Hunt a Killer: Body on the Boardwalk

I have seen these Hunt a Killer games advertised on many of the Youtube videos I watch, and on gaming websites.  I was wondering what they were like.  I think they can send you a new mystery every month for $30 a pop.  Sounds interesting, but these must be difficult to design.

At a swap meet event at the Bates Nut Farm, we found one of them for $3, so I could finally see how they are put together.

They provide a good range of paper clues and other props.  There are almost no instructions other than "figure it out" and if you get stuck, try their web page with a few extra clues.  This one had a nice, big map, and a variety of story pieces, mock news clippings, all leading up to finding the combination to open the metal box with a few final clues.  We were able to use the clues to more-or-less decided that all but one of the suspects was elsewhere at the scene of the crime.

It's not a game.  It's a puzzle.  It is very entertaining early on, and we actually did take some notes on timelines of the various characters.  But it was on the edge of becoming an irritating argument toward the end.  There was almost no evidence of the actual suspect, only that everyone else was busy at the critical few hours.  There were a few distractions, and an actual photograph with the murder victim standing happily with someone completely unknown.

We guessed the correct suspect, but were still not quite convinced.  But we packed it all back together  nicely for whoever we might end up selling it to, if we can ever get our game heap organized and listed again.  It was an interesting combination of elements, but I can't picture doing any more of the "games" in this category.  We thought it would be a good substitute for the usual crime shows we've been watching, or the podcasts we listen to, but some of those are so well written, they're a hard act to compete with.

We also found that Secret Skrulls game for $4 but it's for 4-6 players, so it was of no use to us.  Into the Sell box for that one.