Awesome review of these cold case detective games! These are the type of mystery games that I’ve always wanted, but didn’t know existed. I’m currently playing the online version from Cold Case Inc., but I also want to buy the ones from Unsolved Case Files. I never cared for the mystery genre before, until I was called for jury duty. Now I’m obsessed with true crime and murder mystery. These games mimic what a real-life detective, or juror does: going through every piece of evidence, documents, witnesses, etc and determining who committed the crime.
Ha! Well you have a whole world of adventure ahead of you. Just don't commit any real crimes because if they search your internet history they will be convinced you are a master criminal.
Thanks for the video. My wife and I played 'Cold Case Files: A Story to Die For,' and had a lot of fun. Something to consider regarding these reviews: Cold Case Files has a price tag of half of what the Unsolved Case Files games are going for. For $20 CAD we had a fun date night at home, maybe if we try one of the Unsolved Case Files in the future we'll be able to compare the value of fun/quality compared to the price tag.
The issue of getting value for your purchase with these games is a tricky one and very subjective. Sometimes it makes a lot of sense to me to think about how much is it costing me per hour of fun, and there are some games that give you a lot of hours of puzzles or story in a cheap box. But other times I am more focused on the quality of the experience, and would rather pay more for an hour of a great experience than 5 hours of mediocre experience. I suppose it depends on that you are most interested in. But the bottom line is all about whether you enjoyed it.
I have always skipped these beacuse they felt too simplistic, but it is interesting to hear that there is a substantial quality difference between series. Will be trying out the iDventures for sure. Looking these up, I also stumbled upon Cold Case Investigation Unit (seemingly also called The Detective Project for some reason), written by a former UK police detective. Don't think you covered that one, but it would be interesting to hear where it places on this list.
Hi Bot. I saw the "Cold Case Investigation Unit" ones -- they appear to only be on the UK amazon for now, but I may try it out. I have spotted a new series that looks like it might be good, "Hidden Games Crime Scene" that I bought, so I will be playing that one soon and reporting on. -jesse
Ah, interesting. I saw that title as well and wondered whether it was one of those you already covered here. They seem to be doing localized versions with slightly different titles. Sounds good, being based on a German series and with high production values. Looking forward to your review! Please consider commenting on where this would place on your list, if you weren't already thinking of that. So intriguing to have a whole new investigative game genre to discover like this.
i have played two in the unsolved case files and the jamie banks one was harder. it just depends what you find early on in the case. i enjoyed both and will be purchasing more in that range.
Which one did you prefer? I do think you are right that different groups might find different games easier or harder just based on the luck of the groove they get into early on. -jesse
I would love for you to do hunt a killer review, you can get either a 1 episode box or a monthly subscription, usually 6 monthly boxes on each cas, or you can get all 6 boxes for older cases at one time, i like them
They are definitely on my list to review and compare. I actually ordered one of the standalone boxes, but after receiving it I saw it was designated as "easiest" level of difficulty and thought that would be not the best box to review. So I'm looking to pick up one of their intermediate sets -- if anyone has any recommendations of which one to get let me know. -jesse
@@COOPFORTWO You could give the Murder at the Motel a try. I've seen a lot of other youtubers do Murder at the Dive Bar and the 80's Reunion. So it'll be good to see your take on something different
@@alexbiersner3350 Hi Alex! I did actually record a playthrough of Murder at the Motel: th-cam.com/video/FYaHVyhipYs/w-d-xo.html I also reviewed all 3 of the Hunt A Killer standalone boxes here: th-cam.com/video/fw6AU14TipY/w-d-xo.html :)
I've only played the Unsolved Case Files out of these. I mostly enjoy them, but I do have a recurring complaint. While I like the IDEA of the envelopes with shifting objectives and story, I feel like they make it too easy. Once you find the answer to the first question and open an envelope, you're usually presented with one new piece of evidence. That new evidence is always THE key to the next envelope, and you usually know exactly the one thing to look at to quickly get the answer. Hypothetical example: you'll get a newspaper article about "Bob Smith". You go over all the documents for mention of Bob Smith. Once you find it, you know for certain that one piece is going to be the answer to the next envelope, and it's not that hard to see how in the context of applying the new piece of envelope evidence. So all the difficulty is frontloaded with the starting document dump. I guess you could make the argument that it's all the dominoes falling into place, but it never felt like that. It feels like someone forcibly grabs your hand and leads you straight to the solution after only solving the initial question. A lot of time, the only reason we solved some stuff on our own was KNOWING what was in the envelope was a neon sign pointing straight to the answer and ignoring everything else. Considering most of the envelopes follow the pattern of 1. Prove this one person didn't do it 2. Prove this person is lying 3. Prove the liar committed the murder, it means you're almost coasting on auto-pilot after eliminating just one suspect.
Hello ! Are the games role play games? Like do you have personality cards that you give to the players before the game or are all just detectives ? I’m looking for an interactive game where everybody has a role they have to play. Thanks 🙏
No they aren't. For the kind of game you are looking for search for "murder mystery dinner".. although they do not always involve dinner, that is the name of the genre. -jesse
Yes. For that you want to search for Murder Mystery DINNER party. There are tons on amazon and ebay. Even if you don't plan on playing these games at dinner, that's the genre. They are more focused on the social element of talking and accusing each other, and less on hardcore deduction, and they often have strict player count requirements (typically 6 or 8), but they can be quite fun. And here's a nice ranking of some of the best: boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/439/best-murder-party-game-series -jesse
Awesome review of these cold case detective games! These are the type of mystery games that I’ve always wanted, but didn’t know existed. I’m currently playing the online version from Cold Case Inc., but I also want to buy the ones from Unsolved Case Files.
