Highlights
- Detective board game fans can now immerse themselves in thrilling mysteries, sharpen their observation skills, and solve intriguing cases.
- Games like MicroMacro: Crime City, The Search for Planet X, and Blood on the Clocktower offer endless hours of detective fun for all ages.
- These games not only provide entertainment but also help improve problem-solving skills, teamwork, and critical thinking in a fun and captivating way.
Sherlock Holmes is, without a doubt, the most enduring figure in the world of mystery and crime-solving. The pipe-smoking detective and his loyal assistant Watson have been imprinted into the psyche of modern society through various mediums, including spinoff books, films, TV shows, and video games, and, quite frankly, the public still can’t get enough.
Players can now truly live out their inner Sherlock Holmes fantasies to solve various cases by using new technology and gameplay mechanisms, either solo or with friends. From social deduction party games to game experiences involving an evil mastermind, these games can truly immerse gamers in the thrill of the hunt.
Updated September 19, 2023, by Via Erhard: Detective board game fans can get ready to don their detective cap and unleash their inner Sherlock Holmes as they get whisked away on thrilling, mind-bending adventures that are perfect for parties as well as family gatherings. These chilling games are perfect for beginners and seasoned pros alike since they're able to seamlessly blend mystery, strategy, and storytelling while also keeping their players engaged at all times. In these mystery-filled crime board games, players can dive into captivating narratives filled with suspense and intrigue.
During their adventures, players will become detectives who have to work together or against each other to solve crimes and uncover hidden secrets. Players will also have to decipher clues, piece together information, and use their deductive reasoning to crack the case. However, detective board games aren't just about fun since they're incredibly useful for improving problem-solving skills, teamwork, and critical thinking in a fun and entertaining way.
1 MicroMacro: Crime City
- Creator: Johannes Sich
MicroMacro: Crime City lets mystery fans step into the shoes of a detective and sharpen their observation skills. It's one of the most exciting crime games and the ultimate challenge for board game fans of all ages. In this family-friendly deduction game, players will dive into the heart of Crime City, where crimes have run rampant.
The players' mission is to solve sixteen intriguing cases that will test their investigative skills. Players will be exploring a massive city map that spans 75 x 110 cm. As fans embark on their journey, they'll have to uncover hidden information, trace the movements of suspects, and piece together the puzzle. The city map is not just a geographical playground but a timeline too, making it a brain-teasing adventure. No matter if board game fans want to tackle the cases card by card or dive straight into the action because MicroMacro: Crime City guarantees endless hours of thrilling detective fun.
2 The Search for Planet X
- Creator: Matthew O'Malley, Ben Rosset
Thanks to The Search for Planet X, players can embark on a cosmic adventure that's part detective work, part brain-teasing puzzle. In this fascinating sci-fi game, board game fans can channel their inner astronomer and embark on a quest to find a mysterious planet lurking at the edge of our solar system.
Players can become intrepid space detectives armed with an app that randomly scatters celestial objects and the elusive Planet X across the cosmos. As Earth makes its orbit, gamers will have to scan the skies, attend cosmic conferences, and gather intel to crack the celestial code. Players will have to race against time as well as their fellow astronomers as they try to pinpoint Planet X's hiding spot. During their adventures, players will also get to publish their groundbreaking theories, score big points, and even launch a search mission and aim for cosmic glory.
3 Blood on the Clocktower (2022)
- Creator: Steven Medway
Detective board game fans will be transported to the spine-tingling village of Ravenswood Bluff, where darkness lurks and suspicion runs rampant. Blood on the Clocktower is one of the most thrilling party games that channel players' inner detective while immersing them in a chilling mystery story.
As the clock strikes midnight, a horrifying scream pierces the night, and the town storyteller lies murdered, impaled on the hands of the clocktower. Soon, players find out that a demon stalks the village and tries to conceal its malevolence behind a human facade by day and commit heinous acts by night. This entertaining detective game can be played by up to twenty players who will be divided into teams of Good and Evil. The Good team will have to work to deduce and eliminate the demons before they overwhelm the town. While the Evil team has to bring as much mischief, chaos, and murder as they can.
4 Chronicles of Crime: 2400
- Creator: David Cicurel, Wojciech Grajkowski
Chronicles of Crime: 2400 is one of the best detective board games for adults and teens who love beautifully designed sci-fi games with great stories. This stunning cooperative mystery board game transports its players into a futuristic Paris where they'll get to step into the shoes of Kalia.
Even though Kalia was a highly trained cyber agent, she decided to leave her previous agency, which only cared about money but not the people. Now, Kalia fights crime on her own and helps those who need it the most. Thanks to this story-rich mystery board game, players can explore a unique story while solving crimes and uncovering mysteries.
5 Escape Tales: The Awakening
- Creator: Jakub Caban, Matt Dembek, Bartosz Idzikowski
Escape Tales: The Awakening is a great choice for those board game fans who love supernatural mysteries and ghost stories. It's a more mature mystery board game with horror elements and dark mysteries. This immersive mystery board game also has challenging puzzles and a captivating story.
Players will get to step into the shoes of a desperate father who is trying to find a way to wake her daughter up from a coma. After he meets with a man, he is given a book that will help him visit another dimension. Gamers will get to explore this haunting realm while solving puzzles and uncovering a shocking mystery.
6 Destinies
- Creator: Michał Gołąb Gołębiowski, Filip Miłuński
Destinies is one of the best RPG-like modern board games that transports its viewers into a dark medieval-fantasy world where they'll get to step into the shoes of heroes who have to go on dangerous quests and solve dark mysteries if they want to fulfill their destinies.
