- 13 Case Booklets
- 207 Location Cards
- 2 Special Cards (Watson and Holmes)
- 7 Player Pawns in 7 colors
- 7 Player Tokens in 7 colors
- 57 Carriage Tokens
- 6 Police Tokens
- 6 Call Off Tokens
- 2 Lockpick Tokens
- 8 Character Cards
- 1 Carriage Stop Card
- 1 Toby Token
- 1 Wiggins Token
- 1 Start Player Token (Diary)
Do not read any card or inside any of the Case Booklets. This will ruin the game! Read the Instruction Booklet in its entirety before looking at the game components.
Case Booklets: Each case comes with its corresponding booklet which introduces the circumstances of the incident, sets the questions that players have to solve to win the game and the solution provided by Sherlock Holmes.
This same booklet contains any additional rules that are unique to that particular case.
Location Cards: These represent the different places involved in the case. One side of the card shows the name and number of the location and on the other, the text containing possible clues, evidence and witness information obtained at that location.
The names of some of these cards are simply the name of the character you are visiting, or an object which you are examining, without mentioning the location. However, they are still counted as Location Cards.
Watson and Holmes Cards: These cards are available throughout the game, so that players can ask for help from the game's protagonists.
Their function is explained in detail below.
Player Pawns: These represent the players themselves and are used to signal the location that the player wishes to visit in the Visiting Phase, and shows the location where each player is located in the Investigation Phase.
Player Token: These are used to indicate each player's corresponding color and, in cases which have more than one zone, they are used to indicate in which zone each player finds himself.
Carriage Tokens: These represent the carriages that players can use to move from one location to another. They are used to bid for Location Cards when several players want to go to the same place and also to carry out the actions on some of the Character Cards.
Normally, the game begins with 10 per player. Players can obtain more at locations marked with the symbol and at the Carriage Stop Card.
Police Tokens: These indicate that the location (object or person) is under police surveillance.
They are placed on the Location Card that the player has just read to restrict access to it in subsequent rounds. In most cases players begin the game with one Police Token.
Players can obtain more tokens when visiting Scotland Yard or any other location marked with the symbol .
Call Off Tokens: These represent a police order calling off the police surveillance at that location (object or person) i.e. they are used to remove Police Tokens. The Call Off Token eliminates the Police Token permanently and for all players.
They are usually obtained at Scotland Yard or any other location marked with the symbol .
Lockpick Tokens: Used to access and read the text on cards in locations that are under surveillance, i.e. have a Police Token or those which show the symbol ().
The Lockpick Token does not eliminate the Police Token, it only allows the player who possesses it to pass. They are obtained from locations marked with the symbol .
Toby and Wiggins Tokens: These Tokens are only used by the player in possession of the Toby or Wiggins Character Cards.
Start Player Token: This is used to indicate the start player for each round and is always taken by the player who obtained his location card last in the previous round.
Carriage Stop Card: At this location players can obtain Carriage Tokens: 3 Carriage Tokens every time a player spends a turn here.
Character Cards: These represent Sherlock Holmes' most important allies. They provide the player who has the card with an extra benefit that they can use during the game.
Important: The game components are limited. If during a game a player can not obtain a token of any type because the stockpile in question has run out, he simply does not obtain the token.
No player can have in his possession more than 1 Police Token, 1 Call Off Token or 1 Lockpick Token at any one time. i.e. the most he could have is one of each type of token.
Before the first game carefully punch out all the tokens. Unpack the cards, separate them and place each case in a separate bag. Be careful not to read the text on any of the cards!!!
Choose one of the cases and take out the Case Booklet and the Location Cards that belong to that particular case. Always taking care not to open the Case Booklet or read any of the text found on the cards during game preparation.
Note: The cases are ordered by level of difficulty so it is recommended that the first game played should be Case "0"and the latter, more complex cases should be for when players have some experience with the game.
Place the Location Cards in the centre of the table as described in the Case Booklet, always with the place name face up. Next to the Location Cards, and visible to all players, place the Watson and Holmes Cards and the Carriage Stop Card.
The player with the best acting skills and reading voice takes the Case Booklet and the Start Player Token (the Diary).
Each player chooses a Player Pawn and his corresponding Player Token (magnifying glass). Unless the Special Rules of the case you are going to play (if there are any) indicate otherwise, distribute to each player: 10 Carriage Tokens, 1 Police Token, a piece of paper and a pen.