I never cared for the mystery genre before, until I was called for jury duty. Now I’m obsessed with true crime and murder mystery. These games mimic what a real-life detective, or juror does: going through every piece of evidence, documents, witnesses, etc and determining who committed the crime.
Ha! Well you have a whole world of adventure ahead of you. Just don't commit any real crimes because if they search your internet history they will be convinced you are a master criminal.
I didnt know existed either! but since I live in Brazil and here it costs idk ten times more, I'll just watch the gameplays 🥲
Thanks for the video.
My wife and I played 'Cold Case Files: A Story to Die For,' and had a lot of fun. Something to consider regarding these reviews: Cold Case Files has a price tag of half of what the Unsolved Case Files games are going for. For $20 CAD we had a fun date night at home, maybe if we try one of the Unsolved Case Files in the future we'll be able to compare the value of fun/quality compared to the price tag.
The issue of getting value for your purchase with these games is a tricky one and very subjective. Sometimes it makes a lot of sense to me to think about how much is it costing me per hour of fun, and there are some games that give you a lot of hours of puzzles or story in a cheap box. But other times I am more focused on the quality of the experience, and would rather pay more for an hour of a great experience than 5 hours of mediocre experience. I suppose it depends on that you are most interested in. But the bottom line is all about whether you enjoyed it.
I have always skipped these beacuse they felt too simplistic, but it is interesting to hear that there is a substantial quality difference between series. Will be trying out the iDventures for sure. Looking these up, I also stumbled upon Cold Case Investigation Unit (seemingly also called The Detective Project for some reason), written by a former UK police detective. Don't think you covered that one, but it would be interesting to hear where it places on this list.
Hi Bot. I saw the "Cold Case Investigation Unit" ones -- they appear to only be on the UK amazon for now, but I may try it out. I have spotted a new series that looks like it might be good, "Hidden Games Crime Scene" that I bought, so I will be playing that one soon and reporting on. -jesse
Ah, interesting. I saw that title as well and wondered whether it was one of those you already covered here. They seem to be doing localized versions with slightly different titles. Sounds good, being based on a German series and with high production values. Looking forward to your review! Please consider commenting on where this would place on your list, if you weren't already thinking of that. So intriguing to have a whole new investigative game genre to discover like this.
i have played two in the unsolved case files and the jamie banks one was harder. it just depends what you find early on in the case. i enjoyed both and will be purchasing more in that range.
Which one did you prefer? I do think you are right that different groups might find different games easier or harder just based on the luck of the groove they get into early on. -jesse
I would love for you to do hunt a killer review, you can get either a 1 episode box or a monthly subscription, usually 6 monthly boxes on each cas, or you can get all 6 boxes for older cases at one time, i like them
They are definitely on my list to review and compare. I actually ordered one of the standalone boxes, but after receiving it I saw it was designated as "easiest" level of difficulty and thought that would be not the best box to review. So I'm looking to pick up one of their intermediate sets -- if anyone has any recommendations of which one to get let me know. -jesse
@@COOPFORTWO You could give the Murder at the Motel a try. I've seen a lot of other youtubers do Murder at the Dive Bar and the 80's Reunion. So it'll be good to see your take on something different
@@alexbiersner3350 Hi Alex! I did actually record a playthrough of Murder at the Motel: th-cam.com/video/FYaHVyhipYs/w-d-xo.html
I also reviewed all 3 of the Hunt A Killer standalone boxes here: th-cam.com/video/fw6AU14TipY/w-d-xo.html
:)
I've only played the Unsolved Case Files out of these. I mostly enjoy them, but I do have a recurring complaint. While I like the IDEA of the envelopes with shifting objectives and story, I feel like they make it too easy. Once you find the answer to the first question and open an envelope, you're usually presented with one new piece of evidence. That new evidence is always THE key to the next envelope, and you usually know exactly the one thing to look at to quickly get the answer. Hypothetical example: you'll get a newspaper article about "Bob Smith". You go over all the documents for mention of Bob Smith. Once you find it, you know for certain that one piece is going to be the answer to the next envelope, and it's not that hard to see how in the context of applying the new piece of envelope evidence.
So all the difficulty is frontloaded with the starting document dump. I guess you could make the argument that it's all the dominoes falling into place, but it never felt like that. It feels like someone forcibly grabs your hand and leads you straight to the solution after only solving the initial question. A lot of time, the only reason we solved some stuff on our own was KNOWING what was in the envelope was a neon sign pointing straight to the answer and ignoring everything else. Considering most of the envelopes follow the pattern of 1. Prove this one person didn't do it 2. Prove this person is lying 3. Prove the liar committed the murder, it means you're almost coasting on auto-pilot after eliminating just one suspect.
Watch at 2x speed.
Hello ! Are the games role play games? Like do you have personality cards that you give to the players before the game or are all just detectives ? I’m looking for an interactive game where everybody has a role they have to play. Thanks 🙏
No they aren't. For the kind of game you are looking for search for "murder mystery dinner".. although they do not always involve dinner, that is the name of the genre. -jesse
Any recommendations on a good murder mystery game where the players are the suspects, rather than the players being the detectives?
Yes. For that you want to search for Murder Mystery DINNER party. There are tons on amazon and ebay. Even if you don't plan on playing these games at dinner, that's the genre. They are more focused on the social element of talking and accusing each other, and less on hardcore deduction, and they often have strict player count requirements (typically 6 or 8), but they can be quite fun.
And here's a nice ranking of some of the best: boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/439/best-murder-party-game-series
-jesse
@@COOPFORTWO Thank you so much!!!