Watson & Holmes

About this board game

Watson & Holmes is a deduction game for 2–7 players, with games lasting about 75 minutes, set in the Victorian world of Arthur Conan Doyle. Players take the roles of aspiring detectives working alongside Sherlock Holmes to solve unpublished cases drawn directly from Doctor John H. Watson’s diaries.

Each case presents a mystery and a series of questions. Players travel between locations where clues can be found, following the trail and using deductive reasoning to uncover the solution before their rivals. The game’s focus is on immersion: visit the right places, decipher the evidence, and piece together the path to the truth.

During each turn, players secretly choose their destinations. A location can only be visited by one player at a time, so competition is resolved through Carriage Tokens: the player who uses the largest number travels there fastest and gains access to the clue, while the others must choose different locations.

• Read each discovered clue in secret and take discreet notes.
• Return clue cards to their locations so other players can investigate them later.
• Use deduction to answer the case questions before anyone else.

The investigation continues until a player believes they have solved the case. That detective must travel to 221B Baker Street to check the answers. A completely correct solution wins the game; a wrong one removes that player from the investigation while the others continue.

Throughout the cases, detectives can also receive invaluable assistance from Sherlock Holmes and his allies, including the good Dr. Watson. With its secret information, contested destinations, note-taking, and race to reach the correct conclusion, Watson & Holmes turns classic detective fiction into a tense competitive investigation.