If you’ve never played a mystery game, let me set the scene for you. The first impression can be quite daunting. There’s a box full of stuff. You take it all out, have a quick look, and then realise you have no idea what you’re meant to do with any of it. Luckily there’s a letter addressed to you, dear detective, one which sets the scene and gives you a hint of where to start.

From there, my job as a reviewer gets really difficult.

No spoilers

I can’t tell you too much about what happens in the game, because if I do, you’ll know what to expect, and where’s the fun in that? What I can tell you, however, is that the story running through The Morrison Game Factory is extremely good. The writing is excellent, the characters are captivating, and there’s a running theme that’s reminiscent of one of my favourite films from the 1980s.

No, I’m not going to tell you which film.

The puzzles are nicely paced. Nothing so abstract and outlandish that you’ll never be able to figure it out, while at the same time presenting a bit of a challenge. I was delighted when I thought I might be getting near the end of the story and then found I was only halfway through. There’s a mixture of logic, code-breaking, and just reading between the lines. Everything in the box plays a part at some point, and I love it when a game does what The Morrison Game Factory does, and makes me come back to some items more than once.

If you find any part of it heavy going, and can’t quite muster up the brainpower to find the solution to a puzzle – or even where to start one – there’s a great online hint system. The online system is more than just a glorified FAQ though, it plays an integral part of the story, so let me make it clear here that an internet connection is required to play. It’s not a case of “this is just an online game with the audacity to make me buy a box”. Instead, the website (it’s not an app) helps push the story along, and acts as a way to give you feedback, so you know your answers are right.

Or not, as the case may be.

Narrative glue

If you’ve ever played any mystery games, there’s one thing which sets the great ones apart from the ones that are just good. That one thing is the story. Without a good story, what you’re left with is a box of puzzles, and while that might be cool for some people, for the rest of us the story matters. It’s what pulls everything together and adds impetus to make it to the next puzzle, to find out what happens next.

The writing in The Morrison Game Factory is outstanding. I’ve not been this drawn into an ongoing mystery since The Baker Street Irregulars. It ought to be expected I guess, given the involvement of Lauren Bello who wrote for The Foundation and The Sandman TV series. It’s frustrating because I really want to talk to someone about the story. I want to tell you, the reader, all about it, but I can’t. I can’t ruin it for you. Let’s just say it really is well-written, and evocative. I don’t mind admitting I was close to tears at one point.

I really enjoyed Death At The Dive Bar (Hunt A Killer) and the scenarios I’ve played of The Detective Society, but the story on The Morrison Game Factory blew them away. Only Dave Neale’s writing in The Baker Street Irregulars comes close.

Forewarned is forearmed

I’ve just got a couple of potential problems to be aware of, one of which is a teeny bit spoliery, so if that bothers you, skip down to Final thoughts. Firstly, for those of you who don’t live in the US, there’s a spot where you’re required to call a US phone number. That might not be a problem for some, but for me I’d have had to enable international dialling on my mobile contract. Luckily, it’s not a dealbreaker. The same information from the call is also on the website that you’re given right near the start in both audio recording and transcription forms. Top marks for providing both.

Secondly, the online section of the game uses a website, not an app. As such, it’s cookie-dependent. If you’re planning on taking your time and playing it across multiple days, just be aware that the next time you visit the site, it may not have remembered your progress. Again, not a deal-breaker, just an annoyance, and one that might not even happen to you. I only mention it because I played the game through twice, once using my brain, once checking the hint system, and the second time through it forgot my progress when I had to continue the next day.

Final thoughts

It probably won’t come as a surprise at this point to learn that I loved my time with The Morrison Game Factory. It doesn’t do anything radically different to other games of this ilk, in terms of puzzles, locks, codes etc., but the way it does it is brilliant. The story is so good and you’ll find yourself invested in it, dying to know what happens at the end.

Tying the theme to a board game factory is another great touch. For those of you into board games who haven’t played a mystery game like this before, this is the one most likely to grab your attention. Playing with board game pieces to solve puzzles is really good fun.

The only downside to the game, like all of those in this genre, is that you’ll probably only play it once. There’s no branching story to get you coming back to explore again like in Children of Wyrmwood (review), so unless you have a terrible short-term memory, there’s no challenge in playing a second time through. It’s the kind of game you’ll want to talk to other people about though, so expect to lend it to friends and family so that you finally have someone to compare notes with.

