Cold Case Games: Bring your Inner Detective and Investigate a Crime

Details

“Detective work is 90% thinking, 10% running around.”
— Agatha Christie

🔍 Event Overview

Step into the shoes of an investigator for a day of clever deduction, playful fun, and social interaction. In this interactive tabletop game experience, you’ll analyze clues, uncover hidden secrets, and collaborate with fellow participants to crack a thrilling cold case created by Detective for a Day.

Whether you’re a true crime fan, puzzle lover, or just curious to try something new, this is your chance to experience a rare, non-replayable mystery game in a fun, social setting that blends entertainment with intellectual challenge.

🧠 What Is This Game About?

This is a collaborative game that combines elements of role-playing, puzzle-solving, and narrative storytelling. Each game centers on a fully crafted story—usually a murder, theft, or unsolved cold case. You aren’t just moving pieces on a board; you’re stepping into a narrative as an investigator.

Players receive a case file containing approximately 40 pieces of evidence, including documents, photos, maps, and digital resources such as fake websites. The goal is to analyze these materials, uncover hidden clues, and piece together the story to solve the case. Some clues may even be deliberately misleading or incomplete, requiring careful deduction.

Unlike solo puzzles or traditional board games, these experiences emphasize collaboration and discussion, making them very social. It’s about teamwork, not competition. The experience is designed to be completed in a single session, typically lasting 2–3 hours.

🤔 Why Is This an Uncommon Experience?

The broad use of the term board games as a catch-all for the more generic tabletop gaming hobby, can lead people to think only about board games as traditional board and dice formats, overlooking the depth and diversity of the tabletop gaming medium. Events like this highlight that richness and encourage people to discover this (and many other) gaming gems.

Offering a public session like this to play "Detective for a Day" also gives you a rare chance to dive into non-replayable tabletop mystery puzzle games—a niche hobby that only some have experienced, but many end up loving.

Non-replayable means that cases are designed to be solved once. Once the clues are uncovered and the mystery is solved, the story is “consumed” and can’t be played again as the surprises were already revealed. This makes this games rare events, not weekly habits, and one-of-a-kind adventure.

Rare chance means that these games are rarely available for public play, usually enjoyed privately by arranging with others to share the cost of purchasing the game. Specialty game stores may offer some of their mystery games during their open gaming sessions, but it is common for them to offer the more replayable variants (you can bring your own single-case, one-time play game and play with others if their policy allows you too, though).

Finally, Detective for a Day is a relatively new company, and their products are sold exclusively by them. Even if you’ve played similar games before, it’s unlikely you’ve played Detective For a Day games.

⚠️ Note: If you enjoy the experience, I’ve created a dedicated WhatsApp group to connect players for future cold case games. Just ask for the link!

🧩 What You’ll Experience

A fully prepared murder mystery case from Detective for a Day
Collaboration with a small group of detectives to solve the case
Laughter, surprises, and maybe a few accusations…
The thrill of a niche tabletop hobby you may have never tried before

⚠️ Note: No prior experience required—just bring your curiosity and a sharp mind!

📅 Schedule
18:45 – 19:00 → Arrival, grab food/drinks
19:00 – 21:00 → Game
21:00 → Post-game discussion: share strategies, clues, and maybe start a new detective circle!

✅ Practical Details
📍 Location: Oba, 7th Floor
🎟️ Price: €0
🎒 What to Bring: