Beyond Baker Street
Overall Rating: 9/10
Age: 10+
GLAM Age Range: 8-Adult
Number of Players: 2-4
Playing Time: 20 min
Publisher: Z-Man Games
Complexity: Medium
Available At: Amazon.com
Quick Take: Beat Sherlock to solve the case! Clever cooperative game that requires some excellent strategy and teamwork in order to be successful. You don't see your cards, you hold them out for your teammates to see and you must work together to communicate information in order to play cards that add up to the value of a card representing either Suspect, Motive, or Opportunity. Many adult cooperative games seem to be speed based, we enjoy that this one has no speed aspect and is entirely strategy based.
How to Play: The rules are simple enough once you've played the game once. I highly recommend watching the GLAM video explaining how to play the game. The goal of the game is to beat Sherlock Holmes to solving a case. You play cooperatively and hold your cards face out. Fellow players give you clues and you're trying to play cards that add to the correct total in the correct color for the suspect, motive, and opportunity spots. For each clue or assist you give, Sherlock moves forward one spot. When you play a card, which is called investigating a lead, you draw a new card. If you play the wrong color or go over the total on the card that adds to the total number you need to reach on that stack. Once you have gotten to the correct total for a stack, on a separate turn you can confirm and Sherlock will move back a spot. The other aspect of the game is moving along the number line based on value of the cards you place in the discard pile. You need to get to exactly 20 or you lose. You lose if you confirm all three piles of cards too early, you overshoot 20 on the number line, or if Sherlock Holmes beats you to the end of the number line. There are quite a few aspects of the game to line up properly if you wish to win!
Variations: Start without special character abilities and add those in after your first round of play. They are fun and help you win at the more difficult levels as long as you are strategic with how you use the abilities.
Similar Games To Check Out: Hanabi, 5-Minute Dungeon, Fuse,