Crazy Sherlock

Time to don your deerstalker and see whether you have what it takes to be a detective — but do it quickly, or others will solve the case first.

In Crazy Sherlock, you need to identify five clues related to the crime: the eye color of the criminal, their height, their accessory, the location, and the time. The game includes 18 clue cards divided across these five categories, and to set up, place one card from each category to the side, then shuffle the remaining cards and deal them out as evenly as possible.

When the round begins, start a 15-second timer. Each player has this much time to review their cards, after which they pass them left, the timer starts again, then they can look at their new cards. They keep passing cards until someone grabs the announcement token, which stops the timer. This person announces their guess in each clue category, then looks at the set-aside cards. If correct, they receive a case token that reads 1; if they already have a case token, they win the game.

If they're wrong, they lose a case token (if they have one), then the round continues, with this person passing cards, but unable to guess. Continue to play until someone guesses correctly, or only one player remains, in which case they win automatically.

With the "Doctor Watson" variant, each player takes a vote token at the start of play, and whenever someone announces their guess, each other player reveals at the same time whether they think the guesser is correct. If everyone votes yes, the guesser wins a clue token automatically. If the voters are split and the guess is correct, the guesser wins a clue token and awards a clue token to someone who supported them; if the voters are split and the guess is incorrect, everyone who voted in favor of the guesser is also out of the round. The first player to collect three clue tokens wins.

Photos on Boardgamegeek