Shadows (Masters of Crime)

• Designers: Lukas Setzke, Martin Student and Verena Wiechens
• Publisher: Kosmos
• Players: 1-6
• Age: 16+
• Time: 2-4 hours
• Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/40M3Qmw 

Incognito is a cooperative deductive murder mystery game where players must solve puzzles, follow clues and make decisions to solve a case. They do this using the included deck of cards, 12 hidden realistic clue documents, and the Internet. Through a choose-your-own-adventure mechanism, players make decisions that influence the course of the game and lead to solving the case in the end. One by one, they enter different realistically designed locations and encounter the various suspects. Then they choose from a menu of different ways to deal with the situation and receive points based on their decisions. Complex puzzles and escape room elements must be solved in order to progress further in the case.

The theme/backstory: “An assignment awaits you in Amsterdam. You must break into the famous Bachmann Gallery and steal a mysterious painting. Before you can do this, you must scour Amsterdam’s underworld for a team capable of carrying out such an operation. You will also scout out the gallery, inspect building plans, hack security systems, and plan your theft. Every decision you make affects how the story develops. In addition to the high-fidelity game materials, the use of real online maps, emails, and websites draws you deep into the story. Can you pull off the million-dollar heist of the century?”

The game is closely intertwined with the real world, and players have to keep using traditional apps like Google Maps or Wikipedia to gather information. Writing emails, detailed web pages and cell phone calls are also part of the immersive gaming experience.

Continue reading →

Resafa

• Designer: Vladimir Suchy
• Publisher: Delicious Games (distributed by Rio Grande Games in US)
• Players: 1-4
• Age: 14+
• Time: 60-120 minutes
• Played with review copy provided by Delicious Games

The game Resafa takes place during the 3rd century AD in the area of today’s Middle East. Resafa now lies in ruins in modern-day Syria, but at this time it was a fortified desert outpost that flourished as a stop along important caravan routes. In the game, players represent merchants who travel on business trips and buy and sell goods in the various cities in the region. Resafa had no local sources of water, so it depended heavily on large cisterns to collect the spring and winter rainwater to make the area habitable. Players build water tanks and canals to distribute that water where it is needed. In the cities, they build workshops to help their businesses grow, which will allow them to collect resources and camels. They also construct gardens between the businesses, generating more resources and also victory points.  The game is played over six rounds. In each round, a player takes only three actions, playing action cards in this tight and exciting game.

Continue reading →