Sherlock Holmes: The Card Game

Complexity Medium Cost < £10 Duration Short-Medium Players 3+ Producer Gibsons Games Size Small

Premise

Find the villains hiding in the player's hands

Review

This card game is more complex than first appearances suggest. Because many of the nuances revolve around the convoluted scoring system, it may be beyond many children, who seem to be it's target audience (judging by where you find it in Toys R Us :)

The most striking thing abut this game are the cards. They are beautifully designed and illustrated with original drawings from the Strand Magazine. On this basis alone it is a must buy for Holmes fans.

The aim of the game is to catch a player with villains in their hand (or to escape with villains). All the hands have points and the ultimate aim of the game is to have the lowest number of points after a certain number of rounds have been played. If you catch a villain, you subtract the points, and then all players add up the values of their hands and score that.

The play itself starts with the "Game is Afoot" card; players then have a choice of what cards may be played (based on the current card). If they cannot play they have to take a card. Various cards allow you to examine other players' cards etc. At various points you have the option to arrest a player. If you catch him with a villain, the round ends, otherwise you get all his cards and he draws fresh from the deck.

Apart from the slightly obtuse rulebook, the main problem with this game is the cards. The backs especially on the villain cards wear markedly, which makes it easy for people to cheat. I suggest if this happens you mark random cards in a similar way.

As for game play, it's not the best three player game - it's too easy to figure out who has the villains. With larger numbers however it's a great game. Also at times it's possible to get stuck in a rut where no one can play a card for a long time.

Rating

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