Review of Murder Party Pocket: The Curtain Falls - Kulkmann's Gamebox (www.boardgame.de)

Murder Party Pocket: The Curtain Falls

Authors:
Flaminia Brasini
Virinio Gigli

Publisher:
Cranio Creations
2023

No. of Players:
1-6

EVALUATION

G@mebox author Ralf Togler writes about the game:

Crime investigation games are very popular. And so, there are currently many different publishers, all trying to serve the genre in their own style. That's great for us gamers. A wide range for different numbers of players, with a wide variety of themes and innovative approaches. It's more difficult for publishers however, as they now have to stand out from the crowd in order to get enough attention for their games.

CRANIO CREATIONS has now also launched a new series in the mystery field of crime investigation, called Murder Party Pocket, which comes in small cardboard boxes in pocket format. The Curtain Falls is the first title in the series, in which famous Commissario Ricciardi plays the leading role.

In principle, all crime investigation games follow a similar pattern: you are given a short introductory story and then clues are gradually given through the game. Either this works directly through the game mechanism, or each player is assigned a role and receives secret information for it, which they share with the other players through communication. Through further discussions in the group, the details are then discussed, and, in the best case, the solution is worked out. Depending on the level of difficulty of the clues, the solution can be deduced quite logically or is more likely to be guessed by the players.

In The Curtain Falls, both role allocation and solo plays are possible. There is a murder and six suspects, one of whom was initially identified by the police as the perpetrator. However, Commissario Ricciardi has doubts and we have to go through all the witness interviews with him again. This is done in three rounds, in each of which one clue card of each suspect is turned over, read out and inspected. Some of these cards show a picture, some retell a conversation, others give us thoughts of the suspects.

The game essentially consists of a pack of cards with the dead man, the six suspects and three clue cards each. In addition, a well-designed app guides us through the story and tells us exactly what we can do at what time. After each round of clues, there is time to discuss, the time given to us by the app. And at the end, we can discuss again and work out the solution.

So, nothing really new here. Nevertheless, The Curtain Falls stands out for me in the wide range of crime investigation games on offer. First, I think it's great that the game is so wonderfully compact. The name Pocket says it all!

Secondly, the game has an excellently written story, which is no wonder as Maurizia De Giovanni, a famous Italian author who has been celebrating great success with his books about Commissario Ricciardi for almost 20 years, wrote also the story for the game.

And finally, there's the level of difficulty, which is perfect for me: not too complicated, straightforward, but still not easy to solve. I very much hope that the series will be continued, the next title Deadly Sin is already waiting for me, and hopefully more titles will come soon.

In the end, The Curtain Falls is a great crime investigation game that can also be passed on after solving the case, friends will thank you for that.




Impressum / Contact Info / Disclaimer Copyright © 2024 Ralf Togler & Frank Schulte-Kulkmann, Essen, Germany