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Each case usually has a deadline, meaning the in-game time by which you need to give a solution. Each piece of evidence found, each character interrogated, and each location travelled to add to the time spent, so you have to choose your actions with care. In Chronicles of Crime 1900, the action of investigating a crime scene of location is done using the app. One player holds the device and rotates it to look around whilst listing off different things they can see. The other players then find those categories of cards ready to scan and place on the evidence board. Evidence which has been found goes at the top, and evidence you know or is missing goes at the bottom. Compared to the escape room games I’ve played before, I found Chronicles of Crime a much more appealing and enjoyable experience. The logic of the cases is less abstract than some of the puzzles in the Exit games and therefore you always feel like you should have solved something and rarely that something was obtuse or unfair. The tech works well and I had no problem with scanning unless under very bright lights. And while replay value of each case is low, there is a ton of content and due to the app it is easy to add further cases down the line.
The way the narratives and the investigation mechanics merge together is very satisfying, and the pacing of each case is generally good. Moreover, 1400 is the earliest instalment of the Millenium Series, which also contains 1900 (where you play as a journalist on the hunt for scoops) and 2400 (in which Paris is a cyber-dystopia). The protagonists in each instalment all belong to the same family, and certain characters and elements pop up across the series, making it a very satisfying experience to play through them all. Someone else can have a go too, but everything in this game costs time, and time is important with the chief cop demanding you get answers by certain deadlines. Interviews take place by scanning the QR code of characters, you can then ask them about other characters and items by scanning the relevant codes, and moving around the city is done in the same fashion. When you are ready the app will ask you a series of questions to ascertain whether you have solved the case with the correct reasoning or not, and then gives you a score based on this. In general, I really enjoyed how sophisticated the interrogations are. Characters can have different responses depending on what you’ve shown them before and where you meet them. If you like the sound of app assisted mystery solving, but the Middle Ages are not your preferred setting, there are multiple other Chronicles of Crime games.Some cases have built-in timed events that will trigger at certain points in the investigation to introduce some new aspect and put everything you already know in a new context. I really liked that, especially how talking to characters about another character or a piece of evidence would change wildly before and after such an event. As far as player count goes I think you could play it with a large group, but it works best with two or three players. Most of the action comes through an app so you have to pass the phone or device around. Only so many eyes can help look over the various clues and plot a course of action. Too many cooks and all that… Chronicles of Crime 1400 is an app-driven investigative board game. It uses the core rules from the original Chronicles of Crime, but has an entirely new setting and is a complete stand-alone product. In this article, we’ll review the game, spoiler-free, and also have a look at what’s new for anyone who’s already played Chronicles of Crime.
Chronicles of Crime 1900 follows the same format as its predecessor. Using an app, you scan a combination of locations, witnesses/suspects, clues/evidence and puzzle cards. Playing The GameChronicles of Crime manages to deliver a tense, puzzle-solving-filled experience that thoroughly tests your deduction skills. The blending of physical components and digital media has been achieved with perfection, setting an exemplary example for future puzzle and detective games to come. Their answers may reveal new information, lead you to new locations, or make you aware of new characters. Using the same set of physical components (a board and cards representing locations, characters, and items), the Chronicles of Crime app lets you and your friends step into a world of mystery and play out your investigations. Loading up the app for the first time takes you into a simple tutorial case, but don’t be fooled; subsequent cases up the ante and subtlety significantly. Cases will involve you being called to a scene which you can generally examine using the app. This can be done with the separate VR Module attached to your phone, or just through the phone's display. If you are playing with friends you will be frantically be shouting out all the things you see as they rifle through the clue cards to find something that might relate. One small word of warning, while you can buy the physical elements of the expansions now, the digital part won’t be line until 2019. Meaning you can’t actually use them until that goes live.
