If you have ever thought you could out Sherlock Sherlock, out Poirot Poirot or out Endeavour Morse, then you need you check out Chronicles of Crime. Not only is it an excellent game but it is also a true innovation in the Board Game Industry. Chronicles of Crime (Lucky Duck Games) is set across a number of cases, both single cases and interwoven stories across a number of cases. In the game you have two decks of cards; one is characters and the other is clues, which are split into standard and special types. On top of this you have a central board to store clues that you have gathered during your investigation, location mats where you place character cards that are in those locations, and four specialist character mats. You can consult these specialists for medical, physical and psychological advice, during the case. All these components have one thing in common – a QR code. That’s because you need a smartphone and an app to play this game. Normally this would put a lot of people off, the mix of technology and cardboard has a checkered past full of potential not yet realised… until now. Chronicles of Crime is a masterpiece of synergised gameplay and design. 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 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. 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. Chronicles of Crime is a great game and experience, one that is easy to play and rewards logical thinking. The game comes with plenty of cases and the promise of more through digital content. It is quite unlike most other games, the closest it resembles is the popular escape room games, but it is more than that. For those budding armchair detectives in your life this is a fantastic choice. Player Count: 1-4 Time: 60-90 Minutes Age: 14+ Video Review Unboxing Video Review