Sleuth (game)

Last updated
Sleuth
Other namesLa Chasse aux Diamants
Designers Sid Sackson
Illustrators
  • Shannon Crutchfield
  • Paul Herbert
Publishers
Publication1971;52 years ago (1971)
Genres
Players3-7
Playing time30-45 minutes
Age range10+
Website https://www.eaglegames.net/Sleuth-p/101495.htm

Sleuth is a strategy deduction card game designed by Sid Sackson and published by 3M in 1971. It is a reimplementation of the 1967 game The Case of the Elusive Assassin without the game board. [1] The object of the game is to deduce the identity of a missing gem by questioning other players and gathering evidence, similar to Cluedo.

Contents

Gameplay

Information Sheet Sleuth Information Sheet.png
Information Sheet

Sleuth is played with a deck of 36 Gem Cards, with each card picturing a gem (diamond, pearl, or opal), type (solitaire, pair, or cluster), and colour (red, blue, green, or yellow). A second deck of 54 Search Cards is also used, with each card representing a single element, a combination of two elements, or a free choice. One card is randomly removed from the Gem deck at the start of the game to be the missing gemstone. The remainder of the deck is split evenly among players and any cards that do not divide evenly are turned face up for all players to see. Four Search Cards are dealt face-up to each player. [2] [3]

On a player's turn, they choose a player to interrogate and place a Search Card face up in front of them. If a one element Search Card is played, the subject of interrogation announces to all players how many Gem Cards they have featuring that element. If a two element Search Card is played, the subject announces the number of Gem Cards they hold featuring that combination of elements and secretly passes them to the interrogator for them to record and return. If a free choice Search Card is played, the player may choose to use it as a one or two element card. At the end of their turn, the interrogator draws a Search Card to add to their hand.

Players record information on their Information Sheets until a player believes they can identify the missing gem. Once a player announces they have solved the mystery, they secretly check the missing Gem Card and, if correct, is the winner. If incorrect, they are out of the game and must continue answering interrogations as the game continues until the gem is identified. [4] If a player believes interrogating a certain opponent will enable them to identify the missing gem, on their turn they may any question of that subject regardless of their Search Cards before attempting to identify the gem. [2]

Super Sleuth

Super Sleuth, or Supersleuth, is a more difficult rules variation of Sleuth. [5] In it, the subject as normal declares the number of cards they hold featuring a given combination when a two element Search Card is played, but does not pass their cards to the interrogator. Cards are never passed between players. [2]

Reception

Pascal Gros, writing for Jeux & Stratégie No. 59, stated that fans of deduction would enjoy Sleuth, but further criticized the game for its lack of originality and repetitive gameplay. [4] In Games & Puzzles No. 20, the magazine's panel rated the game as complex, skill-based, with high clarity of rules, presentation, and durability. [3] Sleuth was part of the 1982 and 1983 Games 100 in Games magazine. [5] [6]

Reviews

Related Research Articles

<i>Acquire</i> Business themed board game

Acquire is a board game published by 3M in 1964 that involves multi-player mergers and acquisitions. It was one of the most popular games in the 3M Bookshelf games series published in the 1960s, and the only one still published in the United States.

<i>Scotland Yard</i> (board game) 1983 board game

Scotland Yard is a board game in which a team of players controlling different detectives cooperate to track down a player controlling a criminal as they move around a board representing the streets of London. It was first published in 1983. It is named after Scotland Yard which is the headquarters of London's Metropolitan Police Service in real-life. Scotland Yard is an asymmetric board game, during which the detective players cooperatively solve a variant of the pursuit–evasion problem. The game is published by Ravensburger in most of Europe and Canada and by Milton Bradley in the United States. It received the Spiel des Jahres award in 1983-the same year that it was published.

<i>Pictionary</i> Word guessing game

Pictionary is a charades-inspired word-guessing game invented by Robert Angel with graphic design by Gary Everson and first published in 1985 by Angel Games Inc. Angel Games licensed Pictionary to Western Publishing. Hasbro purchased the rights in 1994 after acquiring the games business of Western Publishing. Mattel acquired ownership of Pictionary in 2001. The game is played in teams with players trying to identify specific words from their teammates.

Sid Sackson was an American board game designer and collector, best known as the creator of the business game Acquire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Can't Stop (board game)</span>

Can't Stop is a board game designed by Sid Sackson originally published by Parker Brothers in 1980; however, that edition has been long out of print in the United States. It was reprinted by Face 2 Face Games in 2007. An iOS version was developed by Playdek and released in 2012. The goal of the game is to "claim" three of the columns before any of the other players can. But the more that the player risks rolling the dice during a turn, the greater the risk of losing the advances made during that turn.

<i>Family Business</i> (game) Dedicated deck card game

Family Business is a card game of "mob vengeance" for 2 to 6 players, published by Mayfair Games in 1982, and then again in 1989.