Mystery mastery, I loved every minute. The Kickstarter campaign launches soon, you can find out more by clicking here.

Preview copy provided by PostCurious. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Morrison Game Factory (2024)

Design: Lauren Bello
Publisher: PostCurious
Art: Steve Thomas
Players: 1-4
Playing time: 240 mins

The post The Morrison Game Factory Review appeared first on Punchboard.

Death at the Dive Bar follows a similar formula to The Detective Society, where (nearly) everything you need to investigate and solve the mystery is in the box. Some games, like The Detective Society, do the equivalent of breaking the fourth wall in a film or play. They might add in a website, email address, or phone number you can use in the real world. Death at the Dive Bar only does this once, and it’s not necessary to complete the case, which is good if you’re planning to take the game away for a weekend of disconnecting or something.

What the hell do I do with all this stuff?

If this is your first game of this sort, there’s a good chance that’s the first thing you said. There’s a ton of stuff in the box. Physical props, flyers, a beer mat, police reports, CCTV stills, and a bag with a code on it.

Oooooooh, mysterious!

Other than the introductory letter which lets you know what you need to solve (who, when, why sorta stuff), and an idiots guide to [redacted] ciphers, you’re on your own. It’s the sort of game where you want a big table to put all the stuff out, no distractions, and an hour or so to puzzle it out. You’ll need that space to puzzle it out. There’s a pretty deep back story, and the lore that surrounds the mystery is fleshed out and very believable. You’ll remember their names after you finish.

In all honesty, there’s not much more I can tell you about the game without splattering spoilers all over the place. What I can tell you is that there are no leaps you have to make to solve it, and all of the clues are right there in front of you. They all make sense. None of the puzzles is too difficult, if you can do the harder Exit games, I’m sure you’ll be okay.

Murder mysteries seem to be swinging back in vogue, and this is a really good one. If you want something to scratch that same itch that The Detective Society does, you could do a lot worse. I had a great time with it. There’s a decent set of hints online, and even an exclusive epilogue, just to tie up any loose ends. It goes without saying that it’s a one-and-done game, so you’ll only play it once, so bear that in mind before you pull the trigger. With that caveat in mind, it’s an easy recommendation from me.

You can order the game direct from their website in the US, or from places like Amazon if you’re in the UK.

Review copy provided by Hunt A Killer. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

If you enjoyed this review and would like to read more like this, consider supporting the site by joining my monthly membership at Kofi. It starts from £1 per month, offers member benefits, and lets me know you’re enjoying what I’m doing.

The post Death At The Dive Bar Review appeared first on Punchboard.

Mystery Machine

Scooby-Doo (as I’ll shorten it to now) is a part of the Coded Chronicles series from The Op, a series which boasts this and one other game – The Shining: Escape from the Overlook Hotel. If you’ve played any of the Exit or Unlock series of games then the guts of Scooby-Doo will be immediately familiar. As you play the game you’ll gather cards as you explore rooms in the mansion, and by combining them and your character standees – and a little brainpower – you solve puzzles and progress through the story. Essentially, it’s an escape room game, and I’m a massive fan of escape rooms and puzzles in general, so I was excited to get a dose of childhood nostalgia at the same time.

If you’ve ever played an Exit game, you know the story is very loosely applied. It might be set in a pyramid or abandoned building, but there’s nothing really to make it feel like it. Scooby-Doo does things very differently here, by including a book for each of the characters. Without wanting to spoil the game, at various points you play as different members of the team, and as far as I’m concerned it should be obligatory to read out everything in character. The books are great; they’re bright and colourful, and the writing feels true to the cartoons. There are plenty of chances to ham it up and be the Velma you always dreamed you could be.

Pesky kids

I’ve played a load of games where you need to solve puzzles, so I’ve started to get to the stage where I can see the setup for something and think “Ah, this is going to be one of those”. I was expecting Scooby-Doo to seem simple compared to the likes of the Exit games I’ve played, or the Escape Tales games that I reviewed last year. I was half-right, I guess. Early on in the game, things are pretty easy, but you’d expect that in a game clearly aimed at families. When you get into the latter half of the game, however, it starts to require a bit more thinking. It’s done really nicely, there’s no sudden vertical ramp in difficulty, just enough of a slope to give a rewarding sense of success.

