Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective is the very definition of a classic. That a simple storytelling game from 1981 holds up effortlessly amongst a deluge of modern narrative and thematic designs is all you need to know. It is a unique and fascinating game that when first released nearly 40 years ago was practically a genre unto itself. Taking the core design principles behind the Choose Your Own Adventure novels — which began publication a mere two years prior — to great new heights, it added a staggering depth of choice to their fiction formula. Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective‘s challenging, won’t-solve-themselves mysteries, rock solid investigation mechanics, and wonderfully immersive production design have kept it on the shelves of thematic game lovers for a very long time — an accomplishment that impresses more and more with each passing year as ever increasing amounts of players are won over by its singular charm.
Now, I typically don’t talk much about components in my reviews as I don’t feel they have a very strong correlation with the quality of a game, but I’d be remiss not to state that Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective is a visionary production. Case booklets filled to the brim with evocative text, newspapers that nail the look and feel of an old-timey publication, a detailed map and directory that allow you to call on hundreds of different suspects from all over London, etc. These are components that make you want to dive whole-heartedly into the game’s atmosphere, to really act out the role of a detective, to read and scrutinize every word. Admittedly though, that scrutiny exposes one of the game’s most persistent production issues over the years: its poor copy editing. Even the latest 2017 reissue, though it fixes the infamous errata present in previous English versions, has some rather shocking typos and oversights. It’s a shame, because the writing is mostly quite eloquent. Oh well, nothing a 2nd printing can’t fix (and maybe already has). And the impact of this on the game itself is thankfully quite minimal, so let’s move on!
The 10 cases of Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective drop its players into the violent, gritty world of late-19th century London as members of the ragtag group of crime-solvers known as the “Baker Street Irregulars”, a task force of sorts assembled to take on cases that Holmes himself deems either too simple or too boring to deal with (though nearly all of them involve murder and treachery). To do so, you and your friends take turns leading an investigation by choosing leads to follow while jotting down notes and discussing the intricacies of the case. This process, while impressively organic, is mechanically quite basic: 1) determine the address of the place you want to visit by using the various game components, then 2) read the corresponding section of the case booklet. That’s it. Got an ID on a suspect? Look him up by name in the directory to find his place of business and catch him at his office. Discovered a pawn shop receipt in someone’s hotel room for a stolen diamond? Use the map and list of pawnbrokers to determine the most likely location he may have taken it. Sometimes you use the newspapers for additional guidance on which locations to check out, and you are also provided a lengthy list of informants and acquaintances you can confer with should you run out of ideas of your own. There is an incredible wealth of information to uncover in each of the cases — much of it irrelevant to the matter at hand — but there are no clear ends or solutions you can uncover solely by following leads. Instead, it is up to the players to determine when they feel they have enough info to crack the case. When that time comes, they answer a brief questionnaire, read Holmes give a speech about how he solved the case in five minutes and how stupid they all are, then compare their answers to the official solution to score themselves.
This brings me to the most common criticism I hear of Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: its scoring system. Holmes always gives himself a perfect 100, but you’d be lucky to score half that on a single case. Heck, you’re probably more likely to score in the negative! The main reason scoring well is so difficult is because you’re not only assessed on the accuracy of your answers, but also how many leads you followed to reach your conclusion. Every lead you follow past the total count in the official solution results in a crippling 5 point deduction to your total. Ouch! Seriously, this system is so contentious I’ve seen more than one reviewer suggest ignoring it entirely and to just play the game casually and solve the crimes however you want, but I highly, HIGHLY disagree with this advice. If you don’t treat the decisions of which leads to follow with at least some gravity you might as well read the case book from front to back and ignore the fact that you’re supposed to be investigating a crime entirely. Come on people, just accept the fact that you’re not supposed to be able to beat Holmes. He’s Sherlock Holmes, for goodness’ sake! How are a bunch of doofuses in someone’s living room supposed to outsmart him? My suggestion for a fair challenge is to attempt to score higher on each case than the one before it, because a lot of the fun and mental stimulation of the game lies in deciding which leads are critical to your understanding and, at the end of the day, when to call the investigation. This source of tension would be lost entirely if you were to neglect scoring, and it’s exceptionally thematic to be put into such a state of self-doubt and uncertainty by a game about being ruthlessly tested by the insurmountable brilliance of one of the all-time greatest minds.
Speaking of theme, Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective may be one of the best examples in all of tabletop gaming of how to create a deeply expressive game system with minimal rules and mechanics. It really feels as if you drop into the pages of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle when playing the game, and the atmosphere of his classic stories is captured quite faithfully. The designers did an excellent job evoking the core constituents of those great mysteries and created a rich way to make those constituents interactive with exceptionally few boundaries. This minimalist approach to game design keeps the focus of the experience entirely on the mysteries themselves and to great effect. Because though each case is different enough to present a unique challenge, they are similar enough that they allow your investigative instincts to improve naturally over time. You’d be surprised how often creative use of the map, newspapers, and directory pays off and sheds some new light on the case you hadn’t considered before. It can be quite exhilarating! On the other hand, there WILL be times when the official solution seems less plausible than your own, or when the brilliant idea that had you all a-tizzy a moment ago leads to a location that doesn’t even have an entry in the case book. But such events are inevitable in a system that gives your brain as much freedom as this, and they are a small price to pay for a game that lets you truly feel like a scrappy detective trying to solve enigmatic murders in the vast city of London with little more than your wits.
Something I find notable about Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective is that it’s one of the very few tabletop games I prefer solo. Its particular brand of logical deduction and puzzle solving works extremely well when experienced in isolation, just like a good mystery novel. However, that is not to say the game doesn’t work well in groups, because it does. Even the most casual players can jump right in and start discussing the finer points of an investigation, considering the game essentially doesn’t need to be taught (which is one of the most laudable feats in all of game design as far as I’m concerned). If you enjoy discussing fiction with your friends, you will enjoy playing this with them. I can practically guarantee it. There’s good reason why, even after all these years, Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective is still one of the most popular games in the storytelling genre. It’s the rare game that is simple but expressive, approachable but stimulating, rules-light but cognition-heavy — however you want to put it — and it’s precisely due to this delicate but deliberate balance that it remains superior to nearly all of its imitators even four decades later.
Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective gets a rating of FOUR out of FIVE, indicating it is RECOMMENDED.