A great old game. Bought this at Origins in a three ring binder format. I was so happy that it has been reprinted with the original cases. I hope they reprint the original expansions as well, which are REALLY hard. One drawback I've seen mentioned is that a couple of the cases have two possible, logical conclusions.
I wish more games of this format were made. I love the teamwork and mystery of it all. Looks like a Lovecraft-themed one will be released sometime this year named "Mythos Tales" (originally named "Arkham Investigator"). "Gumshoe, the Hardboiled Detective in the Thirties" was released in 1985 by the same company that originally did Consulting Detective. Impossible to find!
Thank you ladies for a great review! I remember when this game first came out and rather regretted not buying it. I'm glad to see it's back in print. My wife and I love the BBC series "Sherlock," so maybe this is something we can play, especially since she's not a bloodthirsty wargamer like I am. :)
My group wanted to like this. We gave up halfway through though because the way the cases were designed got too irritating. If they took the same exact game but just wrote better cases we'd be all over it again. Some cases are bullshit. NOBODY likes The Mystified Murderess case. Everybody should skip that one. Go straight to the solution to see how unbelievably dumb it is. A lot of cases go overboard with red herrings. A couple meaningless or misleading clues would be fine, but a lot of them have HUGE clue trails that end up being completely meaningless. We followed one trail that must have had over a dozen clues, some of them very very subtle. We swore it had something to do with the case, but then the killer turned out to based on nothing but one totally unrelated clue that didn't really prove anything. Which led to our final gripe. So many cases we swore we were missing more evidence. We finally gave up and went to the solution only to find out that all we needed was one tiny clue that proved nothing and we had discovered an hour ago, and that was enough. This isn't an actual example, but it can be something like "Chewing gum was found at the murder scene. John chews gum, therefore he is beyond a doubt proven to be the killer!" And that's enough for the judge to convict the suspect. Wait, what??!!!! THAT'S all it takes to convict someone of murder and condemn them to hanging??? Holy shit! Lastly, Holmes is a cheating bastard. Just ignore trying to beat his score because his score is bullshit. It's based on almost perfect play going to the least number of locations possible, but most cases you'll start with multiple choices to visit and based on what you know to start, they're all equally valid. But of course Holmes chooses correctly right off the bat every time, even though no logic would compel anyone to visit that location over the others first. Fuck you, Holmes!
WHAT A DIFFERENCE SEVEN YEARS MAKES. REST IN PEACE - THE DEATH OF BEAUTY - RISE OF LIMP
A great old game. Bought this at Origins in a three ring binder format. I was so happy that it has been reprinted with the original cases. I hope they reprint the original expansions as well, which are REALLY hard. One drawback I've seen mentioned is that a couple of the cases have two possible, logical conclusions.
I wish more games of this format were made. I love the teamwork and mystery of it all. Looks like a Lovecraft-themed one will be released sometime this year named "Mythos Tales" (originally named "Arkham Investigator"). "Gumshoe, the Hardboiled Detective in the Thirties" was released in 1985 by the same company that originally did Consulting Detective. Impossible to find!
Another great video! Well done at explaining it without giving any hints or too much info
One of the best co-op games for 2 people ever made. Great review, as always.
Props for the Sneaky Dragon shirt!
Excellent review and game. I've bought it straight away. A very challenging game with solid mysteries to solve. It worth every penny.
I love this game! 😃 great review.
Excellent review! You've sold me.
Thank you!! You guys are great!
Thank you ladies for a great review! I remember when this game first came out and rather regretted not buying it. I'm glad to see it's back in print. My wife and I love the BBC series "Sherlock," so maybe this is something we can play, especially since she's not a bloodthirsty wargamer like I am. :)
Thank you, that was very helpful!
i have 221B baker st and 221B baker st the time machine board games
Sucks these two quit reviewing.
My group wanted to like this. We gave up halfway through though because the way the cases were designed got too irritating. If they took the same exact game but just wrote better cases we'd be all over it again.
Some cases are bullshit. NOBODY likes The Mystified Murderess case. Everybody should skip that one. Go straight to the solution to see how unbelievably dumb it is.
A lot of cases go overboard with red herrings. A couple meaningless or misleading clues would be fine, but a lot of them have HUGE clue trails that end up being completely meaningless. We followed one trail that must have had over a dozen clues, some of them very very subtle. We swore it had something to do with the case, but then the killer turned out to based on nothing but one totally unrelated clue that didn't really prove anything.
Which led to our final gripe. So many cases we swore we were missing more evidence. We finally gave up and went to the solution only to find out that all we needed was one tiny clue that proved nothing and we had discovered an hour ago, and that was enough. This isn't an actual example, but it can be something like "Chewing gum was found at the murder scene. John chews gum, therefore he is beyond a doubt proven to be the killer!" And that's enough for the judge to convict the suspect. Wait, what??!!!! THAT'S all it takes to convict someone of murder and condemn them to hanging??? Holy shit!
Lastly, Holmes is a cheating bastard. Just ignore trying to beat his score because his score is bullshit. It's based on almost perfect play going to the least number of locations possible, but most cases you'll start with multiple choices to visit and based on what you know to start, they're all equally valid. But of course Holmes chooses correctly right off the bat every time, even though no logic would compel anyone to visit that location over the others first.
Fuck you, Holmes!
their hair stylist needs a face slap
Why do Americans think that moving as many muscles in your face as humanly possible is a way of good presentation and acting?
I don't know, these ladies are Canadian..
are they lesbians?