A lot has been done to make this game feel like Scooby-Doo. The characters’ voices in the text, the aesthetics, and the general scoobiness is all there. The way each member of the gang has a different skill works really nicely too. Each has their own speciality, which they can at least attempt to interact with different items and locations. Velma can research things, Fred can use stuff, and Shaggy and Scooby (perhaps predictably) eat and smell things. It doesn’t really matter too much who can do what, it’s just another clever way to add some flavour and theme to an already decent game.

The game system is really clever. The mansion slowly gets unveiled, and along the way you’ll be opening envelopes with all manner of secret stuff in them. My son was so excited every time we got to open a new envelope, and it adds a bit of theatre to the experience, which is super fun for kids and grown-ups alike.

Scrappy-Doo

When we finished playing Scooby-Doo, I got a real sense of deflation. Not because the story and the game weren’t good – both are great – but because it was over. More importantly, it was over, and it was completely finished. There’s just the one story in the box, and when you’re done with it, you’re done. You can reset it and start over, nothing gets destroyed in the same way it does in the Exit games, but it’ll just be the same story, same items, and same solution. That’s not a big deal when you’re buying an Unlock game for about £25 with three adventures in, or an Exit for less than £15. This is a game that’ll set you back nearly £30. Cost isn’t something I mention often, but it needs mentioning here.

HOWEVER…

My son didn’t mind one bit that the game would be the same the next time through. In fact, he’s already played it through twice on his own since. It’s a trait that other kids seem to share, if the conversations I’ve had with other parents is anything to go by. In the same way that I’ve watched Tremors a ridiculous number of times, they seem content to play something they know back-to-front, ad nauseum. It baffles me, frankly, but it’s the reason the game is still in my collection and not on the shelf at my local games café.

Final thoughts

If you like Escape Room games, you’ll have a good time with Scooby-Doo: Escape from the Haunted Mansion. If you fall in the middle of that Venn diagram where Escape Room and Scooby-Doo fans intersect, you’ll love it. It’s great fun, but it’s over pretty quickly. It’ll probably take you a couple of hours to go through in total, longer if you’re playing with kids and let them take the lead on things.

The puzzles are good, and none are so abstract that you’ll need spoilers to solve them – no rubber chickens with a pulley in the middle here. It’s a really fun experience, it’s just the cost that you have to take into consideration. For some reason, the fact that it comes in a bigger box than the alternatives I’ve mentioned above, makes it feel like it should give you more than it does. If you’ve got kids, it’s a really worthwhile purchase, because they enjoy the experience of playing, more than feeling frustrated that they already know the solution.

One of the things it does have going for it, is that the game can be fully reset, so you can sell it on, or give it to someone else to enjoy. I really enjoyed the game, my son loves it, and I’m looking forward to trying out further games built on the Coded Chronicles system. Scooby dooby doooooooo!

Review copy kindly provided TheOp. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

Scooby Doo: Escape from the Haunted Mansion (2020)

Designers: Jay Cormier, Sen-Foong Lim
Publisher: TheOp
Art: Rob Lundy, Rick Hutchinson
Players: 1-99
Playing time: 120 mins

The post Scooby-Doo: Escape from the Haunted Mansion Review appeared first on Punchboard.

The best kind of mystery is the one that doesn’t reveal the culprit at the start. It leaves you to work out whodunnit for yourself, either by pulling you along through a story with the protagonist, or giving you the clues to do it yourself. The Detective Society takes this concept and runs with it. Each episode is a self-contained mystery in a big envelope, dropped through your letterbox, waiting for your sleuthing.

Little grey cells

I’ve played lots of different kinds of mystery games. The Baker Street Irregulars (review) was my favourite game last year, Sherlock Holmes: Four Investigations graphic novel adventure (review), Chronicles of Crime 1900 (review) and countless online murder mysteries. The ones I like best are the ones that give me something physical to work with, like the case books in the Baker Street Irregulars books. The Detective Society packages come stuffed full of different bits and pieces; pieces of paper, notes, maps, and other bits. I worked through the first episode of the third series they’ve made: The Cursed Exhibition.

I won’t say I wasn’t just a little bit overexcited when as well as tons of pieces of paper, a padlocked bag fell out of the package! The mystery begins with a bit of preamble, and then you’re left to your own devices. It’s not an easy task, especially if you’ve never tackled something like this before, and that’s worth bearing in mind. I think a small group of people playing together will have more luck getting their heads around certain puzzles, but personally I relish the challenge, and I loved the problems The Detective Society threw at me.

