and so on.
Setting off multiple matches at once is a massive score boost
Stressors will wipe the board and remove all placed colors if they hit the brain, so you need to make matches to build up a shield. Stressors will have no effect if they hit a shielded side. If a level has stressors, you need to make more frequent matches to fight off the stressors.
Your first hard/impossible mindsurf will start with a quick tutorial on stressors and your second after tutorial mindsurf will start with a tutorial on doubling bullets. If you’re shrewd, you can use this tutorial to your advantage to get a few more seconds on a hard mindsurf
Every subject has a unique, preprogrammed pattern. For example, Paul’s always starts with three waves of blue/yellow/red bullets. There is no luck or randomization. If you know a pattern, you can plan matches in advance.
Due to this, you actually don’t need to upgrade your bullets to take on the hardest mindsurfs. It will be remarkably easier, but if you think fast enough or know the pattern, you can work through any mindsurf

Mindsurf subjects and difficulties:

Kenneth: The prologue tutorial. If skipped, the game will give you the two topics and the three doors, without giving you the upgraded bullet
Joshua: On the first day, he’s on the main street until you move. From there, he’ll be in his camper, with exception of appearing in the bar with Alex on either the first or second day
Adam: Hostel, second floor bedroom. There is an event where you’ll find him on the cliff on the forth day
Alex: Backyard of the Suco residence, unless it’s Saturday, in which case she’s in the living room. Alternatively, she’ll be with Joshua in the bar if you enter on either the first or second day
Benji: Hard. Suco residence
Zachory: Impossible. Suco Residence
Sean: Hard. Either his house or, if you randomly wander the woods on either the first or second day before meeting him, at the Cliff in hiking trail. Also, if you head to the hostel on the second day to see Adam, you’ll see him on the way out
Dog: Impossible. Either at Sean’s house or with him at the Cliff on the first/second day.
Olivia: Hard. Sean and Olivia’s House
Robin: Robin and Paul’s house
Paul: Impossible. Robin and Paul’s house
Gabe: Gabe’s house
Reuben: Impossible. Bar
Eliot: Impossible. Will arrive on the street on the fourth day and will spend the rest of the time in Gabe’s living room.
The Cat: Impossible. Will only appear after Sean’s death on the roof of the Gift Shop. After trying to mindsurf it, you get the Black Cat topic. Ask Olivia about the black cat to get the Cat Food and examine the round bowl in the upper left corner of the Gift Shop to actually mindsurf.

Items

I’m going to left to right, then up to down for numbers. Lantern being 1 and Sean’s Fake ID being 18.

Lantern. Pick up from the desk in Rebecca’a bedroom. First available during prologue
Note. Pick up from wastepaper basket in Rebecca’s room. First available during prologue
Key ring. Pick up from pile of clothes on chair in Rebecca’s bed room. Available in prologue. Opens Hostel employee area and garden tool chest
Adoption papers. Search Robin and Paul’s house with a search warrant, then check the trunk in their bedroom
Piece of glass. Examine Sean’s body after his death. Will be impossible to obtain if he’s never killed. Forensic results: actually a piece from prescription glasses
Blackmail. Using a search warrant, inspect the desk in Eliot’s bedroom inside Gabe’s house
Camcorder. Requires Ring of Keys. Examine table on right side of Hostel employee area
Game cartridge. Rebecca’s house, first floor, boxes with purse by vacuum cleaner. Requires 14 minutes to inspect. Allows you to play Police Boy with Zachory
Cat food. Discuss the Black cat with Olivia. Allows you to Mindsurf the cat. Only possible is Sean dies
White powder. With the Ring of Keys, examine the garden chest in Rebecca/Adam’s garden. Forensic results: Heroin
GPS Tracker. Bush behind tall wall, right of bar on street. This is pointed out by the Cat’s uncertainty door. Forensic results: this is tracker for a type of chipped dog collar
Gym Bag. Two places, and these are the same item, so be careful. If it’s before the third day, (or the killer was arrested early and Sean never died), get a search warrant for Sean’s house, examine the dresser in front of the stairs, examine the hidden safe, and spend 30 minutes to open it. Alternatively, after Sean’s death, use a search warrant on Gabe’s house and check his bed in his bedroom. Forensic results: a tracking bug has been discretely placed in the lining of the bag
Keys. Found under Joshua’s caravan, after Sean’s murder
Note of Sale. With a search warrant, examine Joshua’s camper and the papers on his couch
Sean’s Fine. Use a search warrant on Sean’s house and check the bedroom mirror dresser
Hair Tie. Find the tree house in the woods and look on the ground to the left of the ladder
Stick. Wander randomly in the woods until you find the clearing
Sean’s fake ID. Question Sean. Will be impossible to obtain after he dies

