Scoring is achieved by adding up points earned through correct answers, and then subtracting five points for each location visited beyond the number that Holmes himself visited in solving the crime. Usually, you’ll need a decent idea who committed the crimes described at the beginning of the case, and most times you’ll need to understand the motive and the method. The game ends whenever the players decide that they have enough evidence to answer whatever questions Holmes’ may have about the case. Similarly, the directory features a number of locations that might be useful in a given case depending on its nature, such as embassies. Their relevance varies dramatically on a case by case basis, but it’s not rocket science to figure out who might be useful. These associates include the likes of police officers, forensics experts, criminals and carriage operators. Should the investigators get stuck, then there are ten “known associates” of Holmes that can provide a lead in almost any case. They then seek it out and read the words aloud for the benefit of the group. Assuming the active player decides to follow up a lead, they must use one or more of the game map, the directory and sometimes the newspaper to learn the correct number for the passage of text in the casebook. Each body of text contains several clues, any number of which may be placed to misdirect or mislead. No matter who is doing the bulk of the reading, or leading the group, Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective is best when everyone is discussing clues from the last bit of text, or weighing up the pros and cons of visiting one location over another. All players share the common objective of solving one or more crimes which are described in an opening page or two of text, so in every game I played, this formal turn structure rapidly became incredibly fluid, with the only important factor (for scoring) being to record each location we visited. SH:CD prescribes a simple turn based structure, whereby each player takes it in turns to decide which location, suspect or clue to investigate, and duly does so, ultimately reading out text relating to that specific clue from the casebook, if it exists. I don’t know if I can say that the writing in SH:CD is a good as that of Conan Doyle himself, but I am satisfied that it is better than it is in most board games, and at least as good as it is in contemporary crime novels that are set in historic times and places such as that of Holmes’ Victorian era London. What is probably most worthy of closer scrutiny about SH:CD is the quality of the creating writing, as that makes up about ninety nine percent of the games content. Things do become more complex in the scoring element, but even that is relatively straightforward to follow through step by step. SH:CD is in incredibly simple, straightforward game, and there is barely a need for a rule book when it comes to the order of play. One minor issue I did find was that the game structure can throw up some oddities, but I’ll cover them a bit later on. The main errors and issues raised in the original 1981 release have been ironed out, and I can’t say I found any material or even notable spelling errors. These components support any number of players, but I found that anything over five was a bit less enjoyable because the natural flow of discussing each clue becomes ever more disjointed by different opinions and voices.Įvery individual document is well made from high quality paper, with a period printing style that helps to create a feeling of immersion in the game world. Instead, the heavyweight cardboard box contains a map of London with an accompanying directory of names and places, a rule book, ten numbered case books and ten matching newspapers. SH:CD is undoubtedly a tabletop experience, but it isn’t a board game in the traditional sense. The question is, can a relatively modest effort from almost forty years ago deliver the goods in a market that has never been more saturated? Let’s find out. Obviously I’m excluding more common games like Chess, Draughts and even Risk from this sweeping approach, but still, that means I am missing out on a huge range of games.Įnter the snappily named Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective – The Thames Murders and Other Cases (aka SH:CD for the remainder of this review.) This innovative interactive experience was first released in 1981, and has now been repackaged and rereleased for modern gamers, most of whom are clamouring for new and interesting ways to play their games. For me, this is especially true of music and film, but it has never occurred to me to consider trying board games that predate my birth. As I’ve grown older, one of my most enlightening realizations has been that there is just as much – if not more – opportunity to find inspiration from the past, as well as the present or future.
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