Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)My wife is a big fan of CSI, and I looking for something we could do together for entertainment had purchased this game for us.
The board it self is pretty nice...thick cardboard stock with very nice pictures and color scheme that mirrors that of CSI.
You choose to play as one of 8 central characters (it doesn't matter who you play..there are no advantages to any character), and move around the board in a random manner hopefully landing on certain key areas to pick up additional clues.
The game ships with 8 different 'cases', and each time you play, the players try to solve the same case. There are three levels of clues. You must pick up all the clues in level 1 before you can proceed to level 2. Repeat again from level 2 to level 3. Once you have the clues for level 3, you can put together your case and hopefully choose the correct suspect. The 1st player to not only correctly identify the suspect AND the motive and means wins. This may sound fun and exciting, but my wife and I had a different take:
While stories (i.e. 'cases') are intriguing and set the tone and mood for the game, we found the game moves pretty slow. Most of the time, you are hoping to roll the correct number on the dice to land on a space to get a clue, and you can't move on to the next level until you complete the level you are currently on: much time is spent on rolling and moving and getting nothing done.
Second, the clues can be a bit vague or ambiguous. Many of the times we looked at a clue and wondered if it helped at all? Maybe the clues are more refined as we complete levels?
Once you finally get all the clues, and review your notes you have written on your provided 'case file notepad', you can select a suspect, and also select his/his motive, means, and a few other categories. This is where I found the game very unforgiving. You have to select the correct answer in like 5 categories based on the clues. Since the clues are pretty vague to begin with, and everyone's interpretation slightly different, it's like picking winning lottery numbers to get everything correct. Though I chose the correct suspect, and got 3 out of the 5 categories correct, I still lost because of the other 2.
The game is pretty educational however, because many of the clues go into great detail on forensics and tests administered. There was a lot of explanation of the science behind the crimes and cool factoids.
I find that younger children or even teens may get very frustrated with the length of this game and very unforgiving 'winning' practices.
Finally the game only ships with 8 cases. After you played all 8, there may not be any replay value. However the company suggests that they will have expansion packs in the future with new cases.
I'm in no hurry.
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CSI: Crime Scene Investigation The Board GameCSI: The Board Game is a fun, interactive, intriguing game that emulates the popular show on television and allows players to experience the excitement of solving a crime. The object of the game is to be the first player to enter Grissom's Office with a correct Arrest Warrant proving means, motive and opportunity. With the help of the show's main characters, players assume the role of Crime Scene Investigators in a race to collect three levels of evidence from all seven Crime Lab Divisions: Interrogation, Autopsy, Identification, Trace, Ballistics, Forensics and DNA. Disclosure Cards and Grissom Cards come into play and add to the interaction and excitement of the game. Test yourself, friends and family while learning about cutting-edge scientific methods and old-fashioned investigative police work as you try to build a case against one of three suspects.
Game includes: CSI Game Board, eight Crime Stories, 24 Suspects and Evidence Cards per story, two Grissom Cards per story, 25 Disclosure Cards, The CSI Handbook that includes: crime scene descriptions, crime scene photos, crime solutions, rules and glossaries, four arrest warrant/checklist folders and pad, four playing pieces with eight CSI character choices and one die.
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