Grab your magnifying glass and sleuthing skills, you're about to embark on wild who-done-it trackings of weirdo little animals. No meeples, maybe a steeple, no humans, maybe a rabbit. Definitely a lot of ducks on rooftops. Where does the latest clue lead you in the hunt for the culprit? It's up to you to solve mysteries of Crime City (not the best place to live, apparently).
Spider and Cat played this game accompanied occasionally by Squid (11).
Spider: The marketing for the game is tricky. It's funny, little animals that are murdering each other. They should have called it, "Where's Waldead?" There were some VERY adult scenarios, but it starts with a scene reminiscent of Richard Scarry's Busytown. Then it travels to Quentin Tarantino levels of drama. I thought it was great, I'm 44.
At first I thought the map was hard to get used to because it was all white and black. I thought it would be fun to color it and mount it.
As for the components, I thought the art was cool. The quality of the map is fine. You're not meant to deal with it really. The quality was int he art and the presentation. At first it was confusing because it was childlike, but it's not. That's the charm of the game. It is definitely an acquired taste. The more you can realize it is a niche type of game with a childlike appearance but very adult theme you will enjoy the experience. If they make a sequel, I'll definitely get it now that I understand that.
Squid: I thought that the map definitely had the "looks can be deceiving" lesson. They were little cartoon animal killers. Crazy!
Cat: I really thought the map was hard to get used to at first. Everything looked the same, and then I started to get the details and the ways to look for clues.
Spider: I didn't think any of the cases were unfair. Some were difficult, so don't play it if you're in a hurry. You're meant to look at it and explore and examine it. There is a lot of, "wait, I saw that character somewhere else." I thought there wasn't necessarily a lot of deduction or extrapolation. You could trace the images on the map and figure it out. It was all visual and traceable. It wasn't super difficult, but really enjoyable.
Squid: I loved figuring out the motives. Looking at the images and then figuring out the stories. Who did what to whom? Seeing the relationships between characters to learn what was happening in their lives on this flat paper. You could watch them through the city.
Spider: I agree, I thought time was done well in the game. It's a stagnant map that doesn't change, but you can easily see life of the experiences. There were all types of crime: theft, delinquency, murder, adultery.
Cat: I liked it. I thought it was fun to solve the puzzles and see what was going on all around the city. I liked how many of the tails had you traveling over the entire map. I liked how the transportation was done on the map. The subway system and the busses made you learn the city. I had a few moments where I was recalling specific characters that I had seen across multiple crimes.
It was difficult to play with more than two people. If you bump the map it screws up the markers. It's made to fit on a table, so when one person looks it blocks the other views.
Pros:
fun mysteries
cute animals
great display of time
Cons:
none really
Ratings:
Spider: Four Spiders
Cat: Three Cats
Squid: Four Squids
Rating Scale
Would not buy or play again
Would not buy but would play again
Would buy and play again, but only occasionally
Would buy and play again in normal rotation
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