Chronicles of Crime

I own every version and expansion of Chronicles of Crime, and it’s easily one of my all-time favorite games. I backed the series on Kickstarter, traveled with it across continents, and introduced it to more people than I can count. I’ve played it solo, with friends in Europe, and with complete strangers all over North America — and it’s been a blast every single time. It’s the one game I always pack so I have something better to do than doom-scrolling during long trips. What I love The scenarios are well-paced with consistently strong writing. The QR-based investigation system makes each case feel immersive. The app is stable and polished across every version and expansion. Replayability stays high thanks to branching paths and clue variations. It works with any group size: solo, two-player, or a full table. Every box adds a distinct theme and gameplay twist. Fast setup and teardown for a narrative-heavy game. Very easy to teach, even to absolute beginners. What I like less The difficulty balance jumps around from case to case. Some scenarios reward scanning everything just to rule things out. It depends on a charged phone, so it’s not fully analog. Summary A standout storytelling and investigation system that stays fresh across countless scenarios. After backing it on Kickstarter, traveling with it worldwide, and teaching it everywhere from Belgium to the U.S., it remains one of the most reliable, fun, and replayable games in my entire collection. I’m genuinely excited to see what the next Chronicles installment will bring.

We bought this as a family gift for Christmas, and it did not disappoint. The setup was easy, and the learning curve was surprisingly short for the complexity of the game. We loved that there are several different scenarios/crimes and some build on the previous ones. Note: This is not a "fast" game so be prepared to spend some time on it or set it up somewhere you can leave it. Good cooperative play game as everyone is working together to solve the crime. Being able to look for clues virtually was such a unique aspect of the game. *Note: you do need a tablet to play this game. This was a big hit, and we will look for an expansion pack for this year.

I bought this to play during quarantine while on sale for $20. What a deal! Definitely worth more than that. I had so much fun playing the scenarios alone. Going solo gives you the time to really ponder connections and hear the story come together. PROS: • I enjoy the cognitive aspects when it comes to deciding whom to ask about what evidence and digging for evident locate other suspects. • I love the app on my phone as a tool. The QR code scanning is such an innovative piece to the game, plus all the additional scenarios you can buy. • Really like the Specialists component. Chronicles of crime gives you access to 4 resources to “call” by scanning them. This will allow you to ask for autopsy info, electronic forensics, physical evidence forensics and a criminal profiler. • The box can hold this game and it’s currently available expansions (Welcome to Redview and Chronicles of Crime Noir). It is all neatly organized in the box, probably one of the best implementations I have seen to store a core game and it’s expansions in one place while keeping them separate. CONS: More than one player - I played a round with my wife. She didn’t enjoy it enough to play again and it was somewhat laborious to read so much out loud to each other and take turns. If you e ever played Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective, you may feel similar. I feel both are best enjoyed solo. You feel like you are the detective investigating cases. There’s a lot of stop and go if you involve more people. • Solutions - Once your case is complete, you are awarded points based on if you answered questions right or wrong. One thing that makes me take this game from a 5 to a 4 star is the solution logic. It’s not all there. If you missed a suspect or piece of evidence, sometimes you are completely unsure where that was or how the solution came to a certain conclusion. In a game like Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective, the solution shows you where Sherlock went and what evidence was gathered there and whom he talked to about it. This game just gives you a satisfying summary without all the detail, so you can’t fill in the blank of where you went wrong in some instances. In Sherlock, I really enjoy just throwing out the timer aspect and just exploring the city and the story. It is so much more immersive to explore without a timer and penalties. The application for this game and its expansion will not typically tell you by what time you have to solve a case, usually just the day it needs to be done by. I had some exploring I wanted to do on a case and the timer just told me I failed and asked me all the questions. There was no going back. While it’s nice that it tracks it itself, it’s not fun to be immersed in a story and then be told “Time’s Up!” • Replayability - This factor is pretty low. I can’t see myself going back to re-work any cases. I’ll probably give this to a friend once done for them to enjoy. Short of purchasing new cases in the application marketplace or buying the available expansions, there’s not any replayability in my eyes. All in all, it is an excellent game, even at its current price point of $35 (04/19/20). I would recommend this for anyone looking for a game that really makes you think and explore connections.

