Developer: Asmodee Digital, Playsoft
Publisher: Asmodee Digital
RRP: £4.99 (Humblebundle) and £5.19 (Steam)
Released: 12th January 2017
Available on: Humblebundle and Steam
Played Using: Mouse and keyboard
Approximate game length: 2 Hours (approximate)
What brings families together more than a murder? Investigating and solving one that is, not committing one… unless that’s your thing in which case please never invite me around.
I do love a good board game, especially if its got a unique or interesting idea to it and Mysterium definitely has that. In Mysterium you play the part of an paranormal investigator, specifically one that deals with ghosts. It’s your job to work out who the killer is, where the murder occurred and with what weapon. Admittedly that does sound like the basic idea of Cludeo (or Clue as its otherwise known), except in this game the ghost of the deceased actually try to help by providing you with vague clues in the form of very beautifully illustrated cards. It should also be mentioned that this is a co-operative game so either you all win or all lose.
Everything I described there is the basic premise of the board game, so what does the video game do differently? Mechanically, there is no difference. It does introduce a story mode though, the first three cases of which act as tutorials. I have to say that I was quite thankful for that, it had been a while since I last played Mysterium and I wasn’t wanting to have to go through a very dry text tutorial. Learn by doing I say! And it seems the designers agree teaching the player the various mechanics they’ll be using step by step by having them complete three cases.
The game also introduces a multiplayer mode that includes a pass and play mode (or rather a hot-seat mode because there is no way I’m ‘passing’ my rig).
As was mentioned earlier the clues that the ghost gives are vague. The ghost gets dealt seven cards and has to pick the card they think most represents the culprit, location and weapon. This mechanic is explained by saying that the ghost is suffering from trauma, which is not that surprising considering they were murdered, and so their memory is a bit hazy. The investigators have seven rounds (or hours as the game calls them) to work out the culprit, location and weapon. In theory you can do this within three rounds but since the clues are vague its quite likely you may end up getting the wrong answer and require another clue and round. Once the investigators have made their choice it can’t be undone.
Once you have the suspect, location and weapon you can take a guess at the circumstances. In this you’re shown the guesses of all the investigators as well as three cards that hint at the right answer. The investigators all vote in secret and you only get one chance, if you get it wrong then you lose.
When all the votes are in the true culprit is revealed.
Considering that its just a straight up copy of the board game I have to say I’m rather impressed. It captures the actual feel of the game. If you fancy an interesting digitised board game you really could do worse.
If this appeals to you perhaps try;
Ticket to Ride
Town of Salem
Gremlins INC
