Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective

I finished this game recently with a friend and I honestly can't praise it enough. Every case is really interesting and makes complete sense when you read the solution/s at the end. There are a number of cases that work slightly different from the rest which keeps the game fresh and exciting throughout. If you are playing for the first time, there are a few points I would like to add: 1-Don't try to beat Sherlock. I think it must be possible to beat Sherlock, but I'm not sure how you would without fluking it or cheating. If you've ever read any of the Sherlock Holmes books, watched the films or TV series, you will know that he is the master detective. It works so much better for it when he explains how he solved the case in less moves than you did at the end of each case. It wouldn't be as good if he turned out to be pretty dim. I would recommend trying your best to score above 0, its ok if not, the most satisfying part is understanding the case. 2- It can be quite difficult to know when to call it. The first time we played, we wanted to see all the criminals in handcuffs but it is usually just about understanding what has happened. There is a possibility that you may get side tracked to some extent, but often you will be presented with some additional questions to boost up your score at the end. Ultimately, the more leads you follow, the more content you get, so just enjoy figuring it all out. When we played, we did pretty well (I think). The lowest score we got was +35, which from what I understand is OK, however each case took us around 4 hours or more to finish which considering the box contains 10 cases, is amazing value for the money. Just know that this isn't a party game. If you want to do well and get the most out of the game, you are in for the long haul (scrutinising newspapers, directories, the map, the case book and using all the ink in your pen collection to make a mountain of notes). Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. I will certainly buy another edition at some point, though I feel like I need a long holiday before I embark upon what was the best "board game" I have played, accompanied by essentially a ton of work.

My group has just reached the end of this set after a long winter session of playing online. While there are online resources for players, there is a bit more effort required of the box owner as they will be the only one with the scenario books and thus the de-facto narrator. The game remains largely the same as previous instances, playing as a collaborative, deductive "Choose Your Own Story" book. Everyone discusses current leads, the current narrator decides where to go next and reads that section of the scenario book. Points are awarded for solving the case faster than Holmes and for answering side questions. This set of cases was an interesting change from the Thames Murders as it introduces story states, checkmarks you are awarded from certain passages which unlock extra information in other passages, allowing for the cases to feel more like a progressive investigation. Also each of the cases has its own little mechanical twists which add some excitement to the proceedings. The only downside is that each case is single use, you cannot replay as you will already know the details of the case. However that one play is great fun with an engaged group and a good narrator.

Great fun

Not too many rules so it is easy to teach if you have lots of players. Great value for money for the time spent on it, probably spent about 30-40 hours on this game total.

Played with a group of friends. About an hour per week for 10 weeks. We played remotely via video call- both of us having a set. I even took it on a trip when I had a 5 hour break between flights (you can take just the case fine and the map and things- you don’t need the whole box just to do one case. The cases are quite varied and all of them are solvable but not obvious. This is better than the original game, which we felt ‘cheated’ and made the answers too obscure after about the third case.

We've only played the first case, but we had so much fun. The open-ended nature of it is a bit confusing at first, but once you get going it's brilliant. Just having a map and a directory and leaving you to make decisions on where to go to follow leads means you can find yourself pursuing enquiries that are red herrings and missing things that could be important. But that is the fun, you are making your own choices. The scoring almost is an afterthought, because you won't solve it quicker than Sherlock, but honestly, who cares when you're having this much fun!

This is a really enjoyable game (I have only played two-player). It's full of atmosphere and you really feel like you're following a proper Sherlock Holmes story (and there are 10 stories in the base game, each lasting a good hour or two depending on how much you want to investigate). he best advice I can give is just forget about beating Sherlock and enjoy the game. Don't worry about following too many leads (you will be penalised for following more than Holmes) because after playing through two cases already I can say that the Sherlock in this game has retrocognition abilities very much on par with the one in the novels. We got way more satisfaction from being able to answer some of the questions at the end of each game, half of which are like side-plot, but really flesh out the story. Worth a buy, especially if you are a total newcomer to this style of game, as I am.

I love this game but my partner hated it! He’s dyslexic and there is so much reading he found it a little bit of a chore. I thought it was great. It had good humour and I liked trying to solve the cases. Some cases are a bit ludicrous and when we found the answer we felt it was ridiculous to expect us to think that way...but maybe we are just not as good as Sherlock. A few spelling errors here and there but overall I had hours of fun and my partner had hours of reluctant fun.

I love this game. It's perfect.

El producto es un juego de mesa pero está etiquetado como alimento para perros. Me siento afortunado de tener una copia.

A fascinating dive into Sherlock's Victorian London with compelling mysteries to solve. You're given a map, address book and a newspaper page (plus ones from previous cases). Armed with these, you are presented with a crime to solve and have the freedom to choose how you go about it. When you are ready, you can go to the back page of the casebook to answer a range of questions. The mechanics of the gameplay are therefore very simple and effortless to learn, but the challenge is often high. You can play solo or in any sized group. There is a scoring system, based on your ability to answer the questions correctly while visiting as few locations as possible. However, I think the game is best enjoyed without worrying about it. Exploring London, going down rabbit holes, and being tricked by inevitable red herrings is more enjoyable for me than trying to "beat" Sherlock's score (which, let's face it, is rather a fool's errand). It seems a shame to have all this narrative material and then try to ignore as much of it as possible for a high score. But players are free to play however they like, so I don't really consider it a problem. There's ten cases in the box. A couple didn't quite grab me, but on the whole they're great and well-written. While replayability isn't really possible (maybe many years later?), there are dozens more free fan-written cases available online to get more mileage out of your purchase. Highly recommended.

This game is the best. So different than any other board game, exciting and fun! All the cases are in-depth and very detailed (or at least the 3 we played so far), the newspapers are cleverly put together and the whole game experience is just awesome. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys crime & detective stories. Bear in mind though that it's NOT a party game, when you sit down to play, you're in for a 2-3 hour sitting, reading and speculating, so don't bother bringing it to a party that was supposed to be about music, alcohol and chit-chat. Also, don't worry that the cases are not replayable. 10 is a lot, you probably won't finish it in 10 days. The cases are - as I mentioned - in-depth and can be tiring too, so once you finish them you'll feel like you just finished a very-very long book. Besides, there are two more games with 10-10 brand new cases each so if your only concern is that the cases are not replayable then drop it and just buy the game! 😃 You won't regret it.

Baker Street Irregulars is probably my best board game yet. I love how this game is a combination of both storytelling and brain challenges.