Amazing game! In fact this is an experience, rather than a game. It's totally immersive. Played it for 3 days solid in October with my son. We couldn't get it out of our minds even when we went to the pub with friends. We completed 5 cases before he went , working abroad, and he made me refuse to play the remaining cases without him. Bring on Christmas when we get to open that box again and start case 6 ! That's how good this game is. Can't wait til they bring out the expansion Jack the Ripper version in 2017.

Honestly, the thing that I can definitively say to weigh in on the "should you buy this game or not?" question is : is there ANY other board game that you can play with someone who is driving? Like my ex and I played hours upon hours of Sherlock while in the car, the one who rides shotgun reads and we think and talk together it's just wonderful!

the pencil snap there during your reaction to "there are only 10 cases in the box" - made my day

Just wanted to say this. Three years ago I bought a copy of this in China with my English teacher friends because of your review. Due to this game all of those people have become board game fans. It has given us an insane amount of joy and triumph during the course of those ten cases. I feel compelled to say thank you for this review which led us to such wonderful times.

My local library had a copy of this when I was a kid in the eighties and it was the best and hardest thing ever. Also, I can and do solve the cases repeatedly, just give it five or ten years in between. Maybe I am just an idiot but that's enough for me to forget the solutions and make it worthwile again, especially as you can approach the case differently each time.

My wife and I played through the Munitions Magnate last night, scored a -5. My favorite part was watching her genuine excitement when she realized a connection we were missing. My favorite part is how everyone brings their own unique knowledge to the table to help solve the case. Without giving away any clues, my wife had a very unique reason why she knew why a cigarette would be creased evenly all around.

My dad bought this about 30 years ago and we played it as a family. We never got rid of it and it lay undisturbed for years. Since then I've played it with my children (10 and 13) and the excitement they feel when finding something in an old newspaper (newspapers contain lots of 'fluff' not relevant too the case but which may be relevant to a later case) is something worth savouring. That bit where you lay on the floor is the thing - we played each scenario over several nights and found ourselves discussing the case over breakfast or on the way to school in between times. Brilliant, though in the 1980s copy I had the typos made the first case impossible!

What a fantastic review. I'm so glad I found this channel! The lack of replayability had me in the tank on this one, but now I'm excited to get it. Thank you!

My wife and I just finished the Munitions Magnate Case, played over a few evenings. We were expecting to score terribly, but managed 70 points! We got (almost) everything right, and my god, was it SATISFYING. But it’s a proper brain workout. You’ll feel like an actual detective, pacing around and babbling with a pencil grinding between your teeth.

Just played through the first case , loved it . Great experience. I played it solo ( 30 years experience as a police officer taught me that cases can be frustrated with too many people) I played for a little over two and a half hours, took copious notes , read the newspaper thoroughly and managed to score 105 points . Not sure that will continue as I expect the cases to get more difficult AND will be trying the game with a partner to see how that changes the experience. Great review and useful following the reprint of the game .

4 cases into Carleton and I have the same feeling. I've never enjoyed a game so much while also being terrible at it. Completely addicted.

you run like my 2 year old son.... now I'm concerned for him

Quinns thank you for pointing out this game, I just got to sit down and play this with my father (first game he has played in a decade) and we had a blast!

This is such a great review. I was on the fence at first because of the replay value but I was convinced after watching this review. Had a fantastic time playing all 10 cases and then lent it to a family member to play. Its probably been about a year or so and I am already starting to forget the solutions to the cases. Given a little more time, I think I can replay them over again. There are just so many avenues that you can go down for each case, in addition to my own incorrect solutions that get jumbled in with the real solutions and everything starts to get foggy over time. I honestly think that most people will be able to replay this game after 2-3 years and will probably get at least 3 play-throughs before the cases become permanent in your mind. I'm sure that will vary for each person but totally worth the buy.