Played one of the stories with my family for Game Night. We really had a fun time solving the mystery together. If you like solving murder mysteries, play this game👍

I was looking for a collaborative game for us to play in the evening and saw that Chronicles of Crime was highly rated. We went through the tutorial to figure out how to play and found the game easy to learn. The gameplay isn't overly complex and uses a combination of a downloadable app, QR codes, videos for searching crime scenes, and cards to simulate the crime solving experience. It feels like there are multiple ways an investigation can go and that you make meaningful decisions along the way. We've found the modules challenging and fun. There's also the ability to purchase expansion packs when we've finished the base modules.

This game is brilliant. The app integration is perfect. I love the coop and having everyone work together to solve each crime. Challenging but fun even if you don’t solve every part of it. We’ve been humbled quite a bit in our detective skills! We have had a blast every time we’ve played- well worth it. We are already looking at buying the expansions.

Chronicles of Crime is a super fun cooperative deduction game that needs a smartphone/app and really shines with 3–5 players. The app adds immersive clues and tense moments, and solving cases together is seriously satisfying. Great pick for game night!

Absolutely love how interactive this game. There are multiple cases to solve with expansion packs both online and offline. You can download the App and look through the cases to see if they are the kind you are interested about. My sister and I really spent a range of 1.5hours to 5 hours for different cases of different difficulty levels. It's not limited to the standard 5 suspects from games of other brands so it makes you really think out of the box. The game flow changes depending on what you have scanned. E.g. only if you scanned an evidence and had a Hacker check it and only then will the suspects answer change accordindly. This also means if you missed out on some clues, its possible you will never be introduced to certain suspects or locations. Thus not completely the full game or giving you the whole picture. Although they give the 'solution' which is like an ending/ conclusion of the game. They don't disclose or inform the clues/ actions you missed and thus giving you a lower score. Thats the only irked part. However a simple google search might give you hints from other players on areas you missed and how to solve the game quick. I've played this detective series from other brands (Hunt a killer, Murder Mystery)

I've had my eyes set on this game for quite some time and at last I got my hands on it. The inclusion of the mobile was not something I am very keen on in board games but it turned out to be much better than I expected. The cases and the characters are very well built so far and I love the graphic design of the materials. Plus as someone that is called OCD a few times, the box design is bliss. It has special compartments for every piece and also extra compartments for the pieces that come with the expansions and makes sure that nothing gets jumbled up when you put the game up on the shelf. I don't think I will be playing any of the cases twice because I don't like stories that I know the twists beforehand. But the two expansions and new cases that are being available through the app makes this game playable for a long time. I am playing this with my wife. I think that is the best number of players for this game because with more than two it may get boring for some of the players. I didn't use my low cost VR case that you can put the mobile in for the VR scenes which seemed too much of an effort at the time. Maybe it may be better like that but checking the VR scenes directly on your phone with two sets of eyes seemed rather more advantageous. All in all 10/10.

There are multiple cases I can enjoy with my friends. The game setting resembles real world investigation where you need to gather information from locations, people, and clues by yourself without hint. It’s also possible to buy more cases online.

Ce jeu est géniale en est vite dans l'immersion !

El juego tiene una dependencia del idioma notable ya que las pistas vienen en inglés. La aplicación, la cual a este momento es gratuita, es posible descargarla y estará en el idioma del teléfono, y corre sin problema en español. De ser necesario pudieran traducirse las pistas con plumón o cinta para jugarlo en español. Esta versión no incluye los lentes de VR. Ahora bien, el juego requiere de un teléfono celular o tablet para jugarlo a través de la app. El dispositivo escaneará los códigos QR de las tarjetas para interrogar a testigos, hablar con especialistas, moverte en la ciudad y analizar pistas, todo con el ánimo de resolver el caso lo más pronto posible, ya que al final se te indicará con una calificación el desempeño en el caso. La rejugabilidad es mínima ya que es una sola respuesta por escenario, la app tiene algunos escenarios gratis pero es posible comprar otros adicionales de forma digital. Adicional a ello la expansiones añaden nuevos elementos y escenarios a resolver. En mi opinión, el juego es bueno, pero si estás deseando mucha rejugabilidad, no es el juego indicado.