IdVenture Detective Stories: A Spoiler Free Review of 4 Games (in 4k)
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- Опубліковано 5 лют 2025
- The Games:
Fire in Adlerstein - boardgamegeek....
Death in Antarctica - boardgamegeek....
Still Lake - boardgamegeek....
Kaifeng 982 - boardgamegeek....
#IdVenture #MysterySuspect
I love and appreciate these spoiler-free video reviews of the various series in this genre. Thank you!
Thanks for saying so, Hop! It does mean a lot to me to hear when these videos have reached someone who thinks they are worth watching. -jesse
I've played boardgames for a few years now, letting my collection grow over the years, but after MicroMacro, I wanted to look for something else in the mystery/detective genre. I can't remember how I found your channel, but I'm glad I did. I'm working through Death in Antarctica now and have to stop myself from buying the rest of this series before I finish my first one. I still have to get over the concept of spending $30-50 (things are expensive to import into Canada) on a game that I can only play once. I love the genre though and I know it's all about the experience, so I'll eventually get over it. I can't wait to finish these and watch your play through! Can't wait to see more of your recommendations!
Hi Winnie! I can understand the resistance to paying so much for a game you'll only play once. Most of these kinds of games top out at $20-$30, and I just think of it like paying to go see a couple of movies. I think it helps if you really take your time playing them and really give yourself time to enjoy thinking through the mystery and don't rush to the end. Not everyone likes these kinds of games, but if you're one of them, it's a very special experience. Welcome to the club! -jesse
@@COOPFORTWO thanks Jesse! I am playing Death in Antarctica slowly and pretending it’s still done in “one day”. Otherwise, Martin is as good as dead 😂 by the time I solve it. I hoping I’ll be able to find more deals, but if not, I’ll most likely import the European versions of the rest of the games from UK as soon as I save up… 💸💸💸
@@winniechan6149 The longer it takes you to play these games, the luckier you are because it means you get to enjoy them more. There's no rush.
@@COOPFORTWO 💯
Hi Jesse--
I've been into board gaming for the past year, but have only recently discovered the "mystery" genre... and fallen in love with it! I found your channel while searching for reviews of several of these games. I really appreciate your coverage and playthroughs of deduction games, as there aren't many other content creators focusing on them. Keep up the great work!
I can't recommend anything (since I've played so few), but I have bought Detective Season One, Chronicles of Crime 1400 and Sherlock Holmes Thames Murders thanks to your reviews. I'm excited to dig in over this next week of Christmas vacation! Which other games would you recommend?
Hi Hannah! Thank you for the kind words. You have a world of excitement ahead of you!
You might check out this video for an overview of some of the detective narrative mystery games, though it does NOT talk about the kinds of games I talk about in the video above: ua-cam.com/video/imG-7nwZ4k0/v-deo.html
To give yourself a tour of the different kinds of games, you might try a Chronicles of Crime case, a Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective case, and a mystery Suspect Case (ua-cam.com/video/KLQtmf-vPlY/v-deo.html) -- maybe try Harmony Ashcroft or one of the Hunt-a-killer standalone games (ua-cam.com/video/fw6AU14TipY/v-deo.html).
That will give you a good idea of the different kinds of games available, and help you see which you enjoy best.
The IdVenture games above are the very best of the genre, but they are hard enough that you might want to get some experience under your belt before you tackle them.
My best general advice for getting the most out of this genre is to take your time when playing, take breaks to talk about the case and your theories, and just in general try to take it seriously and savior the moments where you are struggling to connect the dots.
And let us know your favorites after you play them.
-jesse
@@COOPFORTWO Thanks for the recommendations!
My copy of all four games arrived from Germany yesterday. I can’t wait to start in on them. IDVenture was amazing in both support and shipping ahead of schedule to the US. I opened Adlerstein, and I definitely agree on the quality of the items.
Oh, I edited to add two additional comments. The first is, this is a great time to order these from Germany to the US, as the Dollar is almost equal to the Euro. I got all four, including international shipping for just over $100 to ship to Florida.
The second thing is my observation on the box, and while there is some free space at the top of the box, the paper in the German version is on A4, which is the standard for most of the world. It looks longer, as US standard size is 8 ½ x 11. (I used to work in the UK and had to mostly use A4.)
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the games! -jesse
Hi Jesse. Thank you for the amazing reviews. Love the passion and enthusiasm! I started watching your reviews as I am researching ways to do a murder mystery team building event with a company with 30+ people, splitting them up in the separate teams. As most people would have little to no experience in the genre, I am looking for something entertaining and engaging, but not overly complex to where it cannot be solved in an 2 hour slot. I am also willing to go all out with props and crime scene setups. I am not experienced enough in the genre, and any advice would be greatly appreciated. On a personal level I am suddenly very excited to buy a few of these set for myself thanks to your videos. Regards from Cape Town, South Africa.
Hi Stephan. Thank you for such a nice comment. I don't have any experience with team-building games in this genre, except that i know that some exist! I'm trying to remember what companies make such things. If you search for "murder mystery team building" you will find some. Let us know if you find something good!
Just played Kaifeng 982 and really enjoyed it. As you say, you have to work out the sequence of events and almost recreate each character's story to understand who did what and why.