Just one more thing…

The game isn’t entirely self-contained, and it does some really clever things. I don’t want to give too much in the way of spoilers, but you’ll need a web browser and your phone to finish the mystery, and I love how seamlessly they’re integrated. Clearly there’s a lot of planning and effort gone into these packages.

The puzzles test your logic, spatial reasoning, and attention to detail. It’ll give you a ton of satisfaction when you finally figure out the solution to something you’ve been staring at for the last half an hour. It’s very hard to talk too much about this particular episode, because I don’t want to spoil it for you.

I really enjoyed the experience of playing The Detective Society. You need an empty table to spread everything out on, and as much as I adore the Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective games, this game felt more interactive. Instead of just reading and making notes, you need to actually do things, and it becomes more of an experience than a set of puzzles.

Final thoughts

I bumped into Dan from The Detective Society at this year’s UK Games Expo, and when he explained how the games work, I didn’t want to get my hopes up. Too often marketers promise the world, and deliver something undeserving of the hype. I’ve got to hand it to them though, it does exactly what it says it’s going to. It delivers an engaging, cohesive mystery, with enough ‘world’ built around it to make the setting very real.

The episodes are expensive, coming in at £30 each, but there’s a decent amount of mystery for your money. If you subscribe to the deals which deliver a fresh episode each month, the episodes are cheaper too. Mystery fans will love The Detective Society, and if you do get stuck, there’s a helpful series of hints on the website to help push you over the line.

Fantastic sleuthing fun which fans of mysteries, puzzles and escape rooms will love. At the time of writing, the Kickstarter for the current Detective Society adventure is up and running – click here.

Review copy kindly provided by The Detective Society. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

The post The Detective Society Review appeared first on Punchboard.

Watch this, and get excited.

Why did the scarecrow win an award?

Because he was out-standing in his field.

This comedy segue is just to highlight the biggest major change to proceedings – some of the cast are out in the field. Literally, there’s a bunch of actors running around in a field somewhere, joining in the fun and games by mobile phone camera. With the help of the evergreen Detective Slaughter at HQ, and Constable Butcher at the scene of the crime, you and the other Zoom detectives are trying to figure out why there’s a dead clown in a clearing, and most importantly – whodunnit?!

This is where the ‘Choose Your Own’ bit of the show name comes into play. If you’re of a certain age and from the UK, you might remember the (in-desperate-need-of-reviving) TV show, Treasure Hunt. A team in the studio told Annika Rice to get in a helicopter and fly to places to solve clues. Now you get a chance to do the same, sans helicopter. At certain points a poll appears in the screen, and collectively you vote to decide where Butcher heads next, and what he investigates. It’s awesome, it really gives you a feel of agency, of flexing your little grey cells to steer the investigation.

Like a puppet on a string

This new format is great. Watching the cast have to truly adlib and brave the hideous weather was both testament to their ability to stay in character, and mildly hilarious. While I never believed there was a dead clown in a public space, there’s just something immersive about seeing someone over the shoulder of the constable and telling them to go and talk to them, or taking a first-person view of a chase.

Technology was the biggest problem, with the quality of the video and audio left to the mercy of the mobile networks, but even that added to the authenticity. As soon as the show was over I found myself thinking ‘I wish I know what would have happened if we’d investigated X instead of Y’. Whatever you do though, these clever Play Dead London folks will make sure you know enough to be able to solve the case with the clues and nuggets of evidence that come your way.

Choose Your Own Deadventure is excellent. I’ve enjoyed all of the Play Dead London shows, but this one was my favourite. The chatter in the communal chat channel was new and really funny, watching Butcher running around in the rain was great, and the mystery itself was clever. Once again I headed to the vote with three suspects I was sure could have done it. Go with your gut, guys, is the only advice I can give without spoiling things.

If you like murder mysteries, I urge you to try Choose Your Own Deadventure. You’ll laugh, you’ll commiserate if the weather is bad, and you’ll not have taken part in anything else quite like it. Play Dead London are one of the masters of the Zoom murder mystery, and this latest mystery just serves to cement them in place.

The post Choose Your Own Deadventure Review appeared first on Punchboard.

Regular visitors to Punchboard know that I love mystery, and in particular, Sherlock Holmes. When Van Ryder offered me the chance to review one of the GNA series, I jumped at the chance. It’s a hardback book, and the first thing I want to mention is just how much I love the illustration in it. Holmes and Watson look nothing like I’ve seen them in anything before. The art is cute, distinctive, and absolutely full of character.

The game is afoot!

