Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective Board Game Review

In this Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective board game review we’ll look at what it is really like to be the great Sherlock Holmes.

You will be playing as the famous Baker Street irregulars. Holmes’ group of street urchins that he relied on to keep him informed of the murky underworld.

In this game you will get some cases that Holmes hasn’t time to solve. Can you step up and follow in his footsteps?

Let’s take a look and see if this game will get your deductive reasoning flowing.

Table of Contents

1. What Is Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective About?
2. How Well Is Sherlock Holmes’ Consulting Detective Made?
3. Is Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective A Good Solo Game?
4. Can Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective Be Replayed?
5. Which Is The First Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective Game?
6. Is Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective Worth Buying?

What Is Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective About?

Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective sets you as one of the legendary Baker Street Irregulars. It appears that as Holmes becomes more famous there are more mysteries than he can solve.

It is up to you to solve 10 cases and see if you are as good as the master detective. The game itself is very text based and you will read the story as you decide where to investigate. Picking out clues as you go.

Taking notes would be a good idea and then decide on which leads to follow up on and which to discount. It is very open and so there are no lists of leads or nudges as to what to do next. It is all in the text.

The game starts off with an introductory text describing the case and the mystery at hand. This will usually be in interview form with Holmes. It’s then up to you to decide where to go. 

You will have to pick out the leads and main characters from the text. For example, in the Mystified Murderess you will note that the murder takes place in Halliday’s.

If you decide you want to go and see the murder scene then look up Halliday’s in the London Directory and it will give you a location. Look up the location in the casebook and you will read all about the incident and the room it happened in.

The 10 cases come in chronological order and each one has a newspaper for that date. These Newspapers hold clues to the current case and so may help you to solve them or provide leads for you to follow up.

However, as you proceed along the cases, previous Newspapers may also hold clues to your current case. This is a nice little aspect. 

So, when starting your case you will need to keep the earlier case Newspapers to hand too. Later Newspapers will not be relevant and so should not be viewed.

The London Directory and Newspapers can be read as much as a player likes during their turn.

In multiplayer games you assign a lead investigator who will decide where to go next. You can discuss as a team the options but the lead investigator will have the final say. 

Once their turn is over then the lead investigator passes around the group to the next person. This then continues until you believe you have solved the mystery. 

You can then proceed to the questions. These are in the form of two questions. One that will be the core answer and the second will be for bonus marks. Once answered you proceed to reading Sherlock Holmes’ solution.

This will give you the complete answer to the mystery and how Holmes solved it. Once read you can add up your score and see how close you got to Sherlock’s perfect 100.

If you would like to try an example of the cases then you can find a “The Mystified Murderess” case on the Space Cowboys website for you to download.

This game sounds reasonably easy to learn and it is. However, it is not easy to solve the mysteries and you will be doing well to even get near Sherlocks scores. The fun is in the brain teasers and having to lead your own investigation.

Can you solve it? 

How Well Is Sherlock Holmes’ Consulting Detective Made?

There is very little in the way of components in this game. It is largely printed material. The map is easy to find your way around and divided nicely into areas for quickly locating locations. The booklets are fine.

Everything is designed to immerse yourself in the world of Sherlock Holmes. From the style of the London Directory through to the Rule Book. Everything is printed beautifully and made to make you feel like you are in the 1800’s tracking down the villains.

Where this game comes into its own is the story and text. Whilst there is a lot of text it really immerses you into the mystery. You will need all your deductive powers to even solve the mysteries, let alone match the great Holmes.

This is really what you are paying for in this game. The fantastic stories, puzzling mysteries and to put yourself in the shoes of Sherlock Holmes for an hour or so.

Is Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective A Good Solo Game?

Yes, Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective is a great solo game. It works as well with one as it does a team. In fact I like playing this solitaire.

You may find it a little more challenging. Sometimes it is really useful to have some friends brainstorming ideas and helping with which lead to follow next.

Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective is my number 8 in the article 20 Best Solo Board Games. If you are interested in playing solo games then this is a must read.

Can Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective Be Replayed?

No, you can’t replay the cases. The magic of this game is in the mystery before you and the fun is in solving it. Just like a true detective. Once you have completed the 10 cases and have read Holmes’ answers you will not be able to unlearn them.

However, with each case taking you around 60-120 minutes to complete you do get around 10-20 hours of gameplay in each expansion. Once you have completed them then you will need to buy another expansion with new cases.

Which Is The First Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective Game?

The first Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective game to be released is The Thames Murders & Other Cases. This was released way back in 1982 and has passed the test of time. It is still as fun to play today as it was then.

It comes with the following cases in date order for you to enjoy:

1. The Munitions Magnate
2. The Tin Soldier
3. The Mystified Murderess
4. The Lionized Lions
5. The Cryptic Corpse
6. The Mummy’s Curse
7. The Banker’s Quietus
8. The Thames Murders
9. The Solicitous Solicitor
10. The Pilfered Paintings

The other expansions are shown below in release order and have 10 cases each:

• Carlton House & Queens Park
• Jack the Ripper & West End Adventures
• The Baker Street Irregulars

There have been reprints since 1982 and also the game designers have worked to make improvements with each expansion released. So you will find The Baker Street Irregulars has some nice improvements that will make the game work better.

Is Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective Worth Buying?

Sherlock Holmes is such a famous character and I have loved watching and reading of his exploits over the years. If you are interested in more information about Sherlock Holmes then this Fandom site has lots to read about the great detective, characteristics and his sidekicks.

I have to say that this is one of the games that I really aspire to…and am absolutely useless at! You are bound to be better at solving these things than me.

Saying that, I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of playing this game. The head scratching and puzzling over which lead to take next was fantastic fun.

It is engaging with an immersive story and if you are looking for something to truly put you in the shoes of Holmes then this will be great fun. Each murder is unique and mind bendingly puzzling.

If you are looking for something to tax your mind and challenge your deductive powers then I highly recommend this game.

The mystery and all the leads, whether good or bad, will lead you to a conclusion. Is it the right one though?

	Players	Age	Playtime (m)	Rating
Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective	1-8	13+	60-120	7.7
Buy at Amazon