虚构推理

As this is a commercial boxed game, many Chinese reviews exist; you might want to check them out too.

Played at: DUAL LIFE 第二人生推理馆
6 players (3 male, 3 female)

This hardcore 硬核 case takes a while to get going, but the journey is worth it. It has an interestingly immersive and multi-layered structure, with early game rounds taking on a deeper significance as the case proceeds.

With a wide-ranging plot and a surfeit of details, the case may feel overwhelming at the start — but it’s satisfying to spot the links and piece things together.

Some of the things you’ll have to consider, in your pursuit of the truth, are refreshingly atypical.《虚构推理》has some very clever moves — detractors might find these too clever, but I’d personally consider this a must-play for its unique structure and mystery-solving process.

Try if you like: Atypical approaches to mystery-solving; diegetic gameplay; a multi-layered challenge.

Not recommended for: Beginners; players who prefer a more straightforward presentation of cases; players who might feel overwhelmed by too many narrative strands.

日日是好日

As this is a commercial boxed game, many Chinese reviews exist; you might want to check them out too.

Played at: DUAL LIFE 第二人生推理馆
6 players (3 female, 3 male)

It still amuses me that not all jubensha have the 推理 (reasoning/analysis/inference) tag — attesting to how they’ve evolved away from their murder mystery origins. But what’s a murder mystery without a focus on murder-solving?

《日日是好日》is one such light-hearted (欢乐) yet emotional (情感) case that has neither the 推理 nor the 还原 (story-reconstruction) tag — for good reason, because there isn’t much to figure out. Playing it gave me a better understanding of why jubensha in China is seen as a casual social activity and not necessarily an intense intellectual workout.

The aim is entertainment, and the game is structured for this, with multiple short rounds that range from in-character sniping to unravelling mini mysteries to Dixit (no, really). Oh, and solving a murder, though it feels almost like an afterthought.

Like other cases with both the 欢乐 and 情感 tags, the tone eventually shifts from humorous to something more affecting — though the effectiveness may vary, not least depending on how good you are at reading aloud.

The right audience might find《日日是好日》to be a fun experience. For my part, I appreciated the glimpse of an industry segment which I hadn’t encountered before — but which, alas, I’m not keen to encounter again.

Try if you like: Role-playing; light-hearted fun and games; multiple small ahas.

Not recommended for: Players who care about case-solving and analysis; players with low tolerance for drama or role-playing.