Sherlock Aquelarre: El Mercader

About this board game

Sherlock Aquelarre: El Mercader is a mystery investigation game for 1–8 players, challenging your team to uncover who killed successful merchant Ignacio Zambrano, how he died, and why.

Each case presents 32 clue cards. Players reveal the evidence one card at a time, deciding whether to place a card on the table for everyone to read or discard it. Information shared openly can shape the investigation, but irrelevant clues cost points at the end of the game—while vital clues may be essential to solving the case.

• Reveal and share clues with the whole investigation team.
• Discuss theories while keeping the cards in your hand hidden.
• Read aloud only the bold words or text framed inside an image from hidden cards.
• Build a complete explanation before answering the final questionnaire.

Players may discuss their theories at any moment, as well as talk about the cards they hold, without showing those cards to anyone else. When a clue is played to the table, reading the shared information aloud helps the entire team follow the developing case.

Once all clue cards have been revealed or discarded, the group reviews the available information and works together to prepare a theory of what happened. During this final phase, discarded cards and the information remembered from them may be discussed freely.

Open the questionnaire and answer the questions to see how well your investigation succeeded. Every correct answer is worth two points, making careful observation, conversation, and deduction vital to the experience. Can your team clear up the mysterious death at the merchant’s shop in Sherlock Aquelarre: El Mercader?