Jolly Thinkers PJOL01 Deception: Murder in Hong Kong, Mixed Colours

Product Information

Clues and cards are used to solve the murder as the players attempt to identify the murderer and figure out what happened. It is the forensic scientist who knows everything about the investigation, but he cannot tell the investigator what he/she is looking for. A deception is a board game in which the murderer has the choice of which combination of weapons to use and which clues to give investigators. The clues are crafted from various elements of a specific crime. The game should not have become too severe due to the amount of time it took for them to accumulate. The Deception Card Game allows players to choose one of four possible answers for 20 minutes. The majority of the time, most players do not play the game until they have finished looking at all of their cards. Then, during the Committing a Crime phase, don’t rush it. Be extra clear about your instructions. And, my goodness, make sure that anyone who has to open their eyes is absolutely silent when they do so. And then has their eyes firmly shut and their hands in a normal position when it’s time for everyone to open them again.

After everything else is set up the only remaining task is to pass out badge tokens. Everyone except the forensic scientist gets a badge token, and they must be placed within eyesight of all other players in front of you. These tokens indicate that this player has not attempted to solve the crime yet. GAMEPLAY I love a good murder mystery almost as much as I love any game where you get to deceive people, so I was incredibly keen to get my hands on Deception: Murder in Hong Kong! The Game The Forensic Scientist announces, "Murderer, indicate the 'Key Evidence' and 'Means of Murder.'" The Murderer then points to one of their Clue cards and one of their Means cards.The Forensic Scientist then sets out the Cause of Death tile in the center of the table and choses one of the 4 Location tiles to also set out. Then he draws 4 random Scene tiles and places them in the center of the table as well. It’s through these 6 tiles that he will give clues to the Investigators. The Forensic Scientist chooses 1 of 4 Location tiles to use. Investigator (8): The investigators win if at least one of them can correctly guess the means of murder and the evidence left behind. They can do this by using the clues given by the forensic scientist, but they must keep in mind the murder and the accomplice are within their ranks and will try to steer them in the wrong direction. Each round, after an indeterminate amount of discussion, everyone’s supposed to go around and present their official hypothesis for weapon and clue within a 30 second time limit. I don’t quite understand this quirk of a rule, as it seems to create unnecessary structure. I suppose it forces people to contribute, which might help bring shy players more into the game, but it seems rather arbitrary and ends up creating more awkwardness rather than less. It also hurts whatever anemic possibilities there are for a social deduction metagame because now there’s no play in trying to hide and stay quiet as the murderer. Social deduction works when people are freed from too much structure and are given the chance to be creative with their lying and manipulating. Too much structure handcuffs the magic. I understand why you would want a time limit, because discussion can go on forever analyzing different possibilities from the vague clues. But I think it would have worked better with an overall timer rather than mandating a hypothesis carousel. Matters Of Time Players are free to mix and match Roles in any way which is fun for them. The following sets are ones that have been tested and work well for creating fun and tense games.

Accusations can be made during any time of the investigation by using the badge token. Look at Solving the Crime for more information. Investigation As the game master, the Forensic Scientist holds the solution to the crime. They are responsible for assisting the Investigators in identifying the “Key Evidence” and “Means of Murder.” When an Investigator does that successfully, the crime is solved and the Forensic Scientist and the Investigators win the game. Finally, the Forensic Scientist should instruct, "Everyone, open your eyes", and then remove the Badge token from the player indicated by the Inside Man. Deception: Murder in Hong Kong is a great gateway game for those that have never played social deduction games before. The concept of the genre can be a little confusing and the mechanisms of a few other titles, such as Secret Hitler, can be a little difficult to follow for newbies on the first couple of plays.

Yes, the premise is that someone has been murdered and we’re investigating how it occurred. But the method of investigation is so engaging that she was hooked right away. The artwork suits the theme and the card design is simple an effective. My only criticism here is that if trying to play in low light the dark colours can be hard to distinguish between, and the palette can look a little bland. But the pieces are well made and the game has everything it needs. Deception: Murder In Hong Kong, from Tobey Ho and Grey Fox Games, is the newest challenger to the throne (in my house anyways–BGG says it was released in 2014). I put it on my wishlist after seeing the folks at The Dice Tower rave about it and compare it favorably against The Resistance. What I’ve found is that Deception is less a social deduction game and more in what I’m calling the “hindered communication” sub-genre, making it cousins with games like Codenames and Mysterium.

Then the forensic scientist will tell the witness to open their eyes if there is one and will point to the murder and accomplice without revealing which player is which. Then the forensic scientist will tell the witness to close their eyes.As the game master, the Forensic Scientist holds the solution to the crime. They are responsible for assisting the Investigators in identifying the "Key Evidence" and "Means of Murder". If the cards chosen when a player attempts to solve the crime are the correct "Key Evidence" and "Means of Murder", the game ends immediately and the Forensic Scientist and Investigators (as well as the Witness) win. Throughout the game, players will pitch theories of the murder as a they suss out the criminal in their midst. For example, if the crime took place in the forest, an ax might make sense as a murder weapon (because they were chopping trees right beforehand, obviously). If they’re really confident, they can give up their their badge and make a dramatic accusation, winning the game if they get it right. But if they get it wrong, they are relegated to the status of the grizzled old private detective: sure, you can pitch your wild theories all you want, but you no longer have the ability to arrest the criminal yourself.

She’s also not a fan of bluffing games. Games that involve any type of deceit don’t go over well in her book. Yet for a game called “Deception” there isn’t any lying involved. The person who is the murderer isn’t telling people that he’s not the murderer. Instead, he’s simply suggesting cards in front of the other players that may incriminate them. The possible combos are always so varied. Inside Man, please open your eyes and point to any 1 player to have their Badge token removed". The Forensic Scientist should make a mental note of the player selected then say, "Inside Man, close your eyes", and verify that they have done so. We love the unique game play of deducing a pair of cards from vague clues given by the Forensic Scientist. If the Accomplice and Witness are in the game, there are further steps to take for them, but we don’t need to go into those details. Just know that they’re fun to have in the game as well. If you were the Murderer, which two cards would you choose (1 blue, 1 red)?

Components

The group discussion and theorizing that underpins it can be extremely engaging, and especially rewarding for those that like to use their imagination. Players should take a moment to look at everyone’s means and clue cards, bit any art on the cards is for reference and only the text should influence investigators thought and opinions. Roles Deception: Murder in Hong Kong combines the ‘find the bad guy’ element of other social deduction games with a clever mechanic for giving clues. It plays a lot like Mysterium, but with the added complication of someone working to actively sabotage the clues. The forensic scientist is probably the most fun to play, which might not be a good sign, given that they are excluded from the main gameplay. Closing Comments on Deception: Murder in Hong Kong Most players are Investigators trying to solve the case. One player is the Murderer who is trying to remain undetected through the game’s 3 rounds.