Tag: mystery

There are a ton of home mystery games nowadays, much to my delight. They range from escape room inspired stuff like the Exit series, to competitive mysteries like Watson & Holmes and Kronologic to more real life detective simulations like Detective and Guilty.

Here’s a SPOILER FREE look at an entree from a series that looks to emulate investigating cold cases.

This is the first Cryptic Killers game I’m writing about, but I’ve played several. This series is very much in the “real life detective simulation” category, and the premise has players taking the role of consultants reviewing evidence in an unsolved murder case.

So the entire game is a folder of documents to peruse. There’s extensive printed material as well as heavy integration with online elements, all presenting a mystery to be solved by teasing out what happened and who had (and who didn’t have) motive and opportunity.

There’s good depth to the included materials. Photos of suspects and ancillary items (like a show poster for this case) add immersion. Witness statements, newspaper clippings, and things like blueprints or other case specific evidence make the bulk of the material players will peruse.

There’s also usually some sort of online portal players will have to solve a puzzle to access, which then provides more documents, videos, and/or other additional evidence. As well as possibly other internet elements.

This is very much a “what you expect is what you get” type of game. It’s a mountain of evidence to read and sift through to solve a mystery. If that sounds intriguing you’re in the right place. If it sounds like a chore I’d recommend more puzzle forward mystery games such as the numerous escape room inspired game series.

Games like this hinge entirely on the strength of the mysteries themselves. This one in particular I really enjoyed, and this series in general is quite solid. The theme here was another positive, as I like magic and the premise of solving the murder of a magician killed during a show was intriguing. I got hung up on one small element for a little while where I inferred more than what was intended into a clue, but overall everything fit together well and the mystery was logical and well presented.

Another interested aspect of this type of game is there is leeway in the order of investigation and that can affect the experience in small ways. For example since I just happened to leave a certain document for last, by the time I read it I had puzzled out some information I assumed had to be deduced that was actually straight up given to me. It was actually pretty cool that things were so well flushed out the information could be pieced together.

I’ve played Murder of a Magician solo but have also played some with a small group. There’s a lot to look at and no set order to investigate so it worked well either way. Solo I made my through the investigation as I saw fit, while with others we each grabbed different documents to start with and exchanged/discussed/helped each other as we went.

These are fully resettable (unless you decide to makes notes, etc) as it’s essentially a stack of paper that just has to be put back into the folder. So it can be passed on for others to play.

I enjoy this series quite a bit and intended to play them all. Murder of a Magician in particular is one of my favorites and is highly recommended.

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Thanks to everyone who’s given this a read. Derailments of Thought currently updates sporadically as I am able.

If you enjoy the blog any support is appreciated, including shares on social media and simply continuing to read. If you happened to be inclined and able to help out monetarily please see my  Ko-fi page. Every little bit helps.

A senator’s daughter has died mysteriously in prison, and you’re the lucky one in charge of figuring out what happened before giving a press conference to a gaggle of reporters after a long night of investigation.

The Guilty series is a new entry into the ever expanding genre of games that try to capture full fledged mystery investigations in board game form. The short, short version is it’s got the weight of a Detective case in a box closer to the size of the Exit series.

The setting is perfect for this type of game: it’s within a contained area of investigation with believable constraints and reasons for time pressure. The atmosphere is well developed, and the economical descriptions befitting a game confined to cards are on point. The box advertises the game as “immersive,” and I agree wholeheartedly. More than any other mystery game I’ve played that doesn’t use external elements this really felt like conducting an investigation the players are in control of.

The time deck mechanic is really well done. Cards are flipped from a separate deck representing the passage of time as the player chooses which leads to investigate. At different points in the deck game affecting events happen. It presents ongoing pressure and twists without making the game feel too short and is really well implemented.

Guilty thrives via its design and setup. The board that grounds the display and organizes the numerous investigative choices available really helps present the overwhelming options in an accessible manner. The progression of the investigation is completely open. The player is in control, and most uncovered cards/information feel interesting if not always vital.

This game consists of one case, but it’s a DENSE, meaty one. This takes 3-4 hours and as mentioned feels more equivalent to a round of Detective than other stand alone mystery games or even a round of Suspects (which I found weighty and challenging itself, but this is on a different level). That they accomplished this with a system that’s completely contained in the box (ie no internet component like Detective, etc has) is impressive.

There’s an overload of information to sift through throughout, but it’s by no means a negative. The case is compelling and it was extremely engrossing. There are important minute details, so players should be ready to read and observe carefully. However there really wasn’t one key piece of information that derails everything if missed. This has a mix of several visual and textual clues and figuring out how it all comes together is the goal.

Two players is probably the sweet spot for this series. Even for veteran gamers be at peak concentration level when soloing. I overlooked a couple vital points and was a bit off in my solution. That said in was still a blast as a solo experience.

The scoring system is a little odd, but good enough. It’s forgiving in a way I didn’t expect. I didn’t really solve the case (I got twisted around in my own head and picked the wrong killer), but figured out enough of everything else to get best evaluation. I have mixed feelings on that, as on one hand it seems like getting the criminal wrong should be disqualifying but on the other being recognized for solving a majority of the questions and piecing together all the other details is nice. Like I said: a bit odd but still fine.

There were a couple of red herrings I found mildly frustrating, but most of them connect to ancillary things to figure out if you dig enough so it’s not the issue it could be.

Nothing gets destroyed so the game is resettable and can be passed on to other players (the box insert isn’t great for storing the cards once they’ve been unwrapped, but that’s a minor quibble).

Overall this was excellent, and one of the best of this type of game I’ve played. Looking forward to future entries in the series.

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Thanks to everyone who’s given this a read. 2024 was a sporadic return for this blog and I hope to have more regular updates going forward in 2025. Derailments of Thought currently updates on Wednesday and Saturday.

If you enjoy the blog any support is appreciated, including shares on social media and simply continuing to read. If you happened to be inclined and able to help out monetarily please see my  Ko-fi page. Every little bit helps.