Playing a Van Ryder GNA is much like playing one of the old Choose Your Own Adventure books from the 1980s. You read some panels of the story, and then get given a prompt or some kind of choice over where to go next. Read the number on the panel, find the corresponding panel in the book (the pages have the panel numbers at the bottom) and flip to that page to continue the story.

There’s plenty of extras to find as well as the obvious points of reference; numbers hidden in hard-to-read places, and a series of typewriter keys hidden in the pictures throughout the book. These actually play a role later in the book, so be sure to keep track of how many you find. Every so often you’ll have to question witnesses and suspects, and this is where your first real agency comes into the game.

There’s a limit to how many questions you’re allowed to ask each suspect, and if you ask the wrong question you can anger them, and they’ll refuse to talk to you again. It’s up to you if you choose to ignore this, or even the number of questions you can ask, but you’re only spoiling the experience for yourself if you do.

You see, but you do not observe

I really love the attention to detail in this book. Clues aren’t just in the words the characters speak, but in everything they do. You can see when someone is flustered, you can look at the details of their clothing, and the room you’re on. It’s even worth noting which hand they’re using when they hold something – you never know when it might matter. You won’t solve the cases unless you pay attention.

There are two ways to take on the investigations. You can play as Watson, which I like to think of as easy mode, or Holmes, which is really the best way to play in my opinion. Watson can ask more questions of a suspect, and has a deliberate, methodical explanation of what’s happened at a crime scene, whereas Holmes needs to be choosier with his interrogation, and has to make deductions based on the known facts. If you’re coming to this book with any kind of an interest in mysteries, play as Holmes, it’s more rewarding.

You’d be forgiven for thinking the comic-book styling would make this a child-friendly adventure, but it’s not. Despite the cutesy artwork and humour embedded into Watson’s long-suffering expressions, there’s murder throughout the story, and even a little bit of torture. Nothing graphic, but not really something I’d want my eight-year-old looking at.

Final thoughts

I can’t really tell you too much more about the book without ruining it for you. The story and writing throughout is brilliant. It all feels very Holmesian, with a good splash of humour thrown in for good measure. It’ll take you a few hours to play through, and there’s probably not much replay value, but I could easily see myself coming back to it in a year’s time, much like I would with a good book.

The mysteries aren’t too difficult, but they’re certainly not easy. I managed to solve it on the first try, but when I read the solution, there were some links I just hadn’t made. Holmes’ nemesis, Moriarty, has hidden some extra puzzles throughout the book too. If you find them, they’re actually pretty tricky to work out, but equally rewarding.

Sherlock Holmes: Four Investigations is a must for anyone who loves Holmes, interactive mysteries, or a longing to play those Choose Your Own Adventure books again. It’s clever, funny, charming, and beautiful. I sat in a big, comfy chair with a whisky when I played, and it’s an experience I can’t wait to recreate when I get more books in the series. It’s not always easy to pick-up the Van Ryder books in the UK, but if you can, I highly recommend doing so.

Review copy kindly provided by Van Ryder Games. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

Sherlock Holmes: Four Investigations (2014)

Designer: Cédric Asna
Publisher: Van Ryder Games
Art: Cédric Asna
Players: 1
Playing time: 60-120 mins

The post Sherlock Holmes: Four Investigations Review appeared first on Punchboard.

I love an Escape Room. I’ve done as many in-person rooms as I could before lockdown hit, and I’m a big fan of games that replicate the feeling, like the Exit series, and the Escape Tales games. I recently heard about a new escape room experience, an entirely web-based one called Webscapade, and was invited to come along and play.

In a team with my brother, sister-in-law, and our friend, we tested our wits and lateral thinking, playing through Season 0: Welcome to Argenia. The story is set in a fictional republic called Argenia, and big things are happening. The independence day celebrations have a dark spectre looming over them, and it’s up to you and your friends to figure out exactly what, and how you’re going to do something about it.

Just browsing?

The game is played in your web browser. You’ll need some other communication going on, so something like Zoom, Skype or Discord works well. The game is started with an email setting the scene, and the sleuthing starts from there. This is where the review gets tricky for me, because if I tell you how this all works, then I’m spoiling the experience for you. More importantly, I might be giving you an advantage which sees you overthrow my mighty Roscroggan Owls team, as the fastest on record so far.

Yeah, a little flex there maybe, but I’m very competitive.

