A couple of Sherlock Holmes games

I had previously looked at several pulp-related RPGs. Another area that is peripherally related is the various Sherlock Holmes related games. While there are several of these, I think the two main ones that are fairly popular are 221B Baker Street: The Master Detective Game and Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective. Both have been around awhile and gone through a few editions. I actually discovered 221B Baker Street in college and played it several times with my friends there and got my own set later on. I only recently learned about the Consulting Detective game and wanted to get it for awhile when a set of new editions came out.

So first off is 221B Baker Street. The board game may seem to be similar to Clue, but I think it’s much better. Like Clue, you and the other players move around a board, gathering clues, and trying to solve the mystery. But unlike Clue where it’s basically to figure out who, where, and how someone was killed by elimination, you have an actual case to figure out and are going to the different locations to get clues to help you solve the case. You need to get enough clues to do so before your opponents, then get back to 221B Baker Street and see if your solution is correct. If not, someone else has a chance.

Now, I should point out that the cases are about a paragraph or so, and the clues are a sentence or two, in some cases there won’t be a clue at some location. You can also “lock” a location to prevent or slow down others, but they can unlock the location.

The game came out in the ’70s, and there are two publishers of it, who have added several expansions. The game was created by Jay Moriarty, which I think is hilarious, but licensed to others to publish. The original game came out in the U.S. from publisher John Hansen. It had 20 cases to solve, and over several years Hansen added eight additional sets of cases (#2-9), each with 20 more cases for a total of 180. In the U.K., Gibson published the game. Their first version had 40 cases, most taken from Hansen, then had several expansion sets adding 80 more, all original, for a total of 100. In 2014 Gibson came out with a new set that has 75 cases taken from those 100, about 30 or so duplicate from Hansen’s. Around 2016-17, Hansen came out with a Deluxe set with 200 cases, the original 180 plus 20 more.  However, it also has a revamped board, so some methods of play won’t work.  The instructions also give info on how to play the game cooperatively, rather then competitively, which some may prefer. Both sets can be obtained from Amazon easily, and I think the original is still available with all the expansion sets.

Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective is a similar game as you are also working to solve cases. Not quite a board game (no dice, and no moving pieces around a board of locations like in 221B Baker Street), and not quite an RPG, you play a member of the Baker Street Irregulars. Here, you move around London to find clues to solve the case and see how you did against Sherlock Holmes. This game can be played solo or with up to eight players cooperatively.

The game has a map of London and a directory of locations (a lot of locations), a set of newspapers, and 10 cases. You are recommended to play the cases in chronological order to avoid reading clues in the newspapers for past cases you skipped. And these cases are not like the cases in 221B Baker Street. The case booklets can range in length from 12 pages to over 30, with a wide range of information at various locations you can visit. And there is information that can be gleaned from the newspapers.  The case may be a paragraph or up to a couple of pages in length.  The solution another couple of pages.

You move around London, finding clues, and when you (or the group) think you’ve figured it out, read the questions at the end of the case booklet, using this to score points (if you want), to see how you did against Sherlock Holmes (most reviews say not to bother with this element).  Then read the solutions, and then check the questions card in the envelope at the back to see how well you did and your scoring.

The game was first published by Sleuth in 1981 and had 10 cases. Further expansion sets added more cases, including The Mansion Murders (five cases), West End Adventures (six cases), and others like the Queen’s Park Affair (4-part case) and Adventures in Gaslight (5-part case). In 2012, Ystari Games brought it back into print, but it fell out of print and there where some translation issues, as the publisher is French. They had basically used a French translation of the original game and tried to re-translate that into English.  Not sure why, I had read that the original English version was “lost”, tho why not just use a printed copy of the original Sleuth edition?

Since then a group called Space Cowboys (that includes the head of Ystari) has brought it back in print, distributed by Asmodee to bring the game back in three (so far) stand-alone box sets of 10 cases each. Each includes the same instruction set (tho each game’s has some additions), the London map and directory, along with a unique set of cases and newspapers and in some sets additional items like more maps and physical clue items for some of the cases. The Thames Murders and Others reprints the original 10 cases.  Jack the Ripper and West End Adventures reprints the six cases from West End Adventures, plus a new four-case Jack the Ripper set. Charlton House and Queen’s Park reprints the Mansion Murder set, the Queen’s Park Affair set and some standalone cases from the Ystari version. We should see a fourth set hopefully later this year or early next, The Baker Street Irregulars. This one, apparently the last, will be all new cases.

As I noted, because these games are translations from French games/editions, there have been some issues. The Space Cowboys/Asmodee editions fixed most of the problems from the Ystari versions, but there are apparently some new issues, tho minor. But hopefully this doesn’t distract from the enjoyment of these games.

If you want to move past just reading Sherlock Holmes stories to trying to solve a Sherlock Holmes cases, these games may give you a chance. Check them out!

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