After the successful first part, in the second part of Suspects it’s once again up to the players to solve three murder mysteries. Each mystery has around 50 cards with clues on them. These range from interrogating a person to entering a location or examining an object. Occasionally, you will come across a card that doesn’t fall under any of these categories. Furthermore, not all cards are immediately available. Cards have to be unlocked and sometimes players may even miss out on cards (with evidence!) by making certain choices. So think carefully about which clue you think you need.
The aim of the game is obviously to solve the mystery (no shit, Sherlock). The mystery is always cast in a few questions that need to be answered. If the questions are answered correctly at the end of the game, points are awarded, but if players manage to answer certain questions during the game, i.e. with fewer clues and because the evidence doesn’t allow any other conclusion, more points can be earned. So be both quick and thorough!
It’s important that the players keep communicating well and take every clue to heart, but be careful not to create noise on the line. Or as Ellie Lust, the Netherlands’ most famous policewoman, would say: ether discipline!
As in Suspects I, the first mystery seemed to be a bit easier than the other two. At least, in both cases, that mystery earned the most points. That can’t be a coincidence, can it? Furthermore, Suspects II is another blast to play. Very entertaining to play with friends and feel yourself a sleuth for a while. Thinking logically and making connections will go a long way, but it’s certainly not easy. A nice change, by the way, was that the mysteries in Suspects II are set in different periods of Claire Harper’s life. Thus, players get a glimpse into Harper’s life as a teenager at an all-girls’ school, as an adult woman in her late thirties during an official marathon race just after World War II, and as an older woman briefly visiting her best (school) friend (who also has a role in mystery 1).
Overall, the Suspects games are just very good and fun to play, but always stay sharp because ’there is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact’.
