Board Games That Use Deduction

A number of board games make their purpose tobaroness, and a count. Someone on the train was
have players figure out a mystery, usually the murdermurdered by someone in that group and it is the duty
of a character. Murder mysteries have quite a popularof the players to discover who.
following in the board game world, as they generallyAnother inventive deduction game is Mystery of the
raise the stakes higher than most other forms ofAbbey, which allows players the chance to solve a
mystery. With a number of suspects available, playersthrilling murder mystery while additionally providing a
usually race against each other to uncover informationunique atmosphere to enhance the level of fun and
and solve the crime before the others. Sometimes,game play. The goal of the game is to solve the
players play as the suspects themselves and othermurder of the unfortunate Brother Adelmo, who was
times they act as independent gumshoes. In eitherdiscovered at the bottom of a cliff by the monastery.
case, however, deduction board games are some ofTwenty-four different monks live in the monastery and
the most popular sources of entertainment in theit is the goal of players to discover the murderer
gaming realm.before anyone else. However, normal monastic life is
One such game, Orient Express, gives players thestill observed during this investigation, providing a
chance to use their highly developed skills of deductionnumber of twists during the game.
and reasoning to solve an intriguing mystery. However,Suspects are divided into a number of different
unlike other detective games, Orient Express doesn'tcategories to distinguish them. All of the monks are
end when the first player figures out the solution to theeither of the Templar, Franciscan, or Benedictine
murder. The train is on a set path from Paris to Istanbulorders, and are either Fathers, Brothers, or Novices.
and will make its complete route before the gameThey either wear hoods or they do not, are either
ends. It is the job of the players to solve the mysteryclean-shaven or bearded, and are either fat or thin.
within this time frame, and it is perfectly possible forWith all of these different distinguishing characteristics,
more than one player to correctly solve the mysteryplayers can slowly narrow down the list of suspects
by the time that the Orient Express reaches Istanbul.until they feel confident enough to make an accusation.
Players begin the game by choosing one of 10 presetHowever, as the game progresses and players begin
mysteries before the game starts. Each of these 10to learn more about the culprit, they make revelations.
mysteries has been predetermined and can only beIf these revelations prove correct at the end of the
played once. There is a common theme through all ofgame, they can score points for the player. In the end,
the cases, in that a murder has been committed bythe player with the most points wins, making it possible
one of the eight possible suspects and it is up to theto win the game without being the player who solved
players to solve the murder before the train reachesthe murder. A unique twist on a mystery, both of these
Istanbul and the murderer runs free. The eight differentgames give players the chance to play detective in an
suspects under investigation are an actress, a ballerina,exotic setting.
a colonel, a fortune-teller, a gambler, a diplomat, a