Are you a big fan of whodunits? Escape rooms? Ever dream of slipping on the deerskin cap and solving a mystery or maybe switching side and pulling off the heist of the century? If, like me, any or all of those things get your blood pumping, it might be time to check out Masters of Crime: Shadows. Shadows is one of six big self-contained mysteries in a small box published by Kosmos. The sets are appropriate for solo play or up to six players, with an advertised playtime of two to four hours.
Components
Despite the small box size (each one is about the size of a thick hardcover novel), Shadows contains a respectable amount of components…72 roughly tarot sized cards, 12 envelopes, one detective board/play mat and one note sheet. The cards are the meat and potatoes of the game, the bulk of which are organised into locations ad placed around the detective board at certain times throughout the game. Likewise, the envelopes are only opened at certain points in the game when a card instructs the players to do so. The detective board helps organise the cards are they are revealed and allows you to keep score, indicated by the number of stars you receive when instructed by the cards. The note pad is one sheet of paper on which to jot down notes, including a pre-printed timeline in Shadows, but we found using scratch paper to be more effective simply because we could each have our own sheet, and could repackage the set for use by friends (more on the replayability later). Importantly, you will also need a device with internet access because sprinkled throughout Shadows are times when you will need to do a bit of internet sleuthing including going to websites specifically designed for the game. We prefer a laptop for a larger view but a mobile phone would work for those players with better eyesight than I have.
THE SETUP Masters of Crime: Shadows starts out with the players planning an art heist Amsterdam. The setup, rules and symbol reference sheets are contained on the first four cards of the 72 card deck. The symbols are pretty easy to remember even without the cheat sheet, and will instruct players to draw certain cards (often in the form of a group of cards stacked at a location), remove cards from the game, open certain envelopes, go to the mission website to solve riddles, enter security codes etc., or search the internet for useful information on a given topic. Once you follow the setup instructions, you are ready to plan the heist, recruit your crew and get the job done.
Gameplay
As previously noted, the majority of game play is card driven. Players of the Masters of Crime series are typically given one or two locations during setup, and more are revealed throughout the game. Locations are typically a stack for three to five cards, with the top card having a picture on the back…study the pictures when they are revealed, some of them contain important clues or hints to complete a task! Players usually won’t see every card in a location stack, as many are discarded unseen depending on the choices they make which are presented on the cards. For example, a card may contain three courses of action, referring to cards 10, 11 and twelve. If the players choose the option on card 10, typically cards 11 and 12 will be removed from the game. The flip side of the cards contain text describing the location or situation, any choices to be made and the aforementioned symbols instructing players to open envelopes, reveal a new location, etc. Sometimes you will meet people over the course of your mission (again remember to examine the illustrations carefully as sometimes they pictures themselves will contain information pertinent to advancing the mission. Cards are laid out on the detective mat for easy reference later and players can go to any location they have revealed at any time.
At certain points throughout the game cards (or even websites you visit, including the main game website where you answer questions or enter lock codes….remember to keep an eye out and read everything!) instruct players to open envelopes, each of which contains some new piece of information. Envelopes could contain newspaper articles, maps, closeup views of locations, paperwork, or any number of things that will help players crack the case. Again, study them carefully, if Masters of Crime: Shadows went through the trouble to give you an envelope, it’s probably a pretty important piece of information!
Each Masters of Crime has its own unique twist on the above general rules for game play and Shadows is no exception. In Shadows, the game is split into two distinct phases, the planning stage and the heist. Players
proceed through the planning stage, gathering information, recruiting co-conspirators and the like. Once a certain point in the deck is reached, the heist phase begins. Cards that were placed in the heist pile during the planning stage are now revealed and, similar to previous cards, often include decisions that needs to be made, which can earn stars (points), discard other options, etc. Another unique aspect of Shadows is the addition of alarm symbols…some cards during the heist offer riskier alternatives with the potential for more rewards…but too many alarms can cost you points at the end of the game, so you’ll have to balance these decisions against your progress so far.
Overall Impression
Masters of Crime: Shadows was the first Masters of Crime box I played and it set a high bar for later purchases. While it plays like a souped up version of the old Choose Your Own Adventure books, Kosmos does a great job loosening up the framework just enough by allowing players multiple options of places to visit which makes it less linear. They also do a great job of incorporating technology into Shadows…without revealing too much you’ll feel like you’re hacking your way into the art museum’s computer system and use real world locations and map to chart out your next course of action. We prefer to use a laptop but some players may do perfectly fine on or even prefer their phone or tablet. There is some degree of replayability, in that you could do the heist again and try to get a higher score by earning more stars or triggering less alarms, but honestly much of the fun comes from those “Aha!” moments when your figure something out…much like an escape room, you might be able to replay it if you hold on to it for awhile, or like us you can pass them along to your other mystery loving friends. If so, I recommend just keeping track of your stars and alarms and taking notes on scratch paper instead of the included sheets and envelopes so as not to ruin the surprise for the next set of scrappy art thieves who play. The advertised playtime seems accurate, although we’ve only ever played with two or three players…more may increase playtime as discussions/debates could take longer, but it could potentially cut time because, as often is the case here, different people notice different things or are better at certain kinds of puzzles. My guess is, like escape rooms I’ve done, three to four is the sweet spot, but try it yourself and let us know!
Likes
• Lots of mysteries to solve!
• Interplay between physical components and technology like websites
• Very nice components
• Inexpensive for an evening’s worth of fun
Dislikes
• Art could be better
• On first play-through the general instructions weren’t always 100% clear, but the “real time” instructions on cards are usually very clear, and playing multiple sets has made things pretty easy to follow
Overall Score: 80/100
Artwork 2
Complexity 3
Replayability 2
Player interaction 5
Components 4
