St. Noire (2019)

Overview

Be the detective in ST. NOIRE – the first voice-controlled murder mystery board game

There’s been a murder in the small town of St. Noire – and the killer has promised to strike again! Can you solve the mystery before time runs out and the killer gets away? Find the clues, question suspects and trust absolutely no one. Someone is lying, and if you’re going to crack the case, you’ll need to figure out who…your move, Detective."

St. Noire is an Alexa-enabled physical board game. Therefore you will need an Alexa device to play the game.

The premise of the game is similar to Clue in that a murder has been committed, and the players are attempting to deduce the identity of the murderer, the weapon, and the location.

However, the execution and mechanics are significantly different than Clue as seen in the "How to Play" section below from the publisher.

Of note, Nolan Bushnell, one of the co-designers of St. Noire, also co-founded Atari Inc. (Pong, Atari 2600, et.al). He is also credited with Bushnell's Law which posits games will be rewarding if they are "easy to learn and difficult to master."

How to play, from the publisher's site: "Pay close attention… You only have 'til the end of night seven to solve the case.

To deduce who the killer is, explore the different locations in town to find the right murder weapon, and confirm suspects' whereabouts on the night of the murder.

Not everyone will give an HONEST answer when asked where they were or who they saw the night of the murder. Compare suspect’s answers and look for inconsistencies to figure out who is telling the truth and who is lying. Be careful -- liars will always lie, but not all liars are the killer! Nothing they say can be trusted!

On every turn you can choose to either:

Examine a location for evidence. Choose to question a townsperson about where they were and who they saw on the night of the murder. Accuse a suspect. To win the game, identify and accuse the correct suspect before the end of night seven. The killer is caught. You save the town.

Lose the game by making two incorrect accusations or making an incorrect accusation at the end of night seven. The killer skips town.

—description from the publisher