Topics

We have 31 topics. Many of them have multiple sources.

Kenneth Threw Up at the Crime Scene. Mindsurf Kenneth, or skip the prologue
Footprints in Blood. Mindsurf Kenneth, or skip the prologue
Romance between Rebecca and Adam. Question Adam or Mindsurf Olivia
Reuben’s Massive Vrush on Alex. Mindsurf Reuben
A Path in the Woods. Examine the woods on the Main Street between the gift shop and Joshua’s RV
Treehouse lab. Find the treehouse and enter it
Forest Fire Incident. Ask Joshua, Sean, Olivia or Adam about Paul’s Condition, or ask Joshua about Joshua bought MCC from Eliot,
Olivia is Afraid of Sean. Mindsurf Olivia
Josh and Adam at the Bar. Question either Joshua or Adam
Gabe and Reuben playing Backgammon. Question either Reuben or Gabe
Gabe’s Prosthetic. Ask Robin about Elisa or use a search warrant on Gabe’s house and check his bedroom wardrobe/right nightstand
Rebecca and Sean’s Blackmail Scheme, Mindsurf Sean
Josh Bought MCC From Eliot. Question Joshua and ask about him buying it, alternatively question Eliot and ask him about selling, or question Gabe
Kaia. Question Benji and ask about his family, Mindsurf Benji, find the Adoption Papers, or question Sean and ask him about his family and what parent he shares with his halfsiblings,
Gracie. Mindsurf Eliot
Robin Mistreats Paul, Mindsurf Robin
Paul’s Condition. Question Kenneth, Gabe, or Joshua and ask about Rebecca’s parents, or simply question Paul
Bombo. Interrogate Joshua, or read the the sign next to the big boulder/insepct the glass display stone in the giftshop
Elisa. Examine grave at overlook, ask Robin about a topic involving Reuben (Reuben locked in bar or Reuben was at Treehouse), Mindsurf Gabe, or question Gabe after Sean’s murder and ask him about making memorial crosses and for whom.
Gabe and Paul are the Founders of MCC. Question Joshua or Question Gabe
Black cat. Examine Black Cat that appears on the roof of the gift shop from the third day onward (assuming Sean was killed)
Rebecca and Sean were Meeting in Secret. Question Adam
Reuben was at the Treehouse. Ask Olivia about the Hair Tie
Burn Marks on the Vctim’s Body. Talk to forensics Marry on the fourth or fifth day
Rebecca’s Suspicious Online Store. Take the hard drive from Rebecca’s bedroom computer and ask Laura to process it for two days.
Sean and Reuben’s stroll through the woods. Question Sean
Sean asked Reuben for Help in the Drug Lab. Ask Reuben about Reuben was at the the Treehouse
Joshua used to head to MMC with his Grandfather. Mindsurf Joshua
Rebecca and Sean are Twins. Show Eliot the adoption papers or arrest Sean and talk to him in custody
Reuben was Locked In at Bar. After Sean’s murder, question Reuben, Olivia or Gabe
Robin is Terrorized by Masked Burglars. Question Robin or ask Kenneth about Paul’s Condition and why he sees Robin often

Time Sensitive Events

Prolgue, Tuesday
Can be skipped with the only penalty being that you don’t have the mindbullet upgrade you would get from mindsurfing Kenneth.

Day 1, Wednesday
If you haven’t entered Olivia/Sean’s house, you will find him at the cliff the first time you randomly wander. Can also happen on the next day.
Alex and Joshua will meet in the bar. Can also happen on the next day.
I haven’t been able to nail down the exact flags for this, but I believe if you question Reuben and head to the Hostel bedroom, the TV will turn on with a news report featuring anchor Gracie.