Dark and Gritty but so Good Bait is a very well-plotted drama that, in only two episodes, has cleverly evolved, and if it stays its course of successfully telling the story in the coherent way it has in the next four episodes, it will be one of the best crime/thrillers of 2023. It's dark, gritty, and an in-your-face kind of crime/murder thriller that's intensely captivating. A successful strategy for keeping a mystery captivating is to maintain the core of the mystery episode-by-episode while at the same time nimbly tying in the larger picture as the other elements unfold, and Bait does it so well in just two episodes. That said, I would not call 1400 a highly replayable game, at least for the same play group. But as no components are destroyed or altered, the game is perfectly replayable by a different group. I know our copy has been making the rounds of our friend group already. Similar Games In Chronicles of Crime (London Forensic), players will have five unique story-driven cases to solve plus a full tutorial to introduce you to the game. Each scenario is written by experienced authors to give you the most immersive experience while you solve both individual and series of connecting criminal cases!The original Chronicles of Crime is set in modern-day, and features 6 scenarios, with more purchasable through the app. It also has 2 expansions, Noir, with its 1950’s LA setting, and Welcome to Redview with its 80’s teenagers. You can read our review of them all here. You move around the investigation by scanning the QR codes on locations, the characters there, and the pieces of evidence you want to ask them about. As an optional buy, you can even get little glasses that clip over your phone to magnify things. I didn’t much care for those, as they strained my eyes a little. However, I did appreciate that I could pass the view onto my iPad, which was much easier to see from. When playing with a large group, streaming the view to your TV would be great to let others easily view at the same time. In Chronicles of Crime 1400, players take on the role of Abelard Lavel, a knight with visionary powers in medieval Paris. Each mission starts with Abelard having a vision and players drawing specific vision cards to illustrate the dream. These cards aren’t used in the game but can give clues to help solve the crime.
With two, you can easily discuss and share the app and clues. You each have a role, a job, a purpose. With three? You can put heads together whilst someone interrogates the innocent and scans every code available. It’ll be a good balance of thoughts and approaches, with enough hands and heads to work out the nitty-gritty of the many details of the cases. Four is the maximum I’d suggest for this game. It works well, but everyone needs to know the basics of the game to avoid clashes of ideas. More people will just break the game apart and it’ll become a convoluted mess or develop overly complicated ideas and not enough apps to go around. For us, two works perfectly and it’s a superb amount of fun. I love the setting of medieval Paris, I love the dog companion (Perceval!), and I especially love the inclusion of the Visions. About a week after playing Chronicles of Crime for the first time I watched Murder on the Orient Express and solved it before that Poirot fella did. That could be because it was startlingly obvious or maybe Chronicles stood me in good stead… Final Score: 3.5 Stars – A good app integrated game with some intriguing stories that leans a bit too much on the app for my taste.
Chronicles of Crime is super easy to set-up; you put out the various components, most of which have a QR code on them, turn on the app and start the tutorial. If you have splashed out on the VR module as well, you’ll need to keep that handy too. The VR module looks like a small set of glasses but clips on to a normal side phone nice and snugly. The cases themselves aren’t always easy, especially if you miss some key elements meaning a vital location or character doesn’t arrive early in the game. This can lead to some stand still moments as you try to work out what you might have missed, who didn’t you ask about what? After the first proper case I started employing a pen and paper to make some notes as we went! The QR codes on the cards interact in interesting ways that are quite common sense in their application. Scanning a location will take you to it. Scanning a character from there will begin an interrogation of that character and allows players to delve into their knowledge of the other characters and clues that have been found. Investigating clue cards will identify their relevance to the case and whittle down the number of things to look into when talking to characters. The base game (Chronicles of Crime) lets you investigate murders and other crimes as police officers in modern day London, and with the expansions you can either be a hardboiled private investigator in the 1950’s Los Angeles, or teen members of the Redview Mystery Gang in 1980’s Maine. That being said, the scenarios are well designed and sometimes challenging. There are a lot of clues to be uncovered and some missions will keep gamers hunting for hours. If you are looking for something new and unique in the investigative genre, Chronicles of Crime is worth a look.
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