Catch the crooks in "MicroMacro Crime City"!
Crime is rampant in MicroMacro Crime City and it is up to you as the detective to use your investigative skills to put the crooks behind bars. Work together using clues to find the crime scene, determine the motive, and identify the perpetrators!
High-Level Summary:
In MicroMacro Crime City, players work as a team to investigate a large map to solve crimes. This map is HUGE and takes up the entirety of our dinner table! This makes the game feel like a giant Where’s Waldo book, but with a lot more crime. The map depicts a large city with many different crimes occurring simultaneously, but players should not get distracted from the mission at hand.
Set-Up/Gameplay:
To start the game, the players will determine which mission they would like to complete. There is a difficulty (and age appropriateness) rating for each mission to help players select what kind of mission they would like. Once selected, the players take the corresponding card deck out of the box, and put the other missions aside. Then they unfold the map and the game is ready to begin!
Each mission has an introduction card that gives players a general direction for what they are looking for. From the missions I have played, it typically started with identifying the crime scene location. The second card then directs the player to answer a question by looking at the map such as, “Where does the victim live?”
Players then follow the victims steps backward to answer the question posed on the second card. One player is designated as the lead investigator and checks to see if the team is right. If the team is correct, they continue onto the third and then any subsequent cards. If the team is incorrect, they must continue looking without the assistance of the lead investigator, as they now know the answer.
Once all cards have been correctly answered, the investigators have won! Depending on the difficulty, the time can vary but the game is still pretty quick and is easy to play multiple missions a game night.
Thoughts and recommendation (including pros and cons):
My fellow investigators and I had a great time playing and I would definitely recommend this game. The game definitely lent itself to working together as there were times we had two different theories and could each follow our respective leads to find a solution. The harder missions definitely provided a challenge, but I was never frustrated at the level of difficulty.
In addition, the game's overall rules are not complex. A new player can play the intro mission and get a feel for the entire game in just a few minutes.The quick gameplay and lack of complexity makes it an easy filler game for any game night. If you like Where’s Waldo”, this game is definitely for you!
However, there are a couple of drawbacks to the game. The first being that there are only 16 missions in the box and I do not see any reason to replay any missions I had already completed. This tends towards a limited value of the game itself, but at a price point of around $25 it has enough value to recommend. The only other downside is even with just 3 players, we were having difficulty viewing the whole map as we kept getting in each other’s way. While it was not a huge issue, if we added a fourth player it may have become an issue.
Conclusion:
As for my final thoughts, I highly recommend this game! The gameplay is simple but enticing, the minimalist art style is great, and the experience of solving a crime is rewarding. If you need a new simple game to play for your next game night, grab a copy of MicroMacro Crime City!