Day 2, Thursday
If you mindsurfed no one on the first day, the day will start with a mental projection telling you to use your powers.

If you talk to Adam at the Hostel, you will run into Sean on your way out.

Day 3, Friday
Sean is found dead and the two items/two topics related can be found. Alternatively, if you either had Sean in police custody on the night of the second day or the true killer is in custody, Sean’s death will be prevented.

Day 4, Saturday
Eliot arrives in town.

Day 5
Final chance to arrest killer. If incorrect, bad ending. If correct, final summation, mindsurf, and the deep dive (no penalties for failure).

Achievements

Mindsurf Achievements

[_]’s Mind: You have 13 human suspects and the 2 animals (Dog and Black Cat) to mindsurf. You get one achievement the first time you successfully mindsurf any individual.

Rippable: Get the ejection counter high enough to auto complete a Mindsurf. If you get a sufficiently high timer on a mindsurf, the game will concede that you won and end it. I’ve had this happen to me on the end-of-day Laura, Olivia, and Robin Mindsurfs. I think for most people, this will happen in normal play, but if you’re struggling, I would recommend leaving an easy mindsurf until you’ve upgraded your mindbullets

Marksman: Fully upgrade your mindbullets. You can raise each of the 4 colors by 1 level for each mindsurf you complete, which means you will be fully upgraded with 12 successful mindsurfs.

Charging/Big Wave Rider: Complete a mindsurf rated Hard and Impossible, respectively. To explain, every mindsurf has an initial difficulty rating that decreases as you upgrade your bullets. For example, the Dog starts at Impossible, but I got the Charging achievement for the Dog mindsync because I upgraded my bullets twice before and the Dog was downgraded for hard.

Personally, I got the Hard one for the Dog and the Impossible one from Reuben. I would say the easiest of the impossible rated ones is the Dog

Story Achievements

This Doesn’t Feel Right: Complete the game with either no one or the wrong suspect in lockup. This gives you a unique sad ending

Mindcop: End the game with the correct suspect in lockup and complete the finale sequence.

Deep Dive Expert: During the finale sequence, be hit by no stressors as you unplug the mind after the memories play. They come in three waves and speed up.

Authority: At the end of the game, you’ll be asked whether or not Rebecca and (theoretically, he might still be alive) Sean should be revived. For the achievement, do NOT revive Rebecca and let Sean live. This will trigger if either Rebecca is not revived while Sean is, or if Rebecca is not revived and Sean was never killed.

Completionist

Hoarder: Collect all 18 Items in one playthrough. See the final section for more involved directions

Smooth Operator: Collect all 31 Topics in one playthrough. See the final section for more involved directions

Nosy: Open every door in the sea of thought. In other words, mindsurf all 15 subjects in one playthrough. See the final section for more involved directions

Explorer: Find all places in the woods. There are 4. The outlook, The cliff, the treehouse, and the Clearing where you find the stick. This one tripped me up, because it only triggered after I went to the cliffs AFTER randomly wandering to it and finding its location.

The Clearing: Randomly wander until you find it
Overlook: Examine the hiking map in Gabe’s house or the brochures in the Hostel, or ask about the path in the woods to Sean, Joshua, Adam, Olivia, Eliot, Gabe, Benji, or Alex
Cliffs: Wander the woods randomly BEFORE entering Sean and Olivia’s house on either day 1 or day 2, or wander again on day 4/5 to find Adam

The Treehouse: Mindsurf the Dog or examine the boxes by the luggage on the first floor of Rebecca’s house and choose to spend 15 minutes examining them. You wander randomly and find the treehouse, but its unlikely.

Intruder: Use a search warrant all four days that you can. There’s five places to use a search warrant on. Make sure you’ve entered a new home (Benji, Gabe, Sean, Joshua, and Robin’s) every day, so you have always have a new place to check

Miscellaneous Achievements

Police Boy: Examine the boxes with the purse in the first floor of Rebecca’s house and spend 15 minutes to find the Game Cartridge. Talk to Zachory and ask him about the Game Cartridge and he’ll boot up an old console. The minigame is a Gen I Pokemon pastiche where you enter a dungeon, beat a suspect, and arrest him.

