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Chronicles of Crime Reviews

4.6 Rating 8 Reviews
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If you have ever thought you could out Sherlock Sherlock, out Poirot Poirot or out Endeavour Morse, then you need you check out Chronicles of Crime. Not only is it an excellent game but it is also a true innovation in the Board Game Industry. Chronicles of Crime (Lucky Duck Games) is set across a number of cases, both single cases and interwoven stories across a number of cases. In the game you have two decks of cards; one is characters and the other is clues, which are split into standard and special types. On top of this you have a central board to store clues that you have gathered during your investigation, location mats where you place character cards that are in those locations, and four specialist character mats. You can consult these specialists for medical, physical and psychological advice, during the case. All these components have one thing in common - a QR code. That’s because you need a smartphone and an app to play this game. Normally this would put a lot of people off, the mix of technology and cardboard has a checkered past full of potential not yet realised… until now. Chronicles of Crime is a masterpiece of synergised gameplay and design. Loading up the app for the first time takes you into a simple tutorial case, but don’t be fooled; subsequent cases up the ante and subtlety significantly. Cases will involve you being called to a scene which you can generally examine using the app. This can be done with the separate VR Module attached to your phone, or just through the phone's display. If you are playing with friends you will be frantically be shouting out all the things you see as they rifle through the clue cards to find something that might relate. Someone else can have a go too, but everything in this game costs time, and time is important with the chief cop demanding you get answers by certain deadlines. Interviews take place by scanning the QR code of characters, you can then ask them about other characters and items by scanning the relevant codes, and moving around the city is done in the same fashion. When you are ready the app will ask you a series of questions to ascertain whether you have solved the case with the correct reasoning or not, and then gives you a score based on this. Chronicles of Crime is a great game and experience, one that is easy to play and rewards logical thinking. The game comes with plenty of cases and the promise of more through digital content. It is quite unlike most other games, the closest it resembles is the popular escape room games, but it is more than that. For those budding armchair detectives in your life this is a fantastic choice. Player Count: 1-4 Time: 60-90 Minutes Age: 14+
 

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Similar to Consulting detective but app-driven instead which works really well as you can search for clues! visually using VR. An excellent game that came highly recommended.
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Posted 2 years ago
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Posted 5 years ago
Great fun and an enter-level board gaming experience! The card art is good and the mechanics are slick. The writing is a little bit of broken English but often adds to the laughs!
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Posted 5 years ago
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Posted 5 years ago
It's almost a computer quest made of cards. Great potential, interesting stories and more downloadable content to come from developers and community. Could appreciate more soundtrack maybe and wouldn't play it with more than 2. Great gaming experience though
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Posted 5 years ago
I've played 2 cases so far and I'm really enjoying it. It reminds me of Sherlock Homes Consulting Detective, so if you enjoyed that game I can definitely recommend this. The app is central to the gameplay and is really well integrated. I'm usually not a massive fan of using apps in board games, but this works really well. The investigating is open for you to approach how you like, following whichever leads you wish and asking any of the characters you've come across about any other character or item, and the game doesn't tell you when you've solved a case, it's up to you to decide when to put the evidence forward. This open-ended gameplay means you'll feel great when you solve a case, you'll feel like you've genuinely cracked a mystery, but it also means it can be frustrating if you get stuck and don't know where to go next. I would definitely recommend Chronicles of Crime if you enjoy solving a mystery, either by yourself or with friends. Order no. 239527
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Posted 5 years ago
I ordered the Chronicals of Crime from Zatu. It's a great co-oprative game and very interactive. All the people I have played it with have really enjoyed it.
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Posted 5 years ago
Some games are more experience than game, Chronicles of Crime was going to be one of those games - or so I thought. Then I played it and the unique marriage of app and board game turned my doubts around. What in essence is a QR scanning app and a load of QR codes printed on cards and cardboard boards becomes a tightly woven narrative that you can explore from a number of angles. Playing through the same scenario twice I found the same clues in completely different ways. The fact that the app works really well helps, the technology rarely gets in the way of the gameplay. With update planned physically as well as in app there is a lot to recommend Chronicles of Crime and very few reasons to stay away... (Note I would recommend not playing this with younger children due to the dark tone of some of the cases.)
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Posted 5 years ago