Review: CRIMES AND CAPERS: AND THE WINNER IS…DEAD It’s a messy murder

I like a good puzzle every once in a while. I love being challenged by interesting mysteries and well-crafted clues to follow. I also like RPGs and getting into funny characters and weird situations. That said, it makes me sad that a game specifically designed to cater to gamers who enjoy puzzle and mystery type games left me so dissatisfied with the end and how the mystery unfolded.

Crimes & Capers: And The Winner Is…DEAD is a cooperative mystery game that is intended to be played by four to six players. There are several games in the Crimes & Capers series, but they all have a similar setup. Each player gets a character and some notes about him and specific information that can help solve the mystery. There are some general puzzles like you might find in an escape room and other puzzles that are more about gathering information and facts as the players discuss the events of the night. Dressing up and taking part in the theatrics of the game is encouraged and can definitely add a lot of fun. I think the concepts are creative and fun to have in a simple box, but the execution of everything gets a bit hit and miss.

I was happy with most of the puzzles, but some of them felt too sporadic and relied too much on players randomly stringing things together or looking at specific things from a certain perspective to be understood. It’s a cool idea that players have their own info to share with other players, but since there’s no competitive incentive, e.g. one player is the assassin, then character sheets and info don’t really matter after the first two minutes . The main mechanics as a whole are fine, but more refinement is needed.

The biggest problem with the game was that the ending was terribly unsatisfying. I understand that red herrings and misleads are common, but after putting all the pieces together, the final reveal felt terribly disjointed and slightly unfair to us gamers. We tried to stay as close to the facts as possible, but the ending was based on a number of assumptions and generalizations instead of sticking to what we knew based on our information. If your group of friends really likes to get into the spirit of murder mysteries and you want to do an escape room type puzzle, then this could easily be perfect for you. Keep in mind, however, that some of the things may not add up completely from start to finish.