Mystery Express is a new take on the classic murder-mystery deduction game, set on a train journey on the famous Orient Express. In the grand tradition of whodunit mysteries, a precise and logical approach is required in order to solve the crime.

Players board the famous Orient Express in Paris just as a murder occurs. The rest of the trip - through the capitals of Europe to 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.

How to Play

The murder is set up by removing one card from each of the five card decks that represent the elements of the murder: Suspect, Means, Motive, Location and Time. There are two copies of each card, so players must now discover both copies of a card in order to eliminate it from their enquiries.

Players choose from one of 5 Player Characters and can move freely between the cars of the train and taking actions at each location. Most actions allow players to peek at cards held by other players, or in some cases, the cards that come from new passengers that come aboard. The conductor is a neutral character that also holds some information and can be queried.

To keep track of their investigation, each player receives a handy deduction sheet that they keep hidden in their Ticket wallet. Players must mark their sheets so that they can differentiate between cards they have seen once or twice (i.e. both copies of a card).

At the last stop before the end of the journey, players can send a telegram containing their current suspicions. This is used as a tie-breaker at the end of the game.

When the Mystery Express reaches Istanbul - the end of the line - each player writes down their final conclusions and the hidden crime cards are revealed. The player who correctly identifies all of them is the winner, or the player with most number of correct elements.

While Mystery Express has many similarities to Cluedo, it does not have the random aspects of Cluedo, and it is a more challenging game, making the final deduction more satisfying.

Click here for a review on BoardGameGeek
Contents: 1 Board map of the Mystery Express, 5 Player figures and character tokens, 5 Ticket wallets, 100 Deduction sheets, 1 Telegram notepad, 72 Crime cards in 5 crime categories, 1 Mystery Express miniature train, 1 Conductor figure, 6 small Conductor tokens, 2 small Passenger tokens, 1 miniature travel bag, 1 miniature whistle, 1 rules booklet