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This game is packed with components, so be prepared to spend about an hour pressing out bits and sorting out the parts (ziplock bags ftw!).
It is buetifully put together with amazing artwork, and now what is basically the high standard of all FFG products.
The rules are pretty straight forward, but it is by no means a quick game, be prepared for 4-5 hours for your first game.
So what do you do?
It's not so much a murder mystery, more a fit-up.
Each player takes one of the 5 characters, and they get too hunch cards, one tells you who is innocent, the other who is guilty.
Your job is to ensure that the evidence is placed such that your hunches are correct.
Simple...
Ah but the other players have there thoughts, and they will invariably try and blow your chances, particulalry if they have the opposite of you.
How to play?
There are 5 murder scenarios each with their own special rules.
Each player moves around a board (using a vehicle ruler measuring card) going to locations that provide evidence. Once they have this evidence they then place it on the suspects in one of 3 places, strong evidence, normal evidence and weak evidence. You have a set amount of time points to use in your turn, so each go can involve moving to several locations.
Ther game is played over 2 weeks of 6 days each (no sunday it seems), and each new day introduces new events that effect places on the board.
The aim is to have the most "Guilt Points" on the guy you have a guilty hunch on and as little as possible on your Innocent guy. You can choose to play these guilt points hidden or showing (a whole malkavian deviousness can exist with massive mind games an who and how you play these points makes this itself a complete game on it's own).
So your innocent hunch guy is looking super guilty, this is no problem, you can call a hit, eliminating the suspect. A dead suspect cannot be guilty.
Secondly as you are zooming round, your private life interferes with you, with each character having a sub plot they need to resolve.
Finally there is also a conspiracy to unfold, to not only pinpoint the murderer, but which orgainsation is behind the death.
You have your own unique cards that help you get through the game (light cards and specials), and other characters get bad cards to play on you (Dark Cards).
Card play is based on a scale the players have, a light and dark scale, and it costs Dark points to use the light cards and Light points to use the dark cards on your opponents. Getting this balance right is a challenge in itself.
However all is not lost as each character gets a cheat sheet to advise on the best way to play the character, as well as hints on who and how to effect the other characters.
How to Win?
The aim is to collect Victory Points, achieved through piecing the conspiracy together, getting through your private suplots and of course "solving" the murder.
After 2 weeks, you reveal all the guilt points, and the highest is the murderer, the lowest guilt is innocent. Having this right gives you victory points.
The player with the most victory points wins.
Overview
All in all I would say this was more of a roleplaying game in a box, rather then a traditional board game, and has a good sci-fi feel, makes me think of bladerunner personally).
The game is extremely strategic, and with all the variants, a game with excellent replayability.
Rating: 8.5
Reviewed by:
FatPob
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