The Final Pin

About The Final Pin

The Final Pin is a free horror game by JordiBoi, the solo maker Jordan Lindgren, who also made The Shopping List and Broken Through. It came out on itch.io for Windows in August 2023, made in Unreal Engine with a deliberate PS1 look: low-poly towns, grainy textures and heavy, moody lighting.

The story opens in 1968, when the unnamed hero joins the police to support his family. At a murder scene the killer has left a pool of blood in the shape of a crow, and the press names him the Crow Killer. The case goes unsolved, and years later the policeman still cannot let it go. The more he tries to shake off the feeling that the killer is out there, the stronger it grows.

Most of the game is walking and looking: you visit crime scenes, search for clues, talk to people and follow the case through foggy streets, a house on a dark hill and the sewers under the town. Every character is voiced, by a cast that includes YouTubers such as CallMeKevin, Berleezy and Jacob Geller. Players single out a sewer chase and an escape from gas as the tensest moments, along with a few well-placed jump scares.

It is a noir crime story with horror in it rather than a constant fright: reviewers praised its atmosphere, sound and final reveal, and noted that you do not solve the case so much as live through it. It suits players who liked The Shopping List or want a short, voiced detective story with a serial killer at its centre.

How to play The Final Pin

1. Download The Final Pin from its itch.io page for Windows (name your own price, free is fine) and unzip it.
2. Set aside one to two hours: the maker means it to be played in one sitting.
3. Walk with WASD, look with the mouse, and press E to look at or use things.
4. Press Space to move the voiced dialogue on, and search each crime scene for clues before moving on.
5. Use Shift to sprint and Ctrl to crouch when you need to get away or get through a tight spot.

Tips

• Play with headphones: the sound at crime scenes does much of the work.
• Read the notes and look closely at each scene; the story is told through what you find.
• When the game asks you to run, do not stop to look around.

Questions