Bureau of Investigation Investigations in Arkham - Quick Before You Buy Review (18min / 4k)

[@thinusconradie4297]

I am curious about getting this and writing fan cases at some point.

[@HeraAndHyde]

Great review!! It's like Sherlock Holmes goes to America, gets enlisted in the Bureau, and has to solve mysteries while facing the supernatural from the dark cosmos! I added this to my list to play!

[@debbielevy3539]

Great overview as always. It sounds like something I'd be willing to try in the future, but wouldn't immediately rush out to buy.

[@Anarchosyn]

Funny. I found your channel due to an issue we had in Mission 3 of Vienna Connection (ultimately scanning your playthrough to see how you resolved it - the code card that translated as "#first row above vs#" if that rings a bell). I'd have walked away, but by chance I noticed the row of cover facing board games along your wall, and recognized a kindred spirit when I saw one. You're now my new favorite. :)

[@COOPFORTWO]

Thank you for such kind and encouraging comments, Anarchosyn :) Here's the thread on bgg where we discuss what games to play next if you are interested: boardgamegeek.com/thread/2802563/game-queue -jesse

[@Anarchosyn]

@@COOPFORTWO Thanks for that, Jesse. I should add, I made my comment before watching this specific video. While I did rather enjoy it (and several others now as well), I was a touch sad to see no reference to Mythos Tales, comparatively speaking, especially given that the cover is visible in the background through the entirety of this piece. I did miss a small chunk in the first section, so maybe this reflects more on me than the video, but figured I'd share that tiny constructive criticism. :)

[@COOPFORTWO]

@@Anarchosyn You are quite right that I should have mentioned it -- I just forgot. I talk about it right up front in our first playthrough of Bureau of Arkham demo case, the first video we made on this game, and it absolutely deserves more attention. I just plain forgot. Maybe I can remedy that in the near future by playing more cases from Mythos Tales on the channel. -jesse

[@COOPFORTWO]

Started adding links to other youtube reviews of the game; i will add more as i find.

[@mpaice]

Great review. I would be interested to know your thoughts on the differences between this and Mythos Tales.

[@COOPFORTWO]

Thanks, Paicey. That's a great question, since Mythos Tales (designed by Hal Eccles: boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/126100/mythos-tales) predates this by 6 years, and doesn't get the love it deserves. Unfortunately I've only played a little of Mythos Tales so I need to play more of it before I can speak to it with any value. Mythos Tales is a much more straightforward retheming of SHCD in terms of the structure of cases and minimal new mechanics, though it does make use of a tight time limit. If you watch my livestream of the demo case playthrough of BOI I actually spend a bit of time talking about it at the start: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aHjGiql9Ys6rjKs Oh and here's our 4hr livestream playthrough of case 1 of Mythos Tales: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rqaUmn-alqiHr8U But yes, I really do need to play more Mythos Tales! Hopefully we'll get around to it on the channel. -jesse

[@notjefflee]

I appreciate your "Who might not enjoy it?" section. Following up on that, I really like SHCD for the mystery and deduction. The addition of a supernatural element makes me worried that there is less deduction or those small hints that you can piece together to make a solution based on real world logic. Did you find that was the case or did it still scratch that deductive thought process of SHCD?

[@COOPFORTWO]

It's a little hard to answer this without giving away spoilers.. Though personally I think protecting oneself against spoilers is overrated. The bottom line is that I do think there is substantially less deduction in these cases than in SHCD, and I think you're likely to spend substantially less time sitting and trying to connect the dots of a mystery while playing these. There are other reasons to enjoy these games -- but for the most part they aren't really about the the brain burny challenge of trying to connect the dots to understand the mystery in the way the SHCD cases are. But if you do decide to play it, come back and let me know what you thought. I think the print and play demo case might give you a feel for the difference to expect.

[@COOPFORTWO]

Marco Omnigamer has just posted his review: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ioXEeomwdrugeM0 (he's one of my favorite reviewers of these kinds of games)

[@COOPFORTWO]

Link added to demo case: Print and Play Demo case link: boardgamegeek.com/thread/2825616/demo-case If you find other reviews online feel free to link to them in comments.

[@justcows7772]

This vs mythos tales?

[@COOPFORTWO]

That's a great quesiton. We recently played through all of Mythos Tales but I haven't done a review yet. They are both imperfect, they are both experimental in very interesting ways, they both create some tension by restricting the number of turns you have. Mythos Tales is more notoriously buggy. Mythos Tales is also out of print. You get a lot more gameplay in Mythos Tales. I'd say you're either going to find both frustrating, if you are looking for smooth polished experience, or find both interesting if you are more forgiving and amenable to experimental experiences.

[@danieltaylor3755]

Do you think this game is worth buying for pure solo play?

[@COOPFORTWO]

You've phrased that question in a little bit of an odd way. If you're asking if the game is well suited for solo play, then the answer is absolutely YES. In fact these mystery games are, in my opinion, some of the very best games to solo -- and I enjoy playing them solo even though I generally dislike solo boardgames. If you're asking if its a great game in general -- compared to many other mystery detective type games.. That's a much harder question to answer. It's definitely not the best thinky mystery challenge, and I think because of that it's probably going to be less rewarding to take on solo than other games like Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective. Because it relies more on atmosphere and spookiness than it does in real mental problem solving, it's likely to lose something when played solo. But if you love the hp lovecraft theme and want to have a narrative reading adventure with some mystery, it might scratch an itch.

[@danieltaylor3755]

@@COOPFORTWO Thankyou