Bureau of Investigation: Investigations in Arkham & Elsewhere

Board Game Geek Reviews

1. 5 out of 10

   Andy Parsons

   On the whole, I think that claiming Bureau of Investigation is based on Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective does this game no favours. The first two cases (of five) follow that familiar format, with a couple of tweaks. The first tweak separates the question of who or where is significant from the explanation of how and why. This is intended to increase replayability. Well maybe, but remembering who/where when you revisit the case alters the play significantly. The second offers the choice at any location of interviewing the occupant or staking out/searching the place. That seems a good idea in theory. However, I found it whittled away of the limited number of leads that can be pursued, because when one approach was unproductive, I often simply tried the other. Case 2 also introduces the passage of time. It is triggered by certain events and brings different clues for some locations. The catch is that if the investigator doesn't witness those events, it's like time is standing still. And those events are not directly linked to the case's solution. One of the reasons why I think referencing Consulting Detective wasn't a good idea is that the first two cases take the difficulty level down a couple of notches. I just didn't find the deduction very challenging. The second reason is that the final three cases depart from its format. Cases 3 and 5 have the investigator moving from location to location, more in the manner of a choose your own adventure story. Case 4 is reminiscent of games like Fire in Adlerstein, where you are given a pile of evidence and need to deduce from it what you can. For me, it was the pick of this set. The writing throughout is bland and functional. It lacks the detail and characterisation of the Consulting Detective series. As usual with Space Cowboys, the English is not always idiomatic. My favourite was a person strengthened for battle by "the temerity your love instils in me". The danger with a Cthulhu setting is that gaps in the logic of the plotting are patched over with mysterious rites and unknowable horrors. The plot of case 1 does indeed seem like complete twaddle, while case 4 feels improbable on several levels. Production quality is good. The most notable thing about the art is that there isn't much of it.

2. 10 out of 10

   Aboosecay

   I would give this a 9 but I feel there are a fair few too many low scores. I think the design is great. the writing is good and the meat and potatoes for a game like this, the story and mystery and ability to solve it is great. being able to figure out how and why I was wrong and seeing the threads I was supposed to follow and recognizing that they were clever and neat. I only have issue with one of the cases and I love two of them more than anything and the whole thing just feels like taking the Sherlock cases and thinking outside of the box and making it just generally more fun and exciting

3. 7 out of 10

   tigerwalms

   Wasn't impressed with first case, system didn't feel consistent, the way you score at the end felt unsatisfactory. A disappointing start.