Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: The Thames Murders & Other Cases
A detective fantasy that collapses under its own difficulty.
Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective is a game I wanted to like. On paper, it sounds amazing: you get a big box with ten cases, each one presented in a large booklet. You have a map of London, a directory of names and addresses, and even newspapers from the day of the case. It’s easy to see why people call this one of the most immersive detective games ever made.
But here’s the problem: for me, it never actually becomes fun.
Quick facts
Game: Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: The Thames Murders & Other Cases
Type: Narrative deduction / interactive fiction
Players: 1–2 recommended (up to 8 according to the box)
Time: 90+ minutes per case
Difficulty: Very high
The first issue is the format. This is a game that’s almost entirely reading. You read the case introduction, you read the locations you visit, you read the newspapers. Reading is not very social, so I think it works best solo or maybe with two players at most. With more people, it just turns into one person reading aloud while everyone else listens. That doesn’t feel like a game night.
The bigger issue, though, is the difficulty. I have never been able to solve a case correctly. Not once. The game compares you to Holmes’ “perfect” solution, and his leaps of logic feel impossible to match. Instead of feeling clever, I just feel outclassed and frustrated. It’s not that I don’t see the appeal, the writing is good, the atmosphere is strong, and I can imagine how satisfying it would be to crack a case. But in practice, I never get there. The game dangles the promise of being a brilliant detective, then reminds me over and over that I’m not.
So while I can see how this could be very fun for the right person (someone who loves detective fiction, doesn’t mind hours of reading, and enjoys the challenge of piecing together tiny clues) it just isn’t for me. For me, it’s too much reading, too punishing, and never delivers the payoff I want.