I've been looking for board games for beginners and came across this in a recommendation video. This is right up my alley but I was worried if it would work well solo. You just made me solidify my decision to buy. Fantastic, FANTASTIC video. Thank you

I'm sold. This is my mum's birthday present, thanks quinns

Fantastic review!!!! You guys helped me fall in love with the world of board games. Merry Christmas!

got my wife this for Christmas and we have just played the first episode... slightly better then Quinns at -20 but everything but one was wrong as we jumped to conclusions based on people's personality not on fact :( we are very bad detectives and innocent men would be in prison if we had our say

I got this game recently after seeing this review and am really enjoying it. I've scored a bit closer to Sherlock than -65 in my two cases so far, but the emphasis of how hard it was made it clear I needed to bring my A game which helped. Also I'm playing it solo and have read all the original Sherlock Holmes stories and I really think those things help make it easier. All your time is spent thinking through the clues instead of trying to communicate back and forth, and I've already recognized several things lifted from the stories which are like free clues, not to mention that since I'm alone I can read out of the clue booklet in fantastic, period accurate English accents!

I deduce that your brew cup is empty!! Also great review! I have just purchased this game, probably going to have a Sherlock gathering in the next few weeks and try and solve one of these juicy riddles :). 2 years on and your still helping folks pick up great games Thank you :):)

i bought this game on your recommendation! It's a great pick for playing at the cottage, especially if you have friends who aren't into eurogames with lots of rules and moving pieces. i did find that there were a lot of translation errors and spelling mistakes, though. The biggest problem is that i really wanted to savour the game, so we've only solved the first four mysteries, and i don't want to do the rest because i don't want it to end! i guess the fact that there are sequels mitigates that a little bit. Anyway, thanks for the recommendation! Great pick!

Amazing I was looking to purchase this. I keep looking at different games and your channel keeps saying "Ahhh you sure, it's not that great" then to find one which I hit and to see you excited is now a must buy.

I watched this when it was first released but totally missed the bits with the PC Blade Runner game. Man, that takes me back.

I think the best treatment of TV detective story I have seen was the much maligned second season of true detective. It had a single case stretching out over the whole season. Between each episode you had a week to re-watch and theorize about what is going on. The story was very dense with many different characters and many relationships between those characters, you pretty much had to watch each episode several times to have a good understanding of what was going on. Characters very rarely meant what they were saying and delivered a whole new level of meaning through subtext. Clues were often given as background details in shots. It had lots of flaws too and might not have been the most enjoyable show to watch as TV show. As a detective story that you try and solve before the reveal it was like crack cocaine. I hope we see other shows like this in future.

Great review, definitely contemplating getting this, was also excited to see there are a bunch more cases to add on to the original which have been produced by fans so you can go even beyond the original 10 Although may hold on for the new edition if that's going to happen

I bought an early version of this game and hated it. -- It was not a fair contest because Sherlock Holmes had ESP. He magically knew that of the 30 places you you could visit, that he had to go to 22, 15, 4, and 29 to get the information to solve the case (and thus avoid all the red herrings). He is not smart, he has a writer feeding him plot points. -- It was not a fair mystery because you were not given enough information. My wife and I were playing, and we had a theory of the case. THIS is what we thought happened. The clues in the game did not give enough information to disprove our theory, and frankly, I think our theory of the case made more sense than the one we were supposed to intuit. Perhaps the writing in this game has improved. After enduring 5 of them in the earlier version, we quit. Warm regards, Rick.

Also for people seeing this year's later, it's not just 10 cases anymore! There are now a BUNCH of sets each with their own 10 cases and some sets like the jack the ripper set comes with 6 stand alone cases and then 4 cases that form a longer story arc!

just one of like 15 games i've bought because of these amazing reviews. you guys are the best!!!!

My copy is from the 80’s, yes I bought it back then, and I have finally introduced it to my mystery loving wife. I love this game to bits

I recall playing something like this.. many years ago. Hearing that it was first released in 81, makes that quite likely. Can't recall very many details, but I sort of remember something about the newspapers and the phone book.

Thank you for this review! I quickly rushed out to get this game after watching this and it’s such a neat game. Got 70 points on our first case too, which is a very satisfying experience. Not sure how Quinns got -65, hahah! Must’ve run off big time on some false lead. It’s challenging but not super hard (unless you’re dead set on beating Sherlock!).

Ok picked it up and just played the first mission. Absolutely loved it. We got a even zero points for the first mission, but had a ball doing so.

35 points in the first scenario. My partner and I are rather pleased.

Finally got to play this tonight with a couple friends. We only scored +5 points on Munitions Magnate, but we had an enormous time. One key point, though: our interpretation of the rules was that you couldn’t look at the questions *until* you decide to visit Holmes to attempt to solve the case. As we had played Watson & Holmes before playing this game, it felt odd to do so since you know the questions you’re trying to answer from the get-go in W&H. Do you guys play SH:CD that way, or do you glimpse at the questions *before* setting foot out into London?

