mystery of the abi

days of wonder is a great little game company that regulary puts out clever games full of bright colors and great themes. one such game is mystery of the abbey. 

a la umberto eco's the name of the rose, a murder has been committed. you and your companions arrived during the previous evening, looking to take advantage of templar abbey's hospitality.  this morning brother adelmo's lifeless body has been found at the bottom of the monastery cliffs. did he fall, or was he pushed? the abbot has asked you and your companions to investigate!

helping me solve the murder this time are dave, abi, jacob, and addam.

mystery of the abbey is a deduction game that combines area movement, card management, and set collection to determine which of the monks at the abbey committed murder most foul.  there's no need to determine where the murder was committed or how; your time will be spent determining who did it.  after all, there are 24 different suspects of three different ranks in three different orders! to further complicate matters, some of the monks are fat while others are skinny. some wear their hood up. others wear their hood down. finally, some are bearded while others are clean shaven. 

each turn you can move your monk around the abbey and search for clues. some rooms (like the scriptorium and crypta) can provide assistance. if you're feeling really bold you can search the rooms of your fellow players to take cards from their hand; just don't get caught! you'll be sent to the chapel for penance. 

our game was of moderate length (new players and all), but as it came down to the wire, it was pretty much a race to see who could get to capitulium and make an accusation. as you can see from the picture above abi (the green monk) got there just before i did (i was playing yellow). her accusation was correct, it was, indeed, brother jacques who pushed brother adelmo to his death.

so congrats abi on your victory at mystery of the abbey!

all images property of little mens, save for the box image. that one belongs to days of wonder!