Some time ago we featured a rather popular press release here on the 5D Pop Culture Website about an exciting board game due for release in May, Batman: Everybody Lies.
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Batman: Everybody Lies is a story-driven deduction game. The action takes place in Gotham, exploring various locations of this crime-driven city—from the grim and poverty-stricken alleyways to the sycophantic and wealthy social elite penthouses.
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The lovely people at Portal Games have been gracious enough to send me an early pre-release edition of the game for us to provide some honest thoughts & highly valued opinions (ok, so I added those last three words myself…..but I know that’s what they really meant).
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The Review
It has to be said that Batman: Everybody Lies is a beautifully crafted collection which includes absolutely everything that could potentially wet the appetite for more things Gotham related and also for lovers of detective games…… so if, like me, you love both then this is undoubtedly the game for you.
Intended for 2-4 players ages 14+, the game features three cases to investigate, and a short Prologue to help players familiarize themselves with the rules and the style of play. Each Episode can be played separately taking roughly 2-3 hours to play, though this could possibly be slightly longer if you play with the maximum 4 players.
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Players are challenged to solve a mystery with limited time and resources and are presented with various clues and paths to begin your investigation, make your own decisions, and draw conclusions as you pursue different leads.. Players utilize a variety of game components to facilitate gameplay and push the narrative forward.
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Each Episode gives players access to up to 24 Lead cards that provide essential clues and plot points, along with a dedicated website, and additional resources included in the game box for authentic investigative immersion, which includes a Scene deck, Personal Goal deck, and the Gotham City Gazette archives
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At the time of writing this I have played the prologue and the first of the cases. Even the greenest of detective game newbies and indeed, the more experienced enthusiasts will find the game set both accessible and yet challenging enough to use the time to immerse themselves in the Gotham world. The basic narrative of the game is designed with productive group dynamics in mind – in other words, actively promoting the need to work together and problem solve obstacles – both physical and psychological in nature.
This means that while playing with 2 players is perfect agreeable and enjoyable, playing with 3-4 players further adds to the overall experience – very cunning.
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The other clever aspect of the game is that each stage requires you to pick a specific character to use and while it could have been all too easy to include a certain Dark Knight, or indeed his rather rich alter ego as one of the characters – this potentially may have been too much of of a distraction from the true nature of the game….. which is to solve a bloody good mystery.
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As I’ve already mentioned, as yet I’ve only so far dipped my eager detective toe into the first two games – and so far it’s been the perfect opportunity to understand how the mechanics of this game work as well as familiarising oneself with the world one finds oneself in. Hopefully this game will please both the avid fans of Batman and the more serious detective fan. If you want my final thought – this game is an absolute joy.
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Batman: Everybody Lies will be released on May 19th.
Learn more about the game at https://batman.portalgames.pl/
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