Moonmist

Edit:I found the reason the game felt weaker to me in another review:

The room descriptions are in the feelies!

This explains why the game felt so lame. Random objects seemed to appear out of nowhere, and major rooms seemed to have no description at all. But the feelies seemed rich and interesting. I didn't realize that you were supposed to constantly refer to the feelies as you go.

I wonder if this was a way to make the game fit on a smaller disk with four variants.

This makes the game SO much better. Thanks for the tip, Victor!

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For those who have access to the feelies (such as in the iPad Lost Treasures of Infocom app), the backstories in the manual for this game were very enjoyable, much more than the game itself. I thought I should throw that out there.

This game is similar to An Act of Murder, where there are numerous possible suspects, multiple clues, and a variety of possible variations determined at the beginning of the game.

Both games were weaker, I feel, because they had to be adapted to work with multiple endings. For instance, in Moonmist, you find 'clues' that are just called 'clues'. Not scraps of paper, shreds of fabric, cards, etc. Just 'clues'. I assume they are different in each of the variations when you examine them (I only felt like playing through the 'green' version).

Moonmist is a kids game. This makes the game a bit harder at time; for instance, the room descriptions and directions get annoying at times.

The game is on a tight schedule, so you may have to restart before some characters leave.

The game has a cute idea where it calls you by your first name, and also by your title and last name when appropriate.

You play in a large castle with seven guests, investigating a supposed ghost that haunts the castle. Several mysterious deaths have occurred recently, and your friend is marrying the new Lord of the castle.

I don't recommend this game. I do recommend the manual.