Granted the core of Detective is still here. So, if you didn’t like the time-limited lead system or the digital integration, then this probably won’t be the game for you. But for everyone else, Detective: Season One is a flat out better experience than its predecessor and one I hope Portal Games focuses on going forward. They managed to improve upon an already great game and make it one I really enjoyed playing. This is the version of Detective I want to play and it’s excellent. If you were eyeing up the original Detective but were concerned about group play or game length then your prayers have been answered. Any amateur sleuth who has played Cluedo – called Clue in the US - knows it just doesn’t cut it when it comes to being a good detective board game. Players want juicy mysteries, to piece together clues on a big whiteboard with pieces of red string and have a flip-up notebook at hand. Best detective board games Finally, open the Casebook to Case 1 and read the introduction. At the end of the introduction story, the game will tell you if any additional setup is needed for this story. Often this includes adding reminder tokens to the board and stress tokens to the pool. Game Play Study an enormous illustration to answer a series of questions in this Where’s Wally? style game. Carefully looking for clues across the game's map is the key to succeeding at MicroMacro: Crime City.

If I was to ask anyone to name a board game that saw players attempting to identify a killer by analysing both the crime scene and the clues left behind, you could be sure the majority of those people would answer Cluedo (Clue for our American friends). While this game would fit into this category, it's fair to say it doesn’t involve any “real” detective work and the way you get to find the killer is a frantic finger-pointing race. Portal Games want to change that.Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game manages to take an underused genre and really take it into an exciting new direction. App integration always runs the risk of being a distraction or novelty instead of improving the game. Yet in Detective, it not only works beautifully, but it helps immerse you even more into the theme than the game would without it. The story line of Detective is pretty intriguing and I really appreciated how not every case played out in the same way. They really throw you some curve balls, just wait until you get to case 3, easily my favorite! I managed to play this at Tabletop Gaming Live and took on a case which tasked us to find the killer, the motive and also various other details that were perhaps deemed irrelevant while working the case (I loved this element as it kept us on our toes and pushed us to really dig into the case files, like real detectives). What's in the Box? This aside, we both had a fantastic time playing Detective and having completed most of the cases, we are definitely looking forward to the new ones that are due to be released soon! Detective Conclusion City of Angels’ true masterstroke is The Chisel, which is that player who controls all of the suspects in the case and works to mislead, misdirect and send the other players’ detectives off the scent by providing certain responses to certain questions. While they can’t completely stop the detectives solving the mystery, The Chisel’s job is to make the truth harder to uncover. City of Angels also includes a fully co-op game mode for players that don’t want to play competitively. City of Angels drips with noir atmosphere, with players spending their turns travelling around Los Angeles on the game’s massive map to seek out clues in the less glitzy side of the city, dealing with some of its unsavoury characters and walking the fine line between right and wrong.

And then there is the Antares Database. Some people still scoff at using any kind of technology in their board game (which they really just need to get over and embrace the greatness of it), but the database in Detective is a big part of the charm of the game. I felt like a real detective following leads, matching evidence, reading personal files and interrogation transcripts (which even show the stress level of the person talking). One link will often lead to another, letting you follow a breadcrumb trail of clues.Final Score: 4.5 Stars – A great investigation game that immerses you in the theme and never lets the mechanics get in the way. Another element I think is great is the subtle clues placed in each case that will form part of a bigger reveal later in the game. In each case, players will notice a recurring theme that at first may seem insignificant, but, over time and after playing the cases, will begin to make sense and allow players to piece together a case that links all the cases in the game. Each case will have a time limit and after that time has elapsed, the players must decide on the answers to the given criteria, be that who the killer was and what weapon was used for example. The answers are selected from within the app, the app giving the players a final score out of 40. There isn’t necessarily a win or a lose scenario, but simply a scale on how good of a detective you are! Thoughts The core game is that of solving a crime. You'll use the cards given to tell stories, a narrative of what is happening as you progress, which then dictate your choices - do you look further into that particular clue, using precious time? Or do you investigate another location instead for even more clues? These may be more cards, or you may even investigate using its online search, which compiles your evidence, fill in some of the blanks, and at the end of the game, will be where you answer the key questions of the case, to see if you've truly solved it.