deduction

Cluzzle is the game where you try to sculpt poorly! It is a deduction game like 20 questions. At the beginning of the game, everyone makes an ambiguous clay sculpture called a Cluzzle. For the rest of the game, players ask “Yes or No” questions to figure out the other clay puzzles.

You don’t have to be an artist to play. In fact, the longer it takes others to figure out your clay sculpture, the more points you get. However, you only get points if at least one person figures out your Cluzzle before the end of the game. This means you’ll want your sculpture to be a little ambiguous, but not too ambiguous.

And this is exactly where the humor lies! The result is a hilarious game for all ages, where anyone can win and everyone will have fun. So grab your friends and family. Your ridiculously poor sculptures will inspire laughter that will be remembered for years to come!

Did you know that Alanis Morissette, Alan Moon, Stephen Glenn, Tom Vasel, and others created personalized Cluzzle Cards for the game? You can learn why the objects they chose are personal to them on the North Star Games website.

Cluzzle was modeled after a 1988 Klaus Teuber game called Barbarossa. You can learn about the history of Cluzzle on the North Star Games website.

From the back of the box:

Forever Young brings the excitement of life as a vampire to your gaming table. Each player plays the head of a vampire family struggling to maintain control among his minions and human protectors. Beware, your opponents are aiming to convert your servants and... Well, let’s just say they have something a little more 'unkind' in mind for your humans.

Forever Young is a light strategy game that involves secretly placing your vampires and humans, hiding weapons and items and trying to discover where your opponents have hidden theirs. Each beautifully produced and illustrated game has everything needed to play for 2 to 6 players.

Days of Wonder announces Mystery Express

Whodunit on Rails re-invents the classic deduction-style board game
Los Altos, CA; Paris, France - January 25, 2010. Days of Wonder announces Mystery Express, an imaginative new take on the classic deduction game from Antoine Bauza & Serge Laget. While Days of Wonder's first "whodunit" game, 2003's Mystery of the Abbey, was considerably more quirky and chaotic, Mystery Express explores the more analytical side of the genre, rewarding a logical and more precise approach to solving the crime.

Players board the famous Orient Express in Paris just as a murder occurs. The rest of the trip - through Strasbourg, Munich, Vienna, Budapest and their final destination of Istanbul - is consumed with determining the who, what, when, where and why of the crime. Players use their special powers of deduction; information gleaned from others in various train cars; and investigative actions to determine the exact circumstances of the murder. The one who correctly identifies the most elements of the crime by the time the train reaches Istanbul wins the game.

Mystery Express is a classic Days of Wonder design made up of top-notch components and unique, period-perfect illustrations. Along with the Mystery Express board map detailing its itinerary from Paris to Istanbul the game features: 5 resin character figures and matching character tokens; 5 Ticket wallets that include a description of each character's special power; 100 Deduction sheets that players use to keep track of their deductions; 72 Crime cards; a Mystery Express miniature train to track the Mystery Express's journey on the map; a Conductor figure; 2 small passenger tokens, a miniature travel bag, a train whistle and rules booklet. Mystery Express is for 3-5 players and will be available worldwide in April 2010. Price is $50/€45.

Video Overview from Myriad Games Presentations available here

Get ready to enter the poor and dreary Whitechapel district in London 1888 – the scene of the mysterious Jack the Ripper murders – with its crowded and smelly alleys, hawkers, shouting merchants, dirty children covered in rags who run through the crowd and beg for money, and prostitutes – called "the wretched" – on every street corner.

The board game Letters from Whitechapel, which plays in 90-150 minutes, takes the players right there. One player plays Jack the Ripper, and his goal is to take five victims before being caught. The other players are police detectives who must cooperate to catch Jack the Ripper before the end of the game. The game board represents the Whitechapel area at the time of Jack the Ripper and is marked with 199 numbered circles linked together by dotted lines. During play, Jack the Ripper, the Policemen, and the Wretched are moved along the dotted lines that represent Whitechapel's streets. Jack the Ripper moves stealthily between numbered circles, while policemen move on their patrols between crossings, and the Wretched wander alone between the numbered circles.

It’s year “011” in an alternative 19th century. The Inscrutable Organ of Eternity is hidden somewhere in Turin, and it’s the only instrument that can prevent the coming Ragnarök. Only one of the 8 Characters in the game is the “Chosen One” who can play the Organ. One of the others, meanwhile, has been possessed by the Spirit of Fenrir the Wolf, and will try to prevent the Chosen One from reaching the Organ.

The goal of the game, is to identify and deliver the Chosen One and the song of Making (which is composed as part of the game play) to the Inscrutable Organ of Eternity before the 12th hour.

011 is played over 11 rounds, called Hours. Each Hour is divided into 5 phases. All players, in order, must complete one phase, before the next phase begins:
1. Reveal Event
2. Bid for Turn Order
3. Place Clues on the Map
4. Character Actions and Movement
5. Play Location Tiles

Once all 5 Phases are complete, advance the Hour Hand one space on the Ragnarök Clock. If the Hand reaches XII (and so, the 11th Hour has passed), the game ends and all players lose! Otherwise, a new Round begins with Phase 1.