Age: 10+
Playtime: 30-45 min
Complexity: 4/10
A valuable jewel has been stolen, and it’s up to you with your clever use of logic to figure out which one it was. Play your question cards, write down what you’re told, and deduce the rest.
This isn’t a new game by any stretch: Sleuth was first published back in 1971 as one of 3M’s gamettes. But Sid Sackson’s game endured, went through several incarnations and is still in print, with the rights currently in the hands of Eagle-Gryphon Games, who put out an edition very reminiscent of the original.
Whereas Clue asks who committed the murder, in what room and with what weapon, Sleuth is only interested in the identity of the missing piece of jewelry. However, that difference is superficial: the game still boils down to three categories of information with several different values, and you’re trying to nail each one. Gem type (diamond, pearl, opal), type (solitaire, pair, cluster) and color (red, blue, green, yellow). So one jewel card—the stolen gem!—is removed from the game sight unseen, some cards are dealt face up on the table Texas Hold’em-style, and the rest distributed amongst the players. Which is the missing mystery card?
Each player is dealt four question cards and the game begins.
Sleuth is essentially Clue without the board, which gets rid of all the problems and frustrations connected to the roll of the die. No more hoping to make it to the library to ask the question that’s burning your lips: if that question is on one of your four question cards, you’ll get to ask it on your turn, no matter what. (“How many blue gems are you holding?” “How many pairs”?) Then draw a new card to bring your hand back to four, and keep going. While all questions require their answers to be spoken out loud, some of them will also provide additional information only the interrogator is privy to.
Looking for yet another improvement over Clue? Fine: if you think you’re one bit of information away from solving the case, you get to ask another player any question you want (your question cards be damned), and then you have to go for it: write down what you think the answer is, peek at the secret card, and revel in your deductive glory. You got it wrong? Then you’re out of the game but keep answering questions until someone wins—which usually takes very little time.
All in all, Sleuth remains the best deduction game I’ve encountered so far. It’ll take something truly special to dethrone this one.
Most easily forgotten rule: If you think you know the identity of the stolen gem, you can say so at any time, and not just on your turn.
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