Before deciding to write this review I played Cryptid half a dozen times. Yet, I found myself having to go back to it because I couldn’t remember what kind of impact it had on me. It’s a one-dimensional game, devoid of emotion or agency. In it, I didn’t find an exciting hunt for a mythological creature but a cold mathematical exercise.
Tag: Deduction
Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: The Thames Murders & Other Cases ★★★★★
There are countless games based on the world’s most famous sleuth but none as great as Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective. With just a book, a list of addresses and a bunch of newspapers, it captures the whole spirit of the Victorian investigator and reflects it, not just through its setting, but its mechanics.
Now subtitled “The Thames Murders & Other Mysteries”, it remains the best deduction game I’ve ever played and, despite some minor flaws, a truly engrossing experience.
Tragedy Looper: Why set Table Talk to “off”
Like many deduction games, Tragedy Looper is enhanced by placing restrictions on communication. The manual recommends limiting the Protagonists’ ability to talk with each other to the small frame between time loops, forcing them to play without the full knowledge of each other’s actions.
This optional rule, thematically called the “Table Talk Off” setting, makes the already great Tragedy Looper even better. In this article, I’ll explain how it improves the player’s experience and why implement it in your game.
