Here Lies Game Review

I don’t know how old the idea of a deduction game is, but I suppose if we include charades, and why shouldn’t we, then it’s been around for a while. 20 Questions, Salad Bowl, Charades, these sorts of party games have been with us for ages. There was nothing more transgressive in Victorian England than being a Little Silly in front of Other People.

We don’t really consider those “deduction” games anymore, though they absolutely are. “Deduction” has changed. It has specified. If you were to come into the store where I work and I held up what I described as a “deduction game,” you would automatically and fairly assume that math is involved. You’d picture Zendo, or Paint the Roses, or, god forbid, Mastermind.

But deduction games are so much more than that. They include escape room games, like the Exit (boo) and Unlock! (yay) series. They include the storied Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective titles and the unfairly overlooked Perspectives. These we generally describe as either escape rooms, or “mysteries.”

I understand the distinction and how it functions in the world. Deduction games are clinical, abstract, the embodiment of Zach Galifianakis running the numbers in the casino. Mystery games are fun and social, the cool kids at the same party. But then you play Here…

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