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…