I think the only thing I didn't find as good was the answer system - at the end we knew who did it and why, but struggled to put in the exact words required in the answers for it to confirm we were right.
Other than that, it was great and based on your recommendation we'll be buying the rest!
Kaifeng 982 is much rarer; hard to get in the US. Let me know how you like the others when you get around to them -- the entire series is great. -jesse
@@COOPFORTWO interesting I wonder why it's harder to get? From what you showed of the other game, there are fewer documents in Kaifeng? I'm based in the UK, so we just bought it on Amazon with no problem. We'll definitely work through all 4 games
@@peterwarner9572 I don't know, it's just the one game from IdVenture that never got licensed by a US company and the original european english version isn't available on amazon us as far as i can see. The others are frequently available and at bargain prices. I'm curious to hear which one you like best. -jesse
I'm not sure if you would see this and replies, but I'm planning on getting one of these games, but the problem is that if I want to get my hand on one of these from the german company would take almost one and a half month to arrive, and it cost more, the amazon UK is better in terms of shipping speed, but the two that were not licensed were not avaliable as of now, so I've resulted to buying the licensed version, and you said in the video that there're small difference betwen the licensed version and the German version. So I would like to know if the diffrence you were talking about is just in the translation, or is there anything else that is different
I think the only important difference is in the website for hints and solution being better on the german version -- but the case is the same.
You can find the german web pages at:
idventure.de/hints-episode-1/
idventure.de/answer-episode-1/
And change 1 to 2 or 3 if you are playing different case.
@@COOPFORTWO So if I just use the german version of the hint website, there would be effectively no significant difference?
@@mengdong1909 I think that's right. But there's no reason not to open up both websites side by side and just use the hints that seem like they would give you the least information, and when you finish the game you can read both solutions and see if one is more detailed than the other. The differences are not huge, I just remember thinking the german one was more complete.
@@COOPFORTWO Thank you for clearing, that's really reassuring to hear. Since this is going to be the first time I experience this genre of game, I'm kinda afraid of missing out on something significant between the difference version
@@mengdong1909 You have nothing to worry about -- the games are essentially the same, you won't be missing out on anything.
Adelerstein bought from Germany due to your review.
Hope you enjoy it! Let me know. -jesse
Thank you for your review ! I'd really like to know what might be the most difficult detective game you can advise me to get ?
Are you asking what I think is the hardest detective game ever made?
@@COOPFORTWO @CO-OP FOR TWO Hi, Thank you for your response so very much. I would like to know from the unsolved cases you have done, which do you think was most challenging? for eg, I remember you mentioned 'Hunt a Killer-Murder in a motel', are there any others that may be a bit more difficult or even same level of difficulty.. not necessarily which is the hardest ever made... Hopefully I asked a better way. Thank you again.. I really like your reviews and its my first time learning about these types of games, please forgive me if I did not ask the proper question...
@@isaraalibaksh3260 In general, this particular genre -- the hunt-a-killer types and the cold case games, are not meant to be super hard, because they are generally aimed at a more mixed audience. But I do think the IdVenture are directed more towards harder difficulties, and require more work and thought. So yeah, I would recommend the IdVenture games for people who want a deeper challenge. Get whichever one is cheapest on amazon and start there :)
@@COOPFORTWO hi, thank you very much. I have done logic puzzles and although they are not the same.. As detective work, I do have to interpret information which was given to solve it and those are pretty challenging.. And I wanted something that requires the same analytical skill but applying it in a different way.. Such as the detective work..but challenging.. At the same time. Thank you so much for your assistance... And I look forward to more of your videos!
@@isaraalibaksh3260 That is a helpful statement. In general I think the more logic/math/traditional puzzle games can get very challenging and there are some great ones. In general the detective/cold case games tend to be much more focused on story and psychology, only occasionally having codes/ciphers/puzzles.. I have much less familiarity with pure puzzle games. One set you might take a look at is "Escape Tales".. It has lots of more traditional puzzles but woven within a kind of story. I liked it and thought it had some challenging moments. The Exit series is also very highly thought of. What have been some of your favorite puzzle type games?
Which of these games, if any, would benefit from a murder board? I think making one during the run through would enhance the experience.
I think all of them would benefit from a "murder board" or mind map of the different suspects, though these IdVenture games tend to be slightly more open ended than other games in terms of the nature of the mystery to solve not being simply identifying a single suspect. The more generic "cold case" / "mystery suspect" games are even better suited to such a thing since they are typically structured as a collection of suspects where you have to figure out who had the motive, means, opportunity. -jesse
How can one get Still Lake in English?
I believe I ordered my copy my amazon.co.uk which I have had good luck with in the past; but they don't seem to have it in stock currently. You can also the english version directly from IdVenture, and they have some other games too worth checking out:
www.idventure-shop.de/Still-lake-escape-exit-game
@@COOPFORTWO Thank you for your response. I don't have experience ordering an item priced in a different currency, and wouldn't overseas shipping be very expensive? (Pardon my ignorance.)
@@ButOneThingIsNeedful I have ordered a few games now from amazon.co.uk and another british game shop and the shipping is surprisingly low cost (I think about $17 shipping), and arrived quickly.