Let’s just say that it uses your browser and tabs in a unique way, and one that really brought a smile to my face as I played it. The way it’s able to let you know when you’re done with a particular clue, is really clever. You’ll really need your wits about you to solve everything, and it’s certainly not easy. Some of the puzzles were pretty hard to grasp where to start, more than how to complete them.

Spit and polish

One of the most important things with an experience like this, is how polished it is. It really breaks the immersion when you can see the cracks, or run into problems. This can come from things being badly designed or tested, or from poor writing. I’m very happy to say that Webscapade suffers from none of these things. It’s extremely polished, from start to finish. The writing is great throughout, and I love the tongue-in-cheek humour. That same humour carries through the whole experience, and while it’s not a funny game, I defy anyone not to laugh when you complete it.

There’s a great hint system, which I obviously tested just to see how it works. For the review, you understand. We never got stuck, no sir, not once. A pre-warning, you’ll need at least one active Facebook account to play the game. I’m not going to explain why, but you do need it, and the way it’s used is really clever too. Those of you who think they can outsmart the developers and just view the page source for shortcuts are out of luck too – I tried. I enjoy kicking the tyres while I’m playing.

Final thoughts

Webscapade is great. We had a great time playing it, and the ability to either work on a particular puzzle together, or branch out and try to work on things together, is fantastic. The setting of this republic under threat is nicely implemented, and I love the way the fictional city you’re in feels real. The way the websites have been created to convey the imaginary places, feel very genuine.

I normally try to touch on any negative points during a review, just to make sure you get a feel for the real experience of playing the game. With Webscapade though, I’m honestly finding it very hard to find anything negative to talk about. The whole experience was great, from start to end. I will definitely be back for Season 1, when it launches.

If you’re a fan of escape rooms, puzzles, riddles, code-breaking – or if you just want to do something a bit different for an hour with your friends – you could do a lot worse than Webscapade. It’s $25 (£18) per team to play, works with any decent, modern browser. I had a great time with it, as did the rest of my team. It’s a solid, tricky escape room, and I highly recommend it. Have a look now, by clicking here.

Webscapade gave me a free ticket to play. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

Special Offer – 25% discount – from now until August 31st you can use the code ‘punchboard’ to get 25% off your play of Webscapade: Season 0

The post Webscapade – Season 0 Review appeared first on Punchboard.

The way the game works is like nothing I’ve played before. On every turn you’ll reveal a clue card which tells you the sort of place she’s been spotted at. The clue is an icon, which matches several locations on the board. You can pop your dark lady markers on those spots, then on the next turn, the next clue shows you where she went. Some of those new places will have been impossible to get to if you started at some of your marked locations, so by applying some logic, you can start to guess where she is.

The theme and aesthetic is beautifully represented throughout the game, with quotes from the bard himself, and a really interesting book is included, explaining who each of the potential dark ladies really was.

The Knowledge

Once you’ve got a good idea where she’s going, you can move your pawn across London to attempt to intercept her. Sometimes there might only be one logical location, sometimes you’re guessing between two. If you want to search for her because you think you’re in the right location, you get to use one of my favourite mechanisms in any game I’ve played.

You take the location card matching where your pawn is, then overlay the clue card. The location cards all have a small hole cut in them, and when you flip the pair of cards, hopefully you’ll have a small, black silhouette of the lady visible through the hole. If that happens you reveals a new dark lady clue card, which helps with your final deduction, and then she slips off into the night again, like a wisp of smoke disappearing into the fog of London’s streets.

Then, the hunt continues. Much like Palm Island, there’s a countdown card in the clue deck, and every time it comes to the top, it’s flipped or rotated to give you a countdown until the game’s over. You need to make your grand unveiling before that happens, and you’ll only be able to safely do that if you’ve revealed enough of the dark lady cards to make your deduction.

My poor brain

My brain is more broken because of my trying to understand how the game works, rather than try to solve it. The game can only work if the cards are stacked in a logical order, so that she genuinely moves around London without teleporting. With that in mind, you’d think the game gets easy. Just remember the order of the cards, right?

Wrong.

There are at least eight different ways to stack the deck, and every time you play, you’ll cut the deck at a random place to start. Plus, when you discover the dark lady clues, you move ever-increasing stacks of cards from the top to the bottom of the deck, so whole chunks are skipped. And somehow, it still works. John Kean, the designer, is either a wizard, or a very clever person, that’s all that I know. How this ever came to be, is a mystery to me, and this is a print-and-play game that got published too, so it’s not coming from a big design studio.