<i>Cosmic Encounter</i> Science fiction board game

Cosmic Encounter is a science fiction–themed strategy board game designed by "Future Pastimes" and originally published by Eon Games in 1977. In it, each player takes the role of a particular alien species, each with a unique power to bend or break one of the rules of the game, trying to establish control over the universe. The game was inducted into the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design Adventure Gaming Hall of Fame in 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skip-Bo</span> Card game

Skip-Bo is a commercial version of the card game Spite and Malice, a derivative of Russian Bank, which in turn originates from Double Klondike. In 1967, Minnie Hazel "Skip" Bowman (1915–2001) of Brownfield, Texas, began producing a boxed edition of the game under the name SKIP-BO. In 1980 the game was purchased by International Games, which was subsequently bought by Mattel in 1992. A mobile version of the game for iOS was released by Magmic in September, 2013. There is a new version called "SKIP-BO Mod" that comes in a white and blue case.

<i>The Warlock of Firetop Mountain</i> (board game) Board game

The Warlock of Firetop Mountain is a Games Workshop adventure board game published in 1986, based on the Fighting Fantasy gamebook The Warlock of Firetop Mountain. The game can be played by 2-6 players. A typical game has a length of two hours.

<i>Judge Dredd</i> (board game) Board game

Judge Dredd, subtitled "The Game of Crime-Fighting in Mega-City One", is a board game published by Games Workshop (GW) in 1982 that is based on the dystopian comic series Judge Dredd that appeared in the British comic magazine 2000 AD.

<i>Murder on the Zinderneuf</i> 1983 video game

Murder on the Zinderneuf is a 1983 video game designed by Jon Freeman and Paul Reiche III and one of the first six games published by Electronic Arts. It was developed for the Apple II, Commodore 64, Atari 8-bit family, and the IBM PC.

Masterpiece is a board game by Parker Brothers, now a brand of Hasbro. Players participate in auctions for famous works of art. It was designed by Joseph M. Burck of Marvin Glass and Associates and originally published in 1970 by Parker Brothers, and then published again in 1976 and 1996. The game is now out of print. In this game, players compete with other players to bid on potentially valuable paintings, and negotiate with other players to trade these works of art, build a portfolio, amass money, and win the game. The top value of a painting in the 1970 edition is $1 million, and $10 million in the 1996 edition; however, getting the full value for the painting requires some luck in landing on the right square on the board to sell a painting to the bank.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Game</span> Structured form of play

A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work or art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Truc</span> Card game

Truc, pronounced [tʁy(k)] in France and [tɾuk] in Spain, is a 15th-century bluff and counter-bluff trick-taking card game which has been likened to poker for two. It is played in Occitania, Sarthe, Poitou (tru) and the Basque Country (truka), and is still very popular in the Valencia region. More elaborate versions are widely played in Argentina, Uruguay, Venezuela, Paraguay and Brazil under such names as Truco, Truque and Truquiflor. The French version Le Truc has become more widely known in the English-speaking world and among hobbyist gamers after Sid Sackson included it in his popular book A Gamut of Games (1969), it being a translation of E. Lanes' 1912 book, Nouveau Manuel Complet des Jeux de Cartes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Egyptian Ratscrew</span> Card game involving "slapping" cards

Egyptian Ratscrew (ERS) or Slap is a modern American card game of the matching family and popular with children. The game is similar to the 19th-century British card game beggar-my-neighbour, with the added concept of "slapping" cards when certain combinations are played, similar to and perhaps borrowed from Slapjack.

Bowling Solitaire is a patience or solitaire card game that uses a single deck standard playing cards to simulate a round of ten-pin bowling.

<i>Wizards Quest</i>

Wizard's Quest is a fantasy board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1979.

<i>Samantha Fox Strip Poker</i> 1986 video game

Samantha Fox Strip Poker is a 1986 erotic video game developed by Software Communications and published by Martech. It was published on the Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro, MSX, and ZX Spectrum.

Hexagames was a German game publisher in Dreieich, which existed from 1982 to 1992. It was one of the most famous German game publishers of the 1980s, notable for publishing games such as Lines of Action (1988) and Cosmic Encounter (1992).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ratrace (game)</span>

Ratrace is a family economic board game designed by Alfons Rubbens and published by Waddingtons in 1967. Described as "the madcap game of social climbing," players attempt to acquire status and cash in order to make their way from Working Class to High Society and become the wealthiest player by the end of the game.

References

  1. ↑ Whitehill, Bruce (1992). Games: American Boxed Games and Their Makers, 1822-1992. Radnor, Pennsylvania: Homestead Book Company. p. 44. ISBN   9780870695834 – via Internet Archive.
  2. 1 2 3 "Sleuth Rulebook". Eagle-Gryphon Games. 16 September 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2023– via Google Drive.
  3. 1 2 Sackson, Sid (December 1973). Games and Puzzles 1973-12: Iss 20. A H C Publications. p. 18 – via Internet Archive.
  4. 1 2 Gros, Pascal (June 1989). Jeux & stratégie 59. Excelsior Publications. p. 16 – via Internet Archive.
  5. 1 2 Schmittberger, R. Wayne, ed. (1 November 1982). GAMES Magazine #33. Playboy Enterprises. p. 46 – via Internet Archive.
  6. ↑ "Games 100". GAMES Magazine . Playboy Enterprises (45): 48. 1 November 1983 – via Internet Archive.
  7. ↑ https://archive.org/details/playboywinnersgu00free/page/106/mode/2up
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.