This is not an adventure game but a logical reasoning one.

You play the part of a Gumshoe detective in the 1930s, a time of Gangsters and Molls. Depending upon which difficulty level you select the game sets you an assignment for which you will be paid on completion. The problems take the form of reasoning problems such as 'if Bert is six foot tall and Fred is one foot shorter than Bert, how tall is the Empire State Building?'. The problems are usually slightly easier than this... except on level five.

The first assignment is to find out what rackets each gang boss is involved in, and also the name of his Moll (girlfriend). The information is obtained by use of informants who all require payment. Each informant has a different price and also a different degree of reliability. All of this is told to you so the game becomes a process of receiving information, sorting it and then buying more as cheaply as is possible. Once you have collected all the information and have satisfied yourself as to its reliability you may present your findings to your client who will either pay you or tell you that you are wrong. If you have been successful, you will then receive another, harder assignment.

Gumshoe is well presented with little pictures of each of your informants on selection of the appropriate menu. On the whole, Gumshoe is rather good but should not be confused with an adventure game, which it is not.