In our house one of the ways we like to relax and have some fun is with regular game nights and playing board games. We have a wide variety of games and we all like to play different types of games, but one of our favourite types are games where we have to use logic and deduction. For this reason, we were delighted when we received Casefile: Truth & Deception, a game based on the hit true crime podcast Casefile.
Casefile: Truth & Deception is a board game based on the very popular true crime podcast Casefile. It is a game for 3-4 players, aged 12+ and takes anywhere between 30 to 60 minutes to play and hopefully solve a murder. It could be described as being like the classic murder mystery game Cluedo but with elements of Guess Who.
In the box:
- Casefile Gameboard
- 4 Case Trackers
- 4 Dry-Erase Markers
- 44 Cards
- Deception Die
- Confidential Folder
- Instructions
The premise behind Casefile: Truth & Deception is that the wealthy businessman Casey Parker has been murdered! He had a very long list of enemies, any of who could have committed the deadly crime. But thankfully there is lots of evidence for the detectives (the players) to find, gather and decipher to unmask the killer, bringing them to justice.
The aim of the game is to be the first detective to find out where the crime occurred, the motive behind why Mr Parker was killed and what weapon was used to despatch the victim in the hope of catching the killer using deduction skills, evidence cards, truth and deception to crack the case. And you can solve a different crime, with the same victim, every time you play and have a different outcome.
Game set up is simple. Each detective is given a dry-erase marker and a case tracker. The Casefile gameboard is placed in the centre of the table. The cards need to be separated into the five different types: Weapon, Location, Motive, Suspect and False Evidence and shuffled thoroughly. Cards from the Weapon, Location, Motive and Suspect piles are selected at random without anyone looking at them and placed into the Confidential Folder – this folder now holds the solution to identify the killer. Then combine the five card piles together, shuffle them and deal five cards to each detective. The remaining cards and then placed on the gameboard in the centre of the table. Place the Deception die near the gameboard, and you are ready to play and hopefully be the first to solve the murder of Mr Casey Parker!
This is a murder mystery game of evidence gathering, deduction and deception. To keep track of any evidence you gather each detective uses their case tracker. When the game begins, after the shock of the murder has worn off, detectives look at the cards they have been dealt and can mark these off on their case tracker – as they are holding these cards, they clearly can’t be part of the solution and can be ruled out. The idea is to collect or eliminate enough pieces of evidence by asking questions, trading evidence cards and leading other players down the wrong path, to make an educated guess to who the killer is, where the murder happened, what weapon was used to commit the murder and what the motive was. Get it right and you win, get it wrong and you lose and are out of the game.
A word of warning, not everything is the truth! There is false evidence circulating to throw you off the scent and other detectives can bluff, lie and deceive so you really do need to be 100% sure of the evidence you have gathered.
Will you be able to gather enough evidence to deduce the killer and their reason for murder?
Overall, I loved playing Casefile: Truth & Deception – it is a great game. It is packed with lots of fun and exciting tension, you really do have to concentrate, pay attention and be organized with your evidence gathering. It is a challenging game of logic and deduction, one that is extremely interesting and lots of fun – fans of Cluedo will love it!
It is easy game to understand and play, you just have to find and put together the clues. Evidence cards can be traded (they all have a numeric value to make it work), evidence cards and case trackers can be stolen by other detectives (this can be quite frustrating when losing everything that you have collected) and a wrong guess will see you as a failed detective and out of the game.
The artwork on the cards and case trackers is brilliant. Whilst it is a murder mystery game it doesn’t feature any gory images, so is suitable for family play. The card stock used could have been a bit thicker, it is a bit on the thin side, but it doesn’t make any difference to the gameplay, it just would have given the game a higher quality feel about it.
The game is played until one detective successfully finds the correct answers to the questions, or until all detectives are knocked out through giving incorrect answers. There is no time limit, but we found a game takes between 30 to 60 minutes to play. It is really satisfying to be able to correctly deduce the answers and solve a murder.
I loved that the game can be played over and over again. The victim is always the same, but as the solution is at random with the shuffling of cards, the final answers change each time that you play, with 44 cards there are plenty of possible solutions to keep the game fresh and extend its playability and longevity.
We all enjoyed playing Casefile: Truth & Deception and being murder detectives for an hour. It is a simple game to set up, easy to play and gets those brain cells working. It’s fun for families, teenagers and adults to play.
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £26.99
For more information, visit vividtoysandgames.co.uk. Available to buy from Amazon here.
Disclosure: I received this item for free for the purposes of writing an honest and impartial review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This review uses an affiliate link which I may receive a small commission from if you purchase through the link.
