Board Game Review: Scotland Yard--Hunting Mr. X

First of All: This post has been on the to-do list for a while, but with lots of other things occupying my time--not the least of which is preparing to enter a new semester of college--it took a while in coming.  I got this game for Christmas, and my family and I rushed to give it a shot that same day, and weren't let down at all. There's a reason the box boasts over 4,000,000 sales worldwide.

Second of All: The game!

The premise of the board game is that one player is the mysterious criminal Mr. X, who is on the run from the police for some unknown dastardly deed committed in London, and the remaining players are the detectives of Scotland Yard who are trying to hunt him down.  The only things that the detectives know about Mr. X's whereabouts are the methods of transportation that he uses, whether by Taxi, Bus, or Subway (Underground), and a few fleeting glimpses throughout the game where Mr. X is forced to surface on the board.  If a detective ever enters the same location as the criminal, the game is over, but if Mr. X can elude the detectives for long enough, he escapes!  The stage is set for the sleuthing race of the ages!

Third of All: The review!
After the first few turns of gameplay, my entire family came up with one unanimous decision: we had fallen head over heels for this game.  The player-versus-player dynamic pits a team of people against one other, who has quite a few advantages to help balance out the team ratio.  A pleasant intensity is present throughout the entire game as the players try to outwit each other.

I very much enjoyed playing both sides of the game, as Mr. X and later as a detective.  Each has its own advantages, disadvantages, and both are thoroughly enjoyable.  The only downside I found is that if you can only find three people to play with (the minimum amount), then Mr. X has an incredible advantage, which can frustrate some people.  Also, the high amount of thinking, reasoning, and deducting involved makes this a game that might not be as enjoyable for children.

Overall, I have to say that this is one of the greatest board games I've played to date.  I give it a Five and a Half out of Six Nerd Stars.