When I found out that my daughter-in-law’s favorite classic game was ‘Clue’, I realized that I’d never researched any ‘gateway’ game for fans of that game. I’d seen a lot of ‘How to Host a Murder’ games in some game stores, but never anything that caught my attention. It didn’t take much research to find that two games kept coming up – ‘Sleuth’ and ‘Mystery at the Abbey’. A closer inspection led me to believe that ‘Mystery at the Abbey’ was just what the doctor ordered.
Components: Three words…’Days of Wonder’.
The gameboard features the layout of the abbey, and it’s a gorgeously thematic layout. The room names are written in Latin (the cheat sheets label them in Latin and English). The placement outlines for the different decks of cards are at the corners of the board so that the cards don’t impede the game.
The pawns are miniature monk statuettes of different colors. The cards are artfully simple, the cheat sheets are colorful, helpful, and well laid out, and even the suspect sheets are nicely designed (though I wish that more of them were included). All in all, the quality of components here is exemplary.
Rules: The rule book is in a very familiar layout, so anyone owning Ticket to Ride or Colosseum should be used to the format. It’s a good thing, too. Your first game or two might find you in the rule book quite a bit. It’s not that the rules are complex – they’re really not. But a newbie to this game will probably refer back for clarifying what constitutes a ‘legal’ question, when to play a particular card, and what happens in certain rooms. (The cheat sheets can be a valuable source of this information once people get into the habit of checking them). Once you get the basic hang of it, it’s pretty easy. We had four newbies (and no one who ever played), and were able to get the hang of the game pretty quickly.
Theme: One of the 24 monks has killed brother <PERSON>. Three to six players act as sleuths to try and find the killer by asking questions of the monks and receiving clues in a variety of ways. On one level, the game is very thematic. 504
The old-style fonts used on the cards and board, the rustic looking floor plan, the miniature ‘mass bell’ are all designed to enhance the mood. But there’s knowing wink (with tongue planted firmly in cheek) with cards that require players to sing ‘Frere Jacques’ in rounds or deliver questions in a chant. You’ll love the theme, but you’ll never forget that it’s just a game (and a fun one).
Gameplay: Each hour in the game, a mass card is turned and mass is held where all the monks gather in the Chapel. After mass, they have four moves (three moves if there are six players) to roam around the building searching for clues. Each move consists of them traveling to one or two rooms (three rooms for six players). When their move ends with them sharing a room with another player, they can ask that player a question to help narrow down the suspects. That person can take a vow of silence or answer the question. If he answers, he is allowed to ask a question in return.
Several rooms entitle the player a benefit, such as choosing a card from another player of gaining a card that can grant them information or a free turn or some other benefit. This is in addition to the ability to question another monk. The Library can give you access to a wealth of information, but you can only go there once (and only when you have less cards than anyone else. ‘Penance’ can also be declared on someone who misbehaves, such as forgetting to move the mass bell or not sing ‘Frere Jacques’.
One special room is the Chapterhall. Players must travel to this room if they wish to make a revelation (release positive information about the identity of the killer, such as ‘He had a beard’ or ‘He was a Franciscan monk) or an accusation (naming a specific suspect as the killer). It is room that is farthest away from the chapel.
After four turns, the bell is rung and players return to the chapel. Each player passes a certain number of his cards to the player on their left. An event card is drawn and acted upon. The next mass card is turned over, and a new round begins. The game ends when someone makes a correct accusation (the card depicting the killer is not in anyone’s hand). 937