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Deception: Murder in Hong Kong
Deception: Murder in Hong Kong is a game of deduction and deception for 4-12 players that plays in about 20 minutes.
In the game, players take on the roles of investigators attempting to solve a murder case – but there’s a twist. The killer is one of the investigators! Each player’s role and team are randomly assigned at the start of play and include the unique roles of Forensic Scientist, Witness, Investigator, Murderer, and Accomplice. While the Investigators attempt to deduce the truth, the murderer’s team must deceive and mislead. This is a battle of wits!
The Forensic Scientist has the solution but can express the clues only using special scene tiles while the investigators (and the murderer) attempt to interpret the evidence. In order to succeed, the investigators must not only deduce the truth from the clues of the Forensic Scientist, they must also see through the misdirection being injected into the equation by the Murderer and Accomplice!
Find out who among you can cut through deception to find the truth and who is capable of getting away with murder!
Roles
Forensic Scientist x1
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.
During the game, the Forensic Scientist is NOT allowed to hint to the solution with words, gestures, or eyes.
Murderer x1
When the crime takes place, the Murderer chooses 1 Clue card and 1 Means card as the solution to the crime. These will be the “Key Evidence” and “Means of Murder” respectively.
The Murderer tries to hide their role and look for a scapegoat. Even if they are identified, the Murderer still wins the game if no one correctly identifies both the “Key Evidence” and the “Means of Murder”.
Investigators x8
To solve the crime, the Investigators must analyze the hints given by the Forensic Scientist. As long as one of the Investigators correctly identifies both the “Key Evidence” and “Means of Murder,” the Murderer is arrested and the Investigators win the game (as does the Forensic Scientist).
Bear in mind that the Murderer (and sometimes Accomplice) is among the Investigators! The innocent Investigators must make a vigorous effort to defend themselves from false accusation.
Accomplice x1
The Accomplice is an optional role for games with six or more players. The Accomplice knows who the Murderer is, as well as the solution to the crime. The Accomplice and Murderer both win if the Murderer gets away with his crime.
Witness x1
The Witness is an optional role when playing with six or more players.* The Witness is an Investigator who has witnessed the culprits leaving the crime scene. They have no way of knowing which is the Murderer and which is the Accomplice and they do not know how the crime was committed.
If the Murderer is arrested but can identify the Witness, the Witness is considered to be killed, allowing the Murderer and the Accomplice to get away with murder and win the game.
| Ages | 14+ |
|---|---|
| Players | 2 Players, 3 Players, 4 Players, 5 Players, 6 Players |
| Play Time | 20m |
| Designer | Tobey Ho |
| Mechanics | Hidden Roles, Team-Based Game, Traitor Game, Deduction, Storytelling |
| Theme | Bluffing, Deduction, Murder/Mystery, Party Game |
| Publisher | Across the Board, Angry Lion Games, Do it games, Gém Klub Kft., Grey Fox Games, Jolly Thinkers, Lifestyle Boardgames Ltd, Lucrum Games, Popcorn Games, sternenschimmermeer, IELLO |
adwodon
A great social deduction game, its definitely my go to. A lot of fun hearing peoples theories. Its definitely worth telling new players to be mindful of their choice if they are the murderer. I've had a few new players who've chosen something which stands out compared to everyone elses cards (like electrocution) which can make solving the crime too easy and a little unsatisfying. That said, when good choices are made and ambiguity is everywhere, or even better, your scientist makes terrible choices then the game is both hilarious, frustration and brilliant all at once.
1000rpm
Played three times in quick succession, with that "one more time" feeling. A lot of fun. A combo of mysterium, codenames and werewolf. Being the murderer felt very exciting. Being the forensic scientist must be like being the ghost in mysterium or clue master in codenames, but with the added battle of wits with the murderer.
Aliiii616
One of the most disappointing games of my life. On paper, everything looks great. But when you enter the game, everything feels different. People express their reasons in their turns with only a few sentences and do not have much to say. Usually there is no discussion and everyone just guesses. The turns are very short and you feel that there is no interaction between the players and this is not a good thing for a social deduction game. Sometimes scene tiles, means and clue cards are revealed in such a way that the detectives have no chance to win. This is also true for the murderer. The forensic scientist only plays for a few minutes during the game and will not do anything special for the rest of the game. This can make her/ him bored. It is possible that my bad experience with this game was because of the group I played with. However, I think some of the game's problems have nothing to do with the group.