Description

Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective is a 3 hour cooperative and narrative game for 1-4 players where players are street urchins working for Sherlock Holmes, gathering information at various locations around London while trying their hand at solving mysteries assigned to the world’s most famous detective. After reading the introduction to a case, in turn, the player(s) will pour over the map to choose a relevant location to visit, then turn to the section in the case book to read the result. When the player(s) decide that the mystery can be solved, an envelope in the case book is opened and a series of questions relating to the case are posed. Players score depending on how many questions are correctly answer and lose points for the number of locations visited over the minimum information Sherlock Holmes required to solve the case..

Sherlock Holmes plays like Sherlock Holmes, knowing he has a pack of eager but naive children working for him, gives them free reign to attempt to solve the case before he does. The urchins go about their task with gusto and great thought, and even though they manage to pour over half of London and end up with a small encyclopedia of clues and red herrings, they invariably fall short and look foolish. Visiting 221B Baker Street for Holmes’ assistance cannot help but feel like the boys standing at the door holding their berets between their legs, given the acerbic tones that Sherlock uses to dispense direct hints for the case.

Going into Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective, you know there are red herrings and you have to think outside of the box. The process of detecting the plot twist can be exacting but also very satisfying, as is going through notes taken so that the narrative of the case comes into perspective.

Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective is best played solo or with 2. Other than being an impossibly long experience at 3-4 players, waiting for your turn if you are unable to convince others to go to a desired location can be frustrating. Reading with blinders is also mandatory as it can feel deflating to read a brief text at your chosen location only to notice chunks of tantalising paragraphs on the same page at a location nearby.

The only other game that offers the same amount of narrative is Watson & Holmes, which plays like a abbreviated version of Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective suitable for 6-8 players. Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective has 2 expansions with 10 cases each, while families can look at Above & Below and Stuffed Fables which have more child-focused content. If you also enjoy logic puzzles, the escape room games such as Unlock Secret Adventures and Exit The Game Dead Man on the Orient offer plenty of excellent writing mixed with puzzle solving.