Chronicles of Crime is a crime solving app assisted cooperative game. Working as a team you have to piece together the evidence and report your findings back to the police chief. The cases can get tough and its easy to run out of ideas and hit a dead end. However, the challenge is what makes this a cool game, it feels like you are in a detective show and you are using your own judgement to get info and figure out the case.

The app is amazing. Sure there is a lot of scanning to get information and passing around your phone can be annoying. The app however offers so much information. It can easily create new cases and allows for a lot of expansions later on. The game comes with 5 scenarios to play through so it’s not like the current escape room style games where you only get one play. It is the best game I’ve used so far with an app, the game is very engaging and it was easy to get started.

Chronicles of Crime is for 1 to 4 players ages 12 and up. I don’t think I’d classify this a party game but because I’m such a fan of the app integration I have included this one as one of my favourites. It is easy to learn, you don’t really need the instructions. The tutorial game walks you through all the steps to get started.

For the game setup, place the evidence board in middle of the table, this is where you are going to organize everything you find. Place the location boards to the side. Character cards and special item cards can be face down on the table. Place the evidence category cards face up on the table where everyone can reach. Split the contact cards between the players. These are always in play. One player will need to download the app. Place the home location at the bottom and you are ready to go.

To start the game open the app and select the story you want to play.  For your first time, there is a tutorial game to play that will help you get the hang of everything.

To play the game, you are going to use the app to scan different location boards, character and evidence cards to try to solve the case.  As a group you are going to decide what leads to chase and where to search. Solving the case is cooperative so working together is very important.

There’s a lot of different things you can do to get information. There are four forensic contact.  These contacts are your team and each specialize in different area.  You can bring them evidence to look into and they will be able to important information.

You can scan a location board to go to that location or scan a character card to interrogate the character.  Characters can answer questions about other characters and evidence, but cannot be asked about locations.  To end an interrogation press the goodbye button. 

When in a location you will be given 40 seconds to search for evidence. Anything you think is relevant you find the matching evidence card to scan. The seconds go by fast and you will have to rely on your memory to find the cards after your search is over. The app will let you know if the evidence cards you picked are relevant to your case. 

In your search, time will continue to pass.  Each location or interrogation will cost time, this is important to note because the faster you solve the crime the better your score.

Once you think you’ve solved the case you can hand in your report in to the Police Chief.  You will be asked a series of questions.  From there you can get your score and read the final solution.

If you like the detective genre and story driven games, this one is a sure bet. I highly recommend giving this one a try and I am so excited to see where this goes with expansions.