Deception really puts the ‘deduction’ into social deduction, with every player devising their own theory, leading up to a dramatic moment where they ‘bet their badge’ on an answer, coming away feeling like a fool or a genius, depending on the result. It’s more logical than empathic and while that may be a drawback for some people it does ensure that the discussion around the clues can be genuinely productive rather than merely hopeful. Say, Jasmine has a pistol – that’s more likely to result in death by blood loss than a sniper rifle. How much fun you will find in the box is entirely dependant on the group you play with, the more creative the better.

Anyway, if you’ve ever felt like you want to join a long line of quirky detectives that get everyone in a room together to solve a crime which is increasingly ludicrous, ridiculously elaborate for a normal person to have come up with on the spot and, let be honest, going to be really difficult to make any of the “evidence” stick in court, then Deception: Murder in Hong Kong may just help scratch that itch. Her crowd liked social games but had gotten complacent with Cards Against Humanity, and it had become stale. Or it might come down to the last investigator who's trying to process everything shown so far, and everyone's on the edge of their seat as they make a final uncertain guess.

After three rounds any investigator who hasn't made an accusation should do so if the murderer along with the means and clue cards have been correctly identified then the investigators win otherwise the murderer wins. Also if you look at that gamefound, it's easy to be deceived---the actual gameplay portions are not cheap but aren't over the top expensive. S. Civil War, tort reform, voter initiatives and referendums, the formation of civilization, Ancient Rome, Mesopotamia, and the major religions.

The forensic scientist person has to pick exactly one option from the handful presented on the card.When the crime takes place, the Murderer chooses 1 Clue card and 1 Means card as the solution to the crime. In the game, players take on the roles of investigators attempting to solve a murder case – but there’s a twist. These players are each dealt a further card, letting one of them know that they’re secretly the murderer(! This gives the witness the tricky job of leading investigators towards the murderer while not giving themselves away. There’s a similar jolt of energy, like someone’s taser accidentally going off, when anybody tries to solve the crime.

There’s scant information to work with and, what’s worse, the murderer (with an optional accomplice) is trying to lead the other investigators astray. One player, the forensic scientist, watches this and must try to reveal the wrongdoer’s identity, not by speaking, but through silently linking the crime scene to those chosen cards by placing bullet-shaped tokens on hints.

The first expansion, Undercover Allies, was released in December 2017, adding three new roles to the game (Lab technician, Clever Accomplice and an Inside man). If I’ve got new players in a game then I’ll volunteer myself as the FS or see if anyone wants to take the role.

The curve of the game is always towards being enjoyable and the style of the puzzle it presents you keeps everything tractable without actually making it any easier. Everyone else is dealt four lovely little “murder weapon” cards and four “key evidence” cards, creating a grim, criminal scrapbook on your table. One pesky rascal is trying to get away with it in this social deduction game for between 4-12 players. The murderer and her/his accomplice both also act as investigators but are secretly working to obscure the trail for the other players/investigators. The players are either a miner or a saboteur, but it’s up to the players to try to figure out who is who.This bite-sized variant features less bloodthirsty lycanthropes than the original, as the werewolves’ aim is simply to win by lying low. But those bizarre stories you start to weave together, just from a few generic words is one of the things that really make this game stand out.