Note: In games where there are more than 5 players, only the first 5 players are given Police Tokens. Beginning with the player who has the Start Player Token and continuing in a clockwise direction. The sixth and seventh players, if any, start the game with a Call Off Token each.
Lastly, and after shuffling them, 1 Character Card is given to each player; this should be hidden from other players and placed face down on the table next to the player.
Note: In games where there are less than 4 players, the Wiggins Card is returned to the box.
The remaining tokens are separated by type and made into a stockpile accessible to all players. It is recommended that each type of token is placed next to the corresponding symbol on all the relevant cards, if there is one.
The Start Player reads the Introduction of the Case Booklet out loud including the questions that need to be solved in order to win the game. Then, he explains any possible Special Rules (also written in the Case Booklet) that the case being played may have. As soon as this has been read the game begins.
The QR code included in the Case Booklets will direct you to a reading of the case presentation and the set questions. To hear it you will need a mobile device (mobile phone; tablet etc). to read the codes. If this option is chosen, the Start Player will be chosen randomly by any method.
Note: The Case Booklet is available throughout the game for any player who wishes to consult the game presentation or the set questions; always taking care not to open it, as the solution to the case, provided by Sherlock Holmes, is on the inside.
At this location you can obtain Police Tokens.
At this location you can obtain Call Off Tokens.
At this location you can obtain Lockpick Tokens.
This card can not be chosen with the Dr Watson Card to be read aloud.
A Police Token can not be placed on this card.
To read the text at this location you must have a Lockpick Token.
Each round of play consists of two distinct phases: Visiting Phase and Investigation Phase.
Starting with the player who has the Start Player Token (the Diary), and continuing clockwise, each player chooses the card that corresponds to the location they want to visit and places his pawn on top of it. Depending on the chosen card, one of the following two situations occurs:
The location is free (i.e. has no pawn on it): Firstly the player has to decide whether to go on foot or by carriage. If going on foot the player simply places his pawn on the chosen card. If he decides to go by carriage, he must place one or more Carriage Tokens on the card.
The location is busy (another player's pawn is on the card): If a player wants to place his pawn on a Location Card that is already occupied by another player then he has to exceed the number of Carriage Tokens that this player has played, i.e. he must play at least one token more than those that are already on the card (if there is no Carriage Token present, then one is enough).
Thus the new owner of the card places his Player Pawn on the card and the Carriages used to obtain it.
When a player outbids another player for a card, the outbid player takes back his Player Pawn and all except one of the Carriage Tokens that he would have played, which he must place in the stockpile (i.e. one of his Carriage Tokens is paid into the stockpile).
This outbid player must then wait until his turn comes around again before trying to get that same, or another Location Card by the same process.
If a player does not have enough Carriage Tokens to compete for a particular Location Card then he simply has to visit a different location.
During this stage, the turn continues passing from player to player until everyone has placed his pawn on one of the Location Cards. At this moment, the last player who placed his pawn takes the Start Player Token (the Diary) and players move on to The Investigation Phase.
Things to Take into Consideration During the Visiting Phase
Visited Location is Under Surveillance
If the card chosen by a player has a Police Token on it, before placing his pawn on the card, he can play a Call Off Token to remove the Police Token. Thus, both tokens are placed back in their reserve piles and the corresponding card immediately becomes free for all players.
If the player does not have a Call Off Token, or he does not want to play it, then he should have in his possession a Lockpick Token. In the Investigation Phase the Lockpick Token allows him to have access to the location and he is able to read the text on the back of the card.
If a player has neither a Call Off Token nor a Lockpick Token, the player must choose a location that is not under surveillance i.e. does not have a Police Token on it.
On his turn, Marco decides to visit the Location 'Port', where there is no other Player Pawn but there is a Police Token on the card. Before placing his Player Pawn, he plays a Call Off Token in order to remove the Police Token, after doing this he places his Player Pawn and 1 Carriage Token on the card.
Ivan decides he also wants to visit the 'Port' and places his pawn on the card along with 2 Carriage Tokens, therefore outbidding Marco who must take back his pawn and return his Carriage Token to the stockpile.
On his next turn Marco decides that he is still interested in visiting the 'Port' and so plays 3 Carriage Tokens to outbid Ivan. Ivan therefore takes back his Player Pawn and one of his Carriage Tokens, placing the other Carriage Token back in the stockpile.