Pleasant Partner: Complete a playthrough without giving any tasks to Laura. You can just start a new playthrough and skip to the final day for this.

Look at My Twig: Explore the woods until you find the clearing. Pick up the twig. Present the twig to three different suspects.

Just Doing Your Job: Arrest Zachary Suco, the child who idolizes you. This can be done whenever you want, just remember that it will make almost everyone hate you for the rest of the playthrough.

The Case Against the True Killer

This section contains major spoilers—proceed with caution!

Rebecca’s Death

On the night of Rebecca’s murder:

Someone entered her house, took a kitchen knife (Adam can confirm), and stabbed her. She showed no signs of fighting back (e.g., no broken nails).
Marry discovered burns on her body, indicating the killer likely used a taser (ask Kenneth about these burns).
Bloody shoeprints at the scene are Adam’s (he left them when he discovered the body—ask Adam for confirmation).
The killer was probably someone Rebecca trusted and willingly let into her home.

Sean’s Death

On the night Sean was killed:

A piece of prescription glasses was found next to him, suggesting he fought back against a killer who wears glasses.
He had similar taser burns, confirming the same weapon was used.
Sean’s pockets were empty—he was likely robbed.
Olivia reported their house had been ransacked, which was true: a Gym Bag filled with money was taken from a hidden safe.
Sean’s house keys were found under Joshua’s caravan (ask Olivia to confirm they’re Sean’s). This implies the killer murdered Sean, took his keys, broke into his house, stole the money, and discarded the keys.

The Gym Bag and the GPS Tracker

The Gym Bag is usually stored in Sean’s safe but was later found under Gabe’s bed.
Marry discovers a hidden GPS tracker in the bag, matching a broken tracker found in a bush nearby.
The tracker, designed for dog collars, ties back to Gabe. He previously used an orange paw-print device (confirmed by Alex) and had a dismantled dog collar under his workshop table.
Gabe also possessed floor plans of the camp (check his bedroom dresser), giving him knowledge of the hidden safe.
Glasses found in the Cat’s Mindsurf bush, where the GPS tracker was located, further implicate Gabe.

The Blackmail Scheme

Sean and Rebecca concocted a blackmail plan to pay off Sean’s bar fight fine. They targeted Eliot (aka Blondie), their childhood bullying victim.
Rebecca revised Sean’s initial demand to $30,000 and threatened to reveal that Eliot accidentally started a forest fire years ago (Mindsurf evidence, Olivia/Eliot dialogue).
Eliot didn’t have the money and turned to his father, Gabe, who reluctantly provided it. Gabe’s bank records show he withdrew $30,000.

Unknown to Eliot, Gabe planted a GPS tracker in the bag and followed the drop-off meeting (Cat’s Mindsurf). He identified Rebecca and later tracked Sean using the device.

Gabe’s Alibi Falls Apart

Gabe claims he was playing backgammon with Reuben, but the backgammon set at his house is missing a die (ask Gabe and Reuben).
Reuben was actually in the woods that night, as proven by a hair tie Olivia gave him (found near the Tree House).
Reuben admits he snuck out to meet Sean, aligning with evidence of dirt on Gabe’s window and Zachory’s claim about noise from the roof.

This leaves Gabe with no alibi for either murder.

Counterarguments

If Gabe isn’t the killer, someone else in his household must have moved the Gym Bag:

Reuben couldn’t have killed Rebecca (his Mindsurf shows him killing her, which means he didn’t in reality).
Reuben was locked in the bar during Sean’s death, as confirmed by Joshua and Olivia.
Eliot was at an accounting seminar Gabe arranged, giving him a verified alibi.

Even so, Gabe’s setup of the seminar for Eliot and his cryptic conversation with Paul (Mindsurf Uncertainty) suggest he had planned these crimes in advance.

In conclusion, all evidence points to Gabe as the true killer, with premeditation and careful manipulation of circumstances to cover his tracks.