Ben Jordan: Paranormal Investigator

Ben Jordan: Paranormal Investigator is a freeware point-and-click adventure game for Windows, created by Francisco Gonzalez under the Grundislav Games banner. The series is made up of eight episodes, each a standalone case that also contributes to a larger story. Over the years, it earned several Adventure Game Studio Awards, including a 2005 prize for Best Gameplay.

In terms of gameplay, the series follows the classic 1990s adventure game formula. Players guide Ben through each paranormal mystery, gathering evidence and objects, and referencing his notebook for clues. Items collected go into an inventory and can be used on the environment to solve puzzles. Every episode concludes with a direct confrontation against the supernatural creature at the heart of the case.

The protagonist, Ben Jordan, is a recent college graduate who sets out to become a paranormal investigator. Each case draws on real-world myths and legends for its creatures. The overarching plot begins when Ben advertises his services and is called to Florida to probe murders in a national park, blamed on a skunk ape. His second case involves a missing man searching for gold from a lost Spanish galleon near the Salton Sea. Next, he travels to Smailholm, Scotland, to investigate the murder of two children attributed to witches.

As his reputation grows, Ben is summoned to London to explore Number 50, a house haunted by victims of an incident 150 years earlier. There, he meets four other investigators, including Alice Wilkins and Simon Booth, and works with others for the first time. The trio later goes to Osaka, Japan, to look into deaths of company managers believed caused by zombies. After that, while on vacation in Greece, Ben secretly investigates Sea People who supposedly drag villagers into the ocean. For his sixth case, he spends Christmas with family in Philadelphia, then heads to Rome to help an actor who killed a priest, claiming demonic possession. In Rome, Ben uncovers a secret group called the Knights of St. Anthony and learns of a plot threatening his future. Following tragic events there, he discovers secrets that allow him to face the man behind the scheme.

The eight episodes were released over eight years. As the series progressed, its presentation and quality improved. Remakes of the first two cases were later released, updating them with the art style and interface of the l