I think I have a new favorite board game channel. +1 for Tyskie :)

I just finally got around to picking up the 4 different "volumes" of this game. Now i've got 40 games to play! What I really thought was interesting on reading the rules is you look at the date of the game, and you use all the papers from that date backward. So theoretically, the last game you've got 10 newspapers to go through for clues. I don't know whether there's crossover, but I thought it was a great concept.

Another game added to the ever growing Amazon wish list!!! ;)

I love watching your videos man. I'm forsur buying this game now.

My mum bought this for me for Christmas when I was 12. I recently bought it again to play with my 12 year old daughter, I was worried it wasn't going to be as good as I remembered it, happy to say it still holds up. Great fun.

You are really a very, very good board game reviewer. I might buy this!

I rarely comment, but seriously you guys are hilarious! Damn I love this channel!

I got the game today, and had a moment where I thought, "Aha! This name matches with that, and that person is alluded to there so that means they must be connected somehow!" then I was disappointed to find my discovery actually led nowhere. There was such a rush at the moment that I thought I made a breakthrough, followed by such a frustration and desire to find the right answer. This game is great! I'm working on the first case by myself, but I want to find someone else to bring in and work with on the next case.

On the second case, I went talking from person to person only to be met by a dead end and that was disheartening(not a bad thing in this case). But when I attacked it from a different angle, I was met with something that completely subverted my expectations. This game tells stories that very few fans in my collection can hope to be compared to.

They did three computer games based on this; each game had three cases some of which IIRC appeared in the box set. However the computer game didn't let you "beat" Holmes at best you could only tie him. Also due to glitches in the way the game worked you couldn't use information you knew (one case involved a reference to Mesmeriize so I had a one up on Holmes but couldn't take advantage of it)

Spider spottet near the bookcase at 7:39. I hate spiders...

The Jack the Ripper expansion has just come out. I'd love to see a review of it. if you even do expansions?

new to the channel, largely because of Gloomhaven.....and now I am on amazon to see if I can get this

There are no English copies of this game in the who of Europe apart from some obscure Swedish online shop. Word on the Street is that they are releasing a Deluxe edition of the game Oct / Sep 2016. Did I imagine an expansion set for this game on the shelf in a Spanish game shop the other day, it was colour green btw.

I have the original of this game! I was...9? I begged my mom for it. Man, it was way over my head. I had no idea what to do with it. It's sat on a shelf for all these years (well, many shelves) and I don't think I've given it a second look. Now if I just had a few British friends - for immersion - I might give it another go.

Lovely Moomin mug :)

Seriously thank you guys so much. I heard some stuff about this game off and on but it was this review that made me finally run out and bought it. My wife and I solved our first case this evening and we loved it. Thank you so much for this review. We did fair better than you.....our first case was 55.

Hands down the best review ever! Thanks for every minute of it. Do you have any 'clue' where I can get my hands on a copy. If this review wasn't so 4 years old, I'd ask for the ebay link. (ha ha)

Wow, Alan Davies in your review, even early on you drew the star power!

You convinced me.... I'm going to bury this game and leave cripptic messages and clues to its ware abouts for a stranger to uncover and find.....

"I'm a criminal and I love it" - Quinns 2016

Been playing the PC games for this ( 3 of them from the 90s I think.) And it's so fun. Feels open ended. You have to sort a bunch of info, and decide what's relevant.

Before playing case 3 have someone who is not playing the game print a corrected version, I think they have one on board game geek.

The link to buy takes you to the second set of cases, the jack the ripper ones. Is this one still available?

My boyfriend bought me this game as a present thanks to this video. I love it! And hey, we got positive 65 points for the first case :D The main thing for me is to get the main things right (who and why, basically).

Is there a link anywhere to the casebook corrections?

There will be a very nice reprint soon!! So hold on a couple of month before getting this awesome game.

Enjoyed this ep as much as the others when I first watched it. Looking forward to more episodes! ^^ By the way, I'd really appreciate it if you could stamp the episode with "RERUN" or whatever, so that I can either filter out old episodes or at least know that they're reposts and not new content. I just get too excited when a new SUSD video appears in my inbox, and then I'm left not quite satiated by the video itself... ;P

This review made me want to buy the game and also convinced my wife to let me. A fantastic game and a great, fun to watch review.

