Here Lies is a cooperative deduction game that turns players into world-famous detectives working together to solve their most challenging cases. While one player knows the full story the others must piece together the answers through discussion, unusual questions and creative clues.
Setup and Gameplay
One player takes the role of Lead Investigator, who knows the details of the case. Everyone else becomes an Investigator, working to solve different “categories” within the case. These vary from case to case but include things like the weapon used, the motive or the cause of death, and each of them will have an associated key word that the Investigators must figure out.
The Lead Investigator lays out the categories and reads the case introduction out loud. Meanwhile, the investigators are given their own character, with a unique ability and a deck of Enquiry cards. These cards determine what questions/actions they can use to figure out the key words of the case. These are rarely straightforward, often limiting the words or actions the Lead Investigator can use to communicate. For instance, they may have to circle letters of the alphabet or draw stick figures.
There are then three rounds, each repeating the same three phases. First, the Lead Investigator chooses a key piece of evidence to present to the group which will (hopefully) shed light on a particular category.
Then during the Enquiry phase, Investigators play cards from their hand to find out more information that will lead them to the key word. However, these cards come at the cost of time tokens which are limited depending on the difficulty of the case.
After Enquiry cards have been played and the Investigators have finished their discussion, the Lead Investigator evaluates how accurate the discussion was. If the correct word associated with a specific category was mentioned it is marked with a green tick, if it wasn’t mentioned at all it receives a red cross, and answers that are heading in the right direction earn a yellow marker. Think of it as a game of hot and cold e.g. if the answer is a sword and the group talked about a rope they’re nowhere near, but if they talk about a knife, they’re almost at the solution.
Each round the group uses what they’ve learned to figure out the words for every category of the case. Later in the game, there is also the opportunity to acquire allies who provide extra information, giving the Investigators another way to narrow down the possibilities.
At the end of the third round one of the Investigators makes a final pitch. They don’t need to recount every detail of the story correctly, the important thing is saying the key words. Get them all right, and the case has been solved and it’s an automatic victory. Alternatively (and this happens more often since it’s rare you’ll get every category right) the Investigators earn points and are ranked based on the number of green ticks they earned.
Elementary or not?
At first glance, it’s hard not to spot similarities between Here Lies and other deduction games. However, Here Lies puts a spin on the genre that makes the experience more enjoyable but undeniably more challenging.
Rather than simply associating words with clues, Investigators must work within the restrictions imposed by their Enquiry cards. You might have a good idea of what you want to ask, but cards will force you to approach it from a different angle. This is equal parts frustrating and fun; the clues you receive are often only loosely connected with the answer you’re aiming for. Someone might be convinced they’ve cracked a category, confidently explain their reasoning, and then discover at the end of the round they’ve led the group nowhere near the answer.
The time tokens add an interesting resource-management component, where the whole group has to work together to decide which Enquiry cards are worth playing and which are unlikely to provide enough information to justify their cost.
The right group matters
Here Lies supports two to five players, but I think your group size can have a significant impact on the experience. With more players, there’s naturally more discussion. Everyone brings their own interpretation and the group has to talk through different theories before settling on a course of action.
With just two players, things become more challenging. One person has all the answers as Lead Investigator, leaving the other to work through the case alone. There’s less opportunity to bounce ideas around, and the Lead Investigator may need to provide more guidance to keep things moving. It’s certainly possible to play this way, but it doesn’t play the same.
Also, if you’re playing as the Lead Investigator you need to be comfortable sitting back and listening to everyone else’s discussion. You know the answers, but can’t jump in and put the group on the right track when they start heading in the wrong direction. If you’re the sort of person who struggles to keep quiet when someone is talking you might want to let someone else take the lead.
A case worth revisiting
Beyond the tutorial cases, Here Lies offers a campaign-style progression through its cases, giving you a more structured way to work through the mysteries. You can also play cases individually, making it easy to dip in and out of if that’s what you prefer to do.
There’s also potential for replayability in changing roles. Once you know a case’s solution, playing it again as an Investigator won’t have quite the same mystery, as you already know where the story leads. However, switching to Lead Investigator changes your perspective on the game, and seeing how a different group approaches the same clues could make for a very different experience. I haven’t had the chance to replay the same cases with different groups, so I can’t say exactly how much that changes things in practice.
Final verdict
I’d describe Here Lies as Codenames with more moving parts and trickier gameplay. When opening the box it feels like there is a lot to keep track of, and while there is a learning curve, the tutorial cases do a good job of easing you in so you can get up and running with any group after just one session.
The production value is also solid, and I appreciate the fabric mat that is used to organize the evidence, especially since the more complicated the case the more components the group has to keep track of. The biggest challenge is fitting the entire game into what is a fairly small box (although given how much gameplay you get that’s not exactly a complaint, more just a minor gripe).
I’d recommend Here Lies to groups who enjoy deduction games but are looking for something a little different, particularly if they love discussing theories and speculating as much as they actually like finding answers.
