Inspector Moss: House Arrest (2011)

About this game

Inspector Moss must investigate the mysterious death of millionaire baker, John Dough, who has been found battered at his stately country manor during a social gathering in the bachelor’s home. With an injunction in place to keep the guests from leaving, Moss has only a short window of opportunity to investigate and question the suspects. Can he eliminate the innocent and arrest the culprit before the injunction expires? In this game, you get to play as Inspector Moss, exploring a 25-room house consisting of tiles. Each tile contains either a suspect, evidence that can be used to eliminate suspects, or something to assist you in solving the case in time. On each turn, you roll 7 white dice and 1 colored "time" die up to 3 times. You may then use up to 6 of the dice for movement (by matching the number on the destination tile), for gathering evidence (with any 4 consecutive dice), and for getting assistance (with any 3 matching dice). After performing any actions, you must move the time marker down a number of spaces equal to the number shown on the time die plus 1 minute for every wild 6 that was used for an action. There are 10 possible suspects in the game. Once you have collected enough evidence to eliminate 9 of them, you must arrest the remaining suspect and escort him/her to the waiting police car. If you can do all of this before time runs out, you win the game.

Does it fit your group?

• Group size. Strictly 1 player — no more, no fewer.
• Rules load. At 1.8/5 this is a light game — explain it in a few minutes, good for a table that has not played much.
• Age. The publisher suggests 10 and up. That rates the rules rather than the artwork, so judge the box yourself for younger players.