This Victorian London era crime caper is a one vs many style game. Set up is quick and easy but locating the murderer may not be so easy! Here are the details.
Theme: One player is a murderer, the rest are detectives in Victorian London trying to catch the elusive killer.
Specs: 2-4 Players. 45-60 minutes on the box. I’d say that’s not too far off, but I would add another 10-30 for a four player game.
Recommended for ages 13+. There is nothing gruesome about this game and a 10 year old who likes deduction could easily play. Not a beginner game per se, but mid-level difficulty at most.
Mechanics: Hidden-movement, one vs many.
Designed by Gabriele Mari and Gianluca Santopietro
Art by Alan D’Amico and Gianluca Santopietro
Published by Giochi Uniti
In this game, one player is a murderer trying to escape the detectives hot on his trail. The other players are the detectives trying to catch him before he escapes forever. It is played in rounds of 15 moves for the murder, whose movements are restricted to certain rules, but hidden from the detectives until they earn clues. Detectives also have movement rules they have to abide by.
If the murderer is able to get to all four of his secret stashes before the detectives capture him, he gets away forever. Alternatively, if the detectives arrest him before he gets to all four stashes or if the murdered fails to get to one of his stashes in 15 moves, he loses.
Set up is fast and simple. There is a game board, pieces for each player, and dots to mark locations. The murderer has a shield to prevent other players from seeing his notepad where he has his stashes marked and keeps track of his movements.
This is a fun game, but we did have one issue. While everything the murderer does is very secretive, if there is more than one detective anything they say is heard by the single player and thus they can adjust accordingly. I highly recommend having note paper for the detectives or using a note app to discuss so the other player doesn’t hear your thought process as it gives them an unfair advantage in their movements. This may not bother some people, so whatever floats your goat, but our murderer was definitely basing his decisions off of our talk and when he was no longer able to do that we felt the game became much more balanced. Other than that I like the straightforwardness of set up and play and the deductions required to win, regardless of which role you are playing.
Do you have a favorite murder mystery game? Tell me about it!
Suggestion: Use the notes concept in a limited form. Say, two times for each detective. That would more closely mirror reality where the police withhold certain information as a method of identifying the correct murderer.