雾鸦馆

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

Played at: 无序·探案馆 UNORDERED
6 players (2 female, 4 male)

To date, this has been the case where our group’s opinion differs most from the apparent prevailing view.《雾鸦馆》has a lot of good reviews from Chinese players, and I’m still not sure why. (To be fair, there are also bad reviews, many of which express the same incredulity that I do here.)

I suppose if you enjoy outlandish murder methods, this case delivers. Fans of horror-esque elements may also enjoy parts of this.

But (and I don’t think it’s unfair to give this semi-spoiler) the biggest thing I disliked about this case was its use of red herrings. It’s perfectly normal to have clues that point to other suspects; it’s strange to have clues that mean nothing at all. Perhaps it’s an unfounded assumption on my part, but I do feel there’s an unspoken player-contract that clues will be relevant in some way, even if not the correct one.

Another big flaw is that one of the six characters is extremely sidelined (边缘角色), with very little role to play.

If you like creative locked rooms, you could consider playing this. But there are many rewarding, rigorous cases out there which are much less of a gamble.

Try if you like: Locked-room mysteries; supernatural elements; sticky tape.

Not recommended for: Players who dislike arguably far-fetched solutions to locked-room mysteries.

木夕僧之戏

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

Played at: 无序·探案馆 UNORDERED
7 players (3 female, 4 male)

This satisfyingly substantial hardcore case is packed with content but doesn’t get overwhelming or draggy, thanks to a structure that allows for constant progress. The case-solving process rewards attention to detail but doesn’t require you to get bogged down in calculation or tabulation. There are even some fun multimedia elements midway through.

While it’s not really a horror case, there are some delightfully goosebumps-inducing touches. This isn’t the sort of case where you get attached to the characters, either, but the relationships are certainly complex enough to make for some fun and lively in-character accusations interactions.

Tangentially, I find the existence of the Japanese-themed (日式, “Japanese style”) jubensha genre interesting; surely there’s a non-zero risk that such cases could feature gross exoticisation or uncomfortable stereotypes. Fortunately, 《木夕僧之戏》makes decent use of its Japanese cultural elements.

Try if you like: Large amounts of case-solving; overarching mysteries; Japanese folklore.

Not recommended for: Beginners; players who dislike supernatural elements or contrived world-rules; players who don’t enjoy multiple cases within a game.

失格21克

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

Played at: 无序·探案馆 UNORDERED
5 players (2 female, 3 male)

《失格21克》feels like a decent if unremarkable case for beginners, with a mix of murder-focused and event-reconstruction (还原) reasoning.

The case features partial amnesia, providing a gentler introduction to this convention than a full-amnesia case would. Similarly, there’s some rigorous perspective-matching in the middle — which, in hindsight, prepared me for more involved examples in tougher cases.

The case is written such that it’s quite hard for the murderer to escape; the corollary is that it could allow beginners to achieve a satisfying victory.

I personally found the plot uneven and a bit melodramatic. But there are a couple of satisfyingly chilling moments of realisation, and a nice multimedia touch towards the end.

Try if you like: A good chance of being able to get the murderer; diligent event-reconstruction; chilling realisations.

Not recommended for: Jaded veterans.