Track Nazi fugitives in Owlskip Games’ The Ratline, coming to Mac and PC on 17 March

Independent studio Owlskip Games has announced that The Ratline, a narrative deduction game about tracking Nazi war criminals, will launch on Mac and PC via Steam on 17 March, 2026. The game will also be playable as a demo during Steam Next Fest, with the first three cases available for players to try ahead of the full release.


Set in 1971, the game begins with the murder of a Catholic priest in Budapest and the discovery of a secret list naming Nazi fugitives who escaped justice through a covert network known as The Ratline. Players step into the role of Saul Perlman, a struggling detective, tasked with uncovering the truth behind these disappearances before the trail goes cold.

The Ratline is a search-and-deduce detective game in the vein of The Case of the Golden Idol, Return of the Obra Dinn, The Roottrees Are Dead, and Type Help. You piece together fragmented evidence by examining documents, deciphering codes, analysing photographs, and interpreting subtle slips of the tongue to identify and track the war criminals.

Key features

  • Pure deduction, no hand-holding

    • A true detective experience where progress relies on player logic and observation rather than guidance or solution markers. Optional hints are available, but cases can only be solved by connecting evidence and thinking critically.

  • Evolving investigative mechanics

    • Rather than relying on a single puzzle system, The Ratline introduces new investigative mechanics throughout the game, ensuring each case feels distinct and challenging. Several of these mechanics pay tribute to titles that inspired its design, including The Golden Idol series and Type Help.

  • Grounded in real history

    • While all characters and cases are fictional, the game draws on extensive research into real-world Nazi escape networks after World War II. This historical grounding provides context and credibility to the cases players investigate, and adds narrative depth to each discovery.

The Ratline launches on Mac and PC via Steam on 17 March 2026. Its regular price is $14.99 / €13.99 / £11.99. A 20% discount will be available for a limited time at launch.

18. Februar 2026, von Thore Varga