At the end of the game when you decide to try to guess the identity, you use the collected clue cards and try to employ some logic skills to figure out which three of the seven characteristics she must have. Then you do the big reveal and find out if you’re more Holmes or Clouseau in your detective work.

Final thoughts

I can’t fully express how impressed I am by Black Sonata. It’s an amazing game. It’s a board game and a mystery deduction all in one box, and those are my two favourite things. I don’t know how the logic and maths behind the game works, and I don’t want to lift the curtain and see. It’s a bit like a magic trick, you think you want to know how it works, but once you know, it’s ruined. Suffice to say, I think it’s genius.

It’s such a gorgeous puzzle in a little box, and even though I know that the longevity is theoretically limited, due to the limited ways the deck can be built, it doesn’t feel like it. There’s so many things thrown into the mix, which make it near-impossible to remember all the setups. These include fog cards, which both obscure your view of a location, but also give you an expendable bonus. That bonus can do all sorts of things, including swapping the identity of the lady you’re seeking. Unless you sit there with a notepad and pen, meticulously plotting every conceivable route – which you could do – you’re not going to wear the game out any time soon.

Black Sonata is a solo game, but you and another could talk through the clues and make deductions if you wanted. It’s got a tiny footprint, and plays out inside an hour, so it’s a real Martini game – any time, any place, anywhere. There’s an expansion I don’t have yet, but will definitely buy, just to keep this marvellous game alive longer for me.

If you enjoy logic puzzles, mystery, and deduction, Black Sonata is the easiest recommendation I’ll ever make. It’s absolutely brilliant, and if you can’t find it in stock anywhere, you can print your own copy right now.

A review copy of Black Sonata was kindly provided by TGG games. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

Black Sonata (2017)

Designer: John Kean
Publisher: TGG Games
Art: John Kean
Players: 1
Playing time: 30-45 mins

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Those staunchly in the ‘technology has no place in board games’ camp will baulk at the Chronicles of Crime series. Despite having a board and a load of cards, the game is unplayable without the app. The app is the game. The counter-argument I’ve seen is for not using an app is ‘but Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective did it with a book‘, and while that’s true, there’s plenty that Chronicles does, that a book never could. If you’re tech-dubious, read on, you might find your mind made up one way or the other by the time you reach the bottom of this review.

QR Cuties

The entire game of Chronicles of Crime: 1900 is in the app. Once you’ve installed it and started the scenario you want to play (four scenarios are included at the time of writing), the app takes control. It’ll tell you to place a location card and some people cards, tell you who the people are, and what’s happening in the story you find yourself dropped into.

Gameplay revolves around scanning QR codes on cards. If you want to go to a location, scan its QR code. Once you’re there, you can scan more codes to talk to people, ask about objects and clues you’ve found (all by scanning more QR codes), or even jump into a VR-style 3D crime scene. When you’re whirling around the crime scenes, you’ll see clues which you can claim and add to your board, giving you more avenues to pursue your Columbo-style “Just one more thing” questioning.

You’re a journalist with a Jonah-J-Jameson-style editor, who’s got a stick up his backside. He’s obsessed with crime reporting, presumably in the absence of a 1900s L’Homme araignée. Every action you take eats precious minutes off the clock, and the deadlines he sets you can get pretty tight.

Vive la difference

If you’ve played the previous Chronicles of Crime games, there might be a few differences from what you’re used to. There are escape room puzzles this time, stacked face-down in an ever-tempting pile. You need to combine them with other cards and clues you’ll uncover during your investigations to drive the story forwards. Not everyone is going to like these, but I do. It’s another layer of fun, and a slight change to the formula which stops things from getting stale.

The flip-side of these very specific puzzle cards – figuratively speaking – is that they’re one-and-done. In the Chronicles of Crime original game every card was reusable in official and fan-made mysteries. I would say I don’t like this change in ethos to make something single-use, but in all honesty I’ve never downloaded a fan-made mystery, so it makes no difference to me.

The biggest difference I’m happiest with is the absence of the team you work with. In the original game you had people like hackers and forensic experts you could ask for help, and in 1400 these were replaced by family members. They were the weakest part in my opinion, and it felt unnecessary to have to figure out who you ask about what, especially when you get stuck. It broke the flow of the game for me. Replacing this mechanism in 1900 is a puzzle editor who works at your newspaper, who’ll tell you if you have all the cards you need for a puzzle, and can even give you hints. It makes that game much more approachable to non-gamers.

