Seattle Board Games

MURDER MYSTERY DOUBLE FEATURE!!!
The murder Deja Vu will be strong as we play Mystery of the Abbey & The Name of the Rose back to back! Two, count them, TWO monkish murders for the price of one!

Murder of the Abbey
The peaceful Templars' Abbey is a rare haven of tranquility for road weary travelers. And so you found it when you arrived late last night until the serenity was shattered this morning with the discovery of the lifeless body of Brother Adelmo at the foot of the Monastery cliffs. Did the usually nimble-footed Brother slip to his death? Or did someone help him in his fall? All signs point to foul play... and the Abbot has asked you and your companions to investigate and find the answer to the question, "Who killed Brother Adelmo?"

Mystery of the Abbey is a whodunit deduction game in the spirit of Clue. A monk has been murdered in a medieval French Abbey. Players maneuver their way through the Abbey examining clues and questioning each other to find out who is the culprit. Monks are of three orders, fat-thin, bald-hatted, bearded-clean shaven. One monk card is hidden, and the rest of the cards are distributed. Turns consist of moving up to two spaces, and then asking a question of any other monks who are present there. (For instance, "how many fat monks do you have?".) Players may either take a "vow of silence" or answer truthfully; they then in turn get to ask the accuser a question. "Mass" occurs every four turns: all players go back to the Sanctuary, an event card is read, and they then pass an ever growing number of cards to their left neighbor. Various rooms have special events or cards associated with them, e.g. in a Cell you get to pick a card from a neighbor, in the Cryptorum you get to pick up a card to take an extra turn later. Unlike Clue you don't automatically win by making a correct Accusation: you get 4 points for getting it right, but you also get 2 points for each correct Declaration of a single trait, and lose points for incorrect declarations and accusations. So, e.g. a person could correctly Declare the culprit but lose the game. Unique Events cards add randomness to each play, and the game begs for House rules to limit the questions.

Mystery uses Area Movement, Deduction, Dice Rolling, Hand Management, and Set Collection.

**********************************************

The Name of the Rose
1,327 AD**. Winter in a remote abbey in the northern Apennine Mountains. Brother William of Baskerville, a learned Franciscan monk from England, is traveling as the Emperor's special envoy on a delicate mission: He is to organize a meeting between papal delegates and suspected heretical Minorities. Very soon, however, his stay turns out to be a dangerous endeavor. Over the seven days and nights they spend at the abbey, William and his assistant Adson witness several deeply disturbing incidents: One monk drowns in a barrel brimming with pig's blood, another falls out of a window, and a third monk lies dead in the bathhouse. Rumors fly across the abbey, and everyone from the abbot on down has something to hide. Everywhere, pious men are busily covering tracks and erasing clues ...*

In this deduction game, players are monks who are trying to collect as many suspicion points on the other players as possible in order to figure out who the criminal is. The board shows several locations, each with 2 numbered (2-6) chits in one of 6 colors (the rest are face down in a line next to the board). There are 6 colored monk pieces, a Williams piece, and an Anson piece, all set up in different locations at the start. All monks start with 10 suspicion points and 5 clue points. Players are each randomly assigned one monk color (keep secret!). Each player receives 3 cards (which show either a monk, a location, or Williams/Anson). There are 7 rounds (days), each with 24 hours. Each day starts by revealing a random event tile in effect for that day. Then, players take turns playing cards: monk card = move that monk to a different location; location card = move any piece to that location; Williams/Anson card = move either of those pieces to any other location. Cards also have a number (0-5): add as many hours to the clock, unless you spend previously collected chits to reduce the number (by 1 per chit spent) -- spent chits added to the line of chits next to the board. If you move past 2400 hours, the day ends. Draw a card at the end of your turn. When a monk is moved to a location, if there is no piece of their color, increase their suspicion by the sum of (both) chits present. If there is, take that chit and reduce the monk's suspicion score by the number on that chit. If it was the last chit, add 2 chits from the line next to the board. If Williams moves to a location, add/subtract 3 from each of the clue scores for all monks present there. For Anson, it's +/- 5 suspicion points.
When the day ends, that player takes the event tile (=2 clue points against their monk at end of game). Convert suspicion points to clue points by ranking most to least (5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0 clue points); ties "generous". Reset suspicion points to 10 for all monks. After days 1, 3, and 5 players reveal one color they are NOT.
Day 7 is different: players simultaneously guess which monk other players were assigned. For every correct guess, that player's monk receives (substantial) additional clue points (number of points varies based on number of players).
The player with the fewest clue points against their monk wins the game!

Name of the Rose uses Deduction, Hand Management, & Secret Deployment.
New players are welcome, and the host is happy to teach if you haven't played before.

In 1490, Kaiser Maximilian I awarded Franz von Taxis the contract to deliver mail between the Kaiser's residences in Innsbruck and Brussels. He did such a good job, that postal services in the country continue to be connected with the name Thurn and Taxis. With the introduction of postal carriages in the middle of the 17th century, members of the family were raised to Count status and given the hereditary title of Postmaster General. Can you emulate the achievements of this family and build a successful postal network? Do you have the talent to connect the right cities to create an effective network and not lose sight of the need to acquire new carriages when they are needed? Plan your moves carefully and watch your opponents' moves carefully, so you are prepared to respond to them.

Thurn & Taxis is a Hand Management, Route Building, Drafting, Set Collection game. You are rival postal companies building a postal system across Bavaria and the surrounding regions. To do so, each player tries to build an effective network of post offices in the cities on the board, acquire valuable carriages, and collect bonuses. It also helps to get help from the postal officials. When a player has expanded their fleet of carriages fully or built out their network completely the games ends and the most successful company wins!
New players are welcome, and the host is happy to teach if you haven't played before.