Destinies has a brilliantly crafted world, and players will be able to enjoy a story-driven and epic adventure as well as meet NPCs while exploring the game's fantasy land. It's also one of the most competitive adventure mystery board games with thrilling dark stories that'll be entertaining for adults and teens as well.
7 Detective: City of Angels – Smoke and Mirrors
- Creator: Evan Derrick
Detective: City of Angels – Smoke and Mirrors is a fantastic choice for players who love classic detective board games and are looking for new challenges. Players will get to test their deductive skills since they'll have to solve difficult cases that are challenging not just for teens but adults, too.
Detective: City of Angels – Smoke and Mirrors is one of the best new murder mystery board games with a retro vibe that lets players become detectives and go on a difficult journey while trying to solve the four challenging cases of the game.
8 Tragedy Looper
- Creator: BakaFire
Imagine Sherlock Holmes but set in Japan with time travel. Hailed as a scenario-based deduction board game for up to players, Tragedy Looper is a standard one vs. all affair. The game puts players in a scenario in which one player becomes the evil mastermind whilst the others must work together to foil the mastermind’s actions. Roles are kept secret, and the game opens up to four location boards and several character cards.
The game can be seen as a marriage of Sherlock Holmes with the Japanese light novel/anime Re: Zero. The mastermind will trigger tragedies that will occur via cards, whilst the other players will be able to loop back in time to figure out the culprit and reason why the tragedy occurred. Players attempting to stop the mastermind win if they can mitigate the number of tragedies and figure them out. Meanwhile, the mastermind comes out on top should the others encounter their tragedies or run out of loops.
9 Watson And Holmes
- Creator: Jesús Torres Castro
Set in the amazing world created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Watson and Holmes is a game for up to seven aspiring detectives who must step into the shoes of Dr. Watson. Working alongside Holmes, players must scrutinize and attempt to connect the dots using Watson’s diaries.
The game features several cases set in the Victorian world. Players will visit locations within the game, unravel clues, and, hopefully, be the first to solve the mystery. The game involves players working together, but only one will emerge as Sherlock’s protege.
10 Chronicles Of Crime
- Creator: David Cicurel
Chronicles of Crime is a deduction game for up to four players and involves crime-solving with an app. Players will select a scenario and attempt to catch the killer in the shortest time possible. Using Scan&Play technology, each component has a unique QR code that will trigger different clues and branching narratives.
The game can also be played in VR if activated by a player’s phone. Players will need VR glasses to immerse themselves in a crime-filled virtual world. The base game itself comes with a tutorial case and five scenarios, but more stories are always being added, allowing players to truly roleplay as modern-day detectives.
11 Mysterium
- Creator: Oleksandr Nevskiy, Oleg Sidorenko
A party deduction game that can be quite trippy, Mysterium has players become psychics who must communicate with a ghost to deduce how it died. The game is a cooperative experience for up to seven players, where one player takes on the role of the deceased ghost. In each game, the ghost will select several suspects, murder weapons, and location cards and randomly assign them to a player.
Players will slowly narrow down the possible selections and work closer to figure out the real deal. The challenge is that the ghost player cannot utter a single word and must instead guide fellow players to choose the right combinations. Surreal but intense, Mysterium offers murder mystery enthusiasts a different kind of crime-solving adventure.
12 Deception: Murder In Hong Kong
- Creator: Tobey Ho
A social deduction party game involving up to 12 players (14 with the expansion), Deception: Murder in Hong Kong will be familiar to players who’ve played other great social deduction games like Werewolf, Mafia, and Among Us. Set on the streets of the island metropolis, players assume the role of police detectives tasked with solving a case. The twist is that one of their own has committed the deed, but no one knows who did it. At the beginning of each game, players are assigned four random means of murder cards (blue) and four key evidence cards (red). The murderer must select a combination of their own assigned cards (one means of murder and one key evidence card) at the beginning of the game.
It is then up to the other investigators to correctly deduce the right combination. Players are aided by a silent forensic scientist who must guide their fellow investigators with a series of clues that point to the right combination. If the investigators guess the correct combination within three rounds, they win. Deception features multiple roles, such as the Murder Accomplice, Witness, and Inside Man, that spice up the gameplay.
13 Letters From Whitechapel
- Creator: Gabriele Mari, Gianluca Santopietro
Letters from Whitechapel is a hidden movement game in which one player will take on the role of Jack the Ripper, and up to four others must stop him. Taking place on the grimy streets of 19th-century London, players are engaged in a cat-and-mouse hunt for Jack the Ripper as the policemen struggle to pick up the murderer’s trail.
The game also features ‘the wretched’ (the poorest of the poor) that represent Jack’s victims. If Jack successfully murders all five of them, then Jack will emerge victorious. Although a departure from the murder mystery game genre, players attempting to foil Jack’s plans will feel like brow-beaten cops desperately trying to stop a madman.
14 Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: The Thames Murders & Other Cases
- Creator: Raymond Edwards, Suzanne Goldberg, Gary Grady
Originally released back in 1982, Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective is as Sherlock as one can get. Despite being categorized as a board game, there is no dice or luck. The game solely relies on the players and their deductive abilities, presenting several cases in which players must interview suspects, comb through newspapers, and compile the facts.
The game is truly the most immersive and authentic Sherlock experience available, as players will stretch their mental capacities to the limit. Players have been warned that this game isn’t for the faint of heart and is most definitely a hardcore experience. The game also has standalone expansions that revolve around the Jack the Ripper murders, as well as a Lovecraftian take on the genre.