Murder mysteries have been a staple of the board game world for years, but more often than not, they often favour fluffy puzzle solving to deductive reasoning (looking at you, Clue). If you’ve always wanted to delve into a more realistic investigative experience, you’ll love Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game, which is now 32% off on Amazon.
This is a game made for those who love to watch true crime documentaries and think “Gosh, why didn’t the police follow up on that lead? It was so obvious!”. The game adds realism to the case by incorporating the actual real life internet into gameplay. Log on to the Detective police database to find information about suspects, and even use Wikipedia and other real websites to research bits of information that you discover during your investigation.
The story behind the murder has been so well fleshed out, that you won’t even cover every aspect as you play through. As you investigate, you’re working against the clock and you only have time to follow up so many leads, meaning that, just as in real life investigations, there are whole chunks to the story that you may never know.
This is a co-op board game and you can play with up to four other players for a game that lasts up to 180 minutes. It’s probably better described as an interactive story experience, because Detective strives to tell a compelling murder investigation story that draws from reality as much as possible. It’s not a game where you’re waiting to find out the outcome of dice rolls, but a game where you actually have to think about people’s actions and motives.
Detective is a game that can be played even with players who are not physically present. If you have friends who live far away, or who you can’t see due to pandemic-related problems, all you need to do is set up a video call and then they’re all set to join you for the ride.
It is unclear exactly when this 32% discount is going to be discontinued, so with that in mind, it’s best to act quickly to get your hands on this deduction game.
For more gaming recommendations, check out our guide to the best board games for adults, and the best board games overall.