On his next turn, Ivan decides to give up trying to visit the 'Port' and instead visits 'Scotland Yard' on foot (i.e. does not use any Carriage Tokens)
During this phase of the game, besides choosing a Location Card, a player on his turn can take the Dr Watson Card (if still available) by spending 4 Carriage Tokens.
The function of this card is explained later in the'Watson and Holmes Cards' section.
During this phase, a player on his turn can place his pawn on this card. During the Investigation Phase he does not read any of the clues, but at the end of the phase he obtains 3 Carriage Tokens from the stockpile.
There can be several players on this card at the same time (the card is not bid for). Players on the card can still use the Watson and Holmes Cards on this turn.
221B Baker Street
This card represents the home of Holmes and Watson and the solutions to the questions set in the Case Booklet are found there. This location should only be visited when a player wants to try to solve the case (for that reason it is present in all of the cases) and several players can visit on the same round.
When a player visits 221B Baker Street he must place his Player Pawn on the card and say out loud how many Carriage Tokens he has left in his possession.
First of all, if a player has taken the Dr Watson Card, his action is carried out first.
Once this has been done, simultaneously all players take the Location Card where their pawn is placed and return any Carriage Tokens used to the stockpile. The pawn remains in the place where the card has come from.
Subsequently, each player reads the text of his Location Card and using his own piece of paper he notes down anything he sees fit. Always as secretly as possible.
If a player's card has a Police Token on it he must discard one Lockpick Token before reading it. Unlike the Call Off Token, the Lockpick Token does not remove the Police Token, this remains on the Location Card for the next turn.
Once all players have made their notes, they return the Location Card to its place and take back their pawn. At this time a player may choose to place a Police Token on the card in order to make the investigation more difficult for the other players by hindering them reading the card on successive turns. He may only do this on top of the card that he has just read, taking into account that it is not permitted to place Police Tokens on the following cards:
- Scotland Yard or any other locations which provide Police Tokens or Call Off Tokens to players;
- 221B Baker Street Card;
- The Carriage Stop Card;
- Any card which has the symbol (D ;
- A location that already has a Police Token on it.
Things to Take into Consideration During the Investigation Phase
Solving The Base's Set Questions
If a player decides to go to 221B Baker Street, he must write on his notepad, expressing as clearly as possible, his answers to all the questions set in the Case Booklet. Once written he checks if his answers are correct comparing them with the answers that are on the reverse of the Location Card 221B Baker Street.
If the player has solved each and every one of the questions set, he is the winner and becomes a worthy companion of Sherlock Holmes. Otherwise, he simply informs the other players that he has failed in his attempt, stating how many questions he got correct (not which) and without revealing any other details. From now on he only participates in the game as the voice of Sherlock Holmes (see 'Sherlock Holmes' below).
Note: When the set question asks for the identity of a (guilty) person, it is only considered to be correct if the full name of the person is stated for example 'John Smith'. Answers such as 'the gardener' or 'Martha's husband' would be incorrect.
If several players want to solve the case in the same round, the order is determined by the number of Carriage Tokens that a player has in his possession. The first player who tries to solve the case is he who has the largest number of Carriage Tokens.
Others should wait and see if he fails to answer correctly and then they can have their chance to solve the case, always respecting the order determined by the number of Carriage Tokens that each player possesses.
If several players have gone to 221B with the same number of Carriage Tokens, then they all attempt to solve the case simultaneously, in this case there may well be more than one winner.
Note: Players that are located in 221B can still continue to use the help of Sherlock Holmes, if another player has already attempted to solve the case in the same or a previous turn.
However, the player is still obviously required to discard the necessary number of Carriage Tokens and, therefore, the order in which players attempt to solve the case could well change.
If no player has managed to solve the case and there are still players who have not yet been eliminated (see: "End of Game") then another full round is played, starting with the player who has the Diary.
End of the Game
The game ends when a player who has chosen to visit 221B Baker Street correctly answers all the questions set in the Case Booklet.
The winner shows the correct answers to the other players and reads the solution aloud, according to Sherlock Holmes, located inside the Case Booklet.
Should a player happen to be the only player left in the game, i.e. all players have been eliminated except him, this player can play as many rounds as Carriage Tokens he has in his possession, up to a maximum of 4.
He must then try to solve the case. If successful he wins the game, otherwise all players lose.
Note: If in spite of a player solving the case, the others want to continue the game, then the winner simply announces that he has correctly answered the questions and does not reveal the answers to the others until it is decided that the game is over. Then the Solution is read.