Watson & Holmes

Race rival detectives through Victorian London to crack unpublished Sherlock Holmes cases first.

Designer: Jesús Torres Castro
Published by: Ludonova
Editions by: asmodee, Space Cowboys, Hobby Japan, Asterion Press, MYBG Co., Ltd., Summon Games

You are Doctor Watson's new assistants, and Holmes needs you. Watson and Holmes is a deduction game set in the Victorian London of Arthur Conan Doyle, built around previously unpublished cases drawn from Watson's diaries. Two to seven detectives visit locations across the city, pick up clues and decide when they know enough to name the culprit. The tension comes from the race: everyone chases the same trail and nobody wants to wait while someone else gets there first. Guess too early and you are out. It plays like a murder-mystery night with better pacing, and about seventy-five minutes of whispered theories.

Cases drawn from Watson's diariesPick locations at the same timeWrong guess can knock you out

Who it's for

You enjoy Sherlock Holmes and detective deduction, and want to race friends to the solution in a group of four or five.

Not for you if…

You want a purely cooperative mystery, or you dislike being eliminated for a wrong guess.

Vibe's take

A tense, whispery race of clues. You watch where others go, bluff about what you know and hold your nerve before committing to an answer.