ATTWN Board Game

[PeachFreak]

I know there are some Christie fans here, so I thought there might be some interest in the newest addition to my board game collection. It's a 2016 Spanish game released under the title "10 Negritos," and from my understanding, there was some talks about an English localization that were stalled both by licensing with the Christie estate and the development company going under.

Still, here are images of the suspects/victims and the detectives the players portray (one of whom can secretly be the killer's accomplice in larger game sessions). I'd be happy to post some more if anyone wanted to see.

[cluedoking123]

I I I I NEEEED THIS!!!!!

[Murder by Death]

Wow. That's beautiful. How is the game played?

[PeachFreak]

These are my understanding of the rules based on some translation help from friends and a translated instruction booklet I found. They're truthfully a little iffy, and I wonder if it feels more organic during actual play.

At the start of the game, one of the ten suspects is secretly chosen as the murderer and separated from the deck. The players' cooperative goal is both to deduce who the killer is in ten turns, before he or she can successfully knock off the rest of the guests, and to reveal the identity of the accomplice (another of the players), if there is one. The accomplice wins by preventing this from happening once discovered or by winning the game along with the players without being discovered.

Clues are placed throughout the house in the form of investigation tokens, and the victims will draw and swap Object Cards that make up their inventory throughout the game.

To deduce the killer's identity, the players must gather and interpret 9 out of 11 clues. These are non-specific, and it's really about token collection rather than actual deduction.

Each turn is divided into two phases:

PLAYER PHASE

1. Form Groups

The players separate the living characters into groups and assign each group, headed by a detective, to a different area of the house or island to investigate.

2. Move & Investigate

Based on the number of Object Cards a group has, it may attempt to enter and investigate the location to uncover the investigation tokens placed there. For example, successfully investigating a token at the cliffside requires discarding 1 Compass, 1 Lantern, 1 Set of Boots per character, and 1 Rain Slicker per character. Each character also has a permanent object he or she is "always holding" as represented by their character card. (e.g. Vera always has a lantern that cannot be discarded.)

Each detective also has abilities indicated on their cards: one positive, and one negative. For example, Anne Sheffield, the housekeeper, draws a card for each card her group discards. However, if her group discards a key, they must instead discard two additional cards.

Lia, the reporter's, negative ability is a typo which the developer has addressed. As it reads, it seems she is unable to join groups formed by a single player. It really means she is unable to join groups consisting of a single suspect.

Different investigation tokens include:

1. Accomplice (When three have been revealed, the accomplice may choose to identify himself. When five have been revealed, the accomplice must identify himself. When there is no accomplice, these are red herrings and serve no purpose but slowing you down.)

2. Cards (Object cards. Finding them can let you keep investigating after you've exhausted the items you were holding).

3. Numbered parchment (A clue. You have to interpret it by using and discarding held object cards equal to the number depicted. Otherwise, you have to leave it, and another group can come by and attempt to interpret it).

4. Various objects or mishaps (A sprained ankle, a swiss army knife, a lucky coin. They serve various purposes and can help or hinder. There's also a dog you can send out to check hidden investigation tokens before flipping them).

EVENT PHASE

1. Discovery

Reveals where new investigation tokens should be placed on the board.

2. Victim

A character is murdered. They cannot be used for the rest of the game. Their body and anything they may be holding are relocated to the upstairs bedroom, where someone can attempt to retrieve them.

3. Setback

Only occurs if the murderer has an accomplice (a 4 to 6 player game, and even then, the accomplice may not exist. It's assigned by random card at the game's start, and it's possible no one may draw it.). A setback card is drawn, and after excluding one of the detectives from the vote (a way to narrow down who's secretly the accomplice and gather Ruse cards, explained later), the players decide whether to move forward with it. There's some rather perplexing rules about each player putting a positive or negative card into a pile. At least one negative card in the revealed pile means the setback was successful, and something bad happen, such as locking the upstairs bedroom this turn or preventing detectives from making groups only containing two suspects, etc.

I think the purpose is for the accomplice player to have to decide between hampering or helping the players and securing his own victory through either venue he has to do so.

Detectives draw "Ruses," which only the accomplice can use, when excluded from a vote by the others or when not joined with a group during the group forming phase. These cards are kept secret until later, and the idea is that by excluding someone, you may be helping the accomplice retaliate later by earning Ruses.

ACCOMPLICE REVEALED

Once the accomplice's identity is known, he or she can begin using Ruses to hamper the others. Setbacks no longer occur. The accomplice can also forge his or her own group of characters in an effort to keep them and the objects they're holding away from detectives who may want to use them. (Jane Purple, the busybody's, ability to join other people's groups comes in handy here). Ruses are things like locking doors and making rooms inaccessible or stealing cards.

It seems to me the only way to reveal the accomplice is by uncovering the tokens listed above and that you can't actually "accuse" someone behaving suspiciously. I suppose then the point is to keep a suspected player at bay through strategic play until you can prove he or she is guilty.

The game ends either once the detectives have gathered enough clues to reveal the murderer or every suspect but the murderer has been killed (ten turns, as no one is murdered in turn three. There is some option to play on harder difficulties and have more murders occur more quickly). Either the detectives, the accomplice, or no one (in the event there is no accomplice) wins.

I'll post some board and card images later.

[Murder by Death]

Interesting game. Sounds really convoluted. But did I understand you correctly, there are ONLY 10 turns? So each turn must take considerable time?

[PeachFreak]

Yes, there are only ten turns, as that's as long as it takes for everyone but the murderer to be killed. Detectives cannot be murdered.

I haven't had the opportunity to play yet, but I imagine the time is taken up by the setback card voting and working out the most strategic locations to send groups of suspects. A group with a lot of Object Cards would also be able to spend some time completely clearing a room of investigation tokens.