Scotland Yard

About this board game

Scotland Yard is a two-player board game from 1990, designed for a playing time of about 60 minutes. One player leads Scotland Yard, while the other commands a gang of international espionage.

Before play begins, 24 figures are punched out and fitted into plastic feet. The Scotland Yard player receives 12 policemen, six numbered top-secret folders, secret plans, and three tokens of admiration. The spy chief receives 12 characters with their dossiers, along with spy chips and tokens of admiration.

The spy chief secretly decides which three characters are spies. Spy tabs are placed in the dossiers of the selected characters, while the remaining characters receive a token of admiration. The Scotland Yard player prepares the building folders, hidden secrets, and other tokens before the pursuit begins.

On each turn, a player spins the wheel and advances four of their figures by the indicated number of squares. The police begin at Trafalgar Square, shown by a blue space, while the characters begin on red spaces. Figures may move forward or backward, but each figure moves in only one direction during a play.

• Figure symbol: Move the indicated figure.
• Glove symbol: Move a single policeman, then use the next roulette result for that police movement.
• Whistle symbol: Double the result of the next roll.

When a policeman reaches a character through the relevant movement, that character must identify themselves. With hidden spy identities, special roulette effects, and movement across the board, Scotland Yard turns a simple chase into a focused contest of deduction and positioning.