SQL Case Files, a detective game for practice

SQL Case Files is a free site at sqlcasefiles.com. You play a detective. Each case is a short mystery and a small database. The only way through is to write real SQL. The engine is SQLite running in the browser. There is no install and the first cases do not require an account.

What it actually is

A game layered on a real query engine, not a multiple-choice quiz. Seasons walk from joins and filters up toward window functions. A Case Vault holds harder problems with fewer hints.

Queries are checked by result set, not by matching a model answer character for character. A different JOIN that returns the right rows still passes.

When I use it

When I want twenty minutes of SQL that is not a warehouse ticket and not an interview drill. The story is a device. The value is writing SELECT against a live table until the case closes.

It is practice, not a replacement for the warehouse. I still check dialect-specific work in SQL Server. For muscle memory on joins and aggregates, a case is enough.