Besides the basic ten, there are many more cases available to be bought individually in the French version (which I assume will be translated soon), including an expansion set at a manor, iirc. Last time I checked they were at case seventeen or something.

"friend and I"

Mage Knight IS the best solo game ever.

I've had it six months and I'm up to case 7. I've won 6/7 but the problem is when you want to win, it's glacial... You _must_ write down everything single character and clue. Because exploring reduces points, you end up reading and rereading every article in the newspaper in the light of new evidence. Do that and it becomes pretty easy but a real slog. Also, when you leave it a long time you forget what was in previous newspapers and something essential might be there.

do you guys who already played it recommend to play the individual cases in the order they are presented (because they maybe get increasingly more difficult) or does it not matter with which case you start?

Damn I want to play this

Bought that game thanks to this video. The game is phenomenal. :)

Trying to hold off on this game because I heard a new version was coming with more cases. Reeeeally want it though...

This is my favorite review of a game, ever.

I wouldn’t say I was competitive but if I don’t beat Sherlock in all 10 cases then I will murder someone.

WOW!!! Great game it is. There is an expansion!!! I love Tales of the Arabian Nights as well!!!

2022 - BGG users you can also play user created content. To avoid binning it.

Just purchased this for a date night and we had a blast, thanks for convincing me. Also we worked surprisingly well together and got the first case spot on. Sherlock solving it in 4 leads though :p I see what you mean about him being an ass lol

There could be a community of people coming up with new cases.

Twin Peaks box set and Tyskie on your coffee table? Are you *actually* me?

I did put my copy of this game in the Holy Altar of Sherlock Holmes of my library. It surely deserved that spot.

I've been waiting impatiently since this review come out for an opportunity to play this, and last week that chance finally came up. We scored 65 in the first case and I have to admit, the explanation Holmes gave was definitely better than ours. We got the right person, though, so there's that :P Thanks for drawing my attention to this game. I definitely wouldn't have heard of it otherwise.

Talks about a game about Sherlock Holmes - shows clips from Hercule-Poirot-movies

Game is so good it got you married

This is shocking similar to the Knives Out trailer, but you beat them by 3 years.

60 points for the Munitions Magnate! Suck it! Albeit there were 6 of us...but yay!

FYI - Another 10, brand new, cases have been released and so far the feedback is they are all well done and worth getting if you ever get through the first 9 cases from the original. YES 9, don;t ever start or try case 3, its 100% a pure waste of your time!

You could also just shelf the board game and then play it again after 10 years when you've hopefully forgotten all the cases.

That intro XD

Tyskie. O yeah!

What’s the intro clip from? I noticed Alan Davies so I’m curious.

The replayability/finite value of this game was (rightly) disregarded in this review, but was a major reason why T.I.M.E. Stories couldn't be recommended (and the latter WILL be producing new modules all the time). I'll have to go back and look at that other review to see if there was something else major that made its value much less than this non-replayable game.

3:11 What it is playing I keep surfing "Ethipian jazz" in youtube but nothinf like it comes

"Friend" ;)

Just watched this, nice mug of Snufkin :)

Just noticed the vape pen. I knew you guys were cool.

Woo blade runner video game. I keep thinking I’m the only person who fondly remembers that.

For the first two questions at the beginning of the video, I own quite a few games, and at least two games are potential answers for the first two questions; Ascension and Elder Signs. Both games have good single player rules, both games have good multi player rules, the expansions for each of them are fantastic, and, while they do not have mysteries as grand as this game to solve, they are two different games with two different flavors; Ascension games are competitive, all players against each other, but the game supports two-player teams, and Elder Signs is cooperative, where everybody wins, or losses as a group. Those two games, are arguably the best introductory games for newcomers, as well as "necessities" for any gamers collections. As well as this one. Hope I can find some expansions, supplements, or fan created cases online.

Ethiopian Jazz is awesome!

I will definitely buy it

Wish I could afford this game!

Dearest Mr Quinns, Does this game still hold up as a top detective game? Have others surpassed it? Debating between Arkham Horror, Detective a modern crime, Exit games or this. Thanks, Guy who surely get -64