History mystery

The most important things in these games are the mysteries you’re trying to solve. As in the previous games, the story-telling is really good. The characters are just that – characters. Not quite caricatures, but not far off. It’s important that these characters are so memorable, because you’ll often end up with a cast of 15 or so to remember. The mysteries are very solvable too. Not easy, not in any sense of the word, but less obtuse than some of the previous cases.

In the original game there were a couple of cases I did really badly in, because I missed one thing at a crime scene, or didn’t ask a particular question. That all seems to have been tightened up and moulded into a more friendly package in Chronicles of Crime: 1900. Clues in crime scenes seem easier to find for a start. I don’t mean a day-glo knife engraved with “Pierre’s favourite stabber” levels of obvious, just a little clearer.

Final thoughts

Chronicles of Crime: 1900 is my favourite in the series. The changes are small when you compare them to the previous games, but they make for a better game. You’ll get the ‘purists’ who tell you that they should be difficult, and while I don’t mind a tough case to crack, there are differing ways in which a game can be difficult. Difficulty because you need to pay attention to the story is a good thing, difficulty because you missed something obscure but crucial, that’s not good.

There’s a tiny nagging part of my brain which is telling me “You’re not better at solving mysteries, this game is just easier than the previous ones”, but you know what? Screw that part of my brain. I had fun playing 1900. I solved mysteries and the game made me feel clever. Sure, in one case three different people told me I should speak to the police about a particular thing, but that’s precisely what I meant above. It’s much more difficult to miss something important. The game made me feel clever, and that’s what a good mystery game should do. Not batter you over the head with your own stupidity.

If you’ve never played a Chronicles of Crime game before, I’d recommend starting with this one, Chronicles of Crime: 1900. It feels more refined, and loses the fussiness of the four ‘helpers’ from the first game. If you don’t think you’ll like an app-driven game, give it a go. The one big advantage these games have, is that the publishers can add new cases to the app all the time. You can’t do that with a book. I had a great time with 1900, and if you’re into murder mysteries, you’ll love it.

Review copy kindly provided by Lucky Duck Games. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

Chronicles of Crime: 1900 (2021)

Designers: David Cicurel, Wojciech Grajkowski
Publisher: Lucky Duck Games
Art: Matijos Gebreselassie, Karolina Jędrzejak, Mateusz Komada, Katarzyna Kosobucka, Aleksandra Wojtas
Players: 1-4
Playing time: 60-90 mins

The post Chronicles of Crime: 1900 Review appeared first on Punchboard.

As is the case with other online mysteries I’ve taken part in, Shake, Rattle and Roasted is played out over Zoom. Buy your ticket, join the event at the time on the email, and don your virtual deerstalker.

Fifties Mystery – Happy Days?

I won’t spoil things for anyone thinking of attending, but for an overview this show is set in 1950s America, and the setting and characters really brought to mind a mix of Happy Days and Grease. A popular member of the school has been murdered (gasp!), the suspects have been gathered, and through the use of very progressive technology for the time, we – the detectives – can interview them.

As I’ve come to expect from Play Dead London now, the world they give you a window into is really nicely realised. The characters feel really developed, and there’s nothing you can ask them during the series of interviews that they won’t be able to answer in character. I really enjoy the gradual reveal of clues and evidence as the evening progresses, and the way the second set of interviews take on a different feel when you’ve uncovered more facts and rumours.

As I said above, I’ve been to three of these events now, and despite still not having got one right (I really must trust my instincts…), I’m really impressed with the range of characters the actors can play. I’ve heard so many accents and seen so many exaggerated archetypes of personalities, I’ve honestly no idea what they’re going to do next, but it’s great fun finding out.

In Closing

I had some technical trouble during the event, and had to switch to another computer. My problem nothing to do with the event, but even when I kept dropping out and having to rejoin, someone from the team was on-hand to help, get me back into my interview room, and do the whole thing in character. It’s little touches like this which really highlight the professionalism this company has added to this enforced change of direction for their delivery.

I had a great evening in the company of a welcoming, friendly, funny cast, and had a great time interacting with my fellow detectives. If you’re looking for something different to do one evening, or want to add some variety to your bubbled evenings, I couldn’t recommend Shake, Rattle and Roasted enough. Or any of Play Dead London’s shows to be honest, I know they’re revisiting some of the older ones again soon, so there’s no better time to grab a notepad and pen, a glass of your favourite thinking juice, and get your mystery on!

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