Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective (gamebook)
| Publisher(s) | Sleuth Publications |
|---|---|
| Publication date | 1981 |
| Genre(s) | Gamebook |
| Language(s) | English |
| Media type |
Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective is a gamebook published by Sleuth Publications in 1981. In Germany, it won the Spiel des Jahres ("Game of the Year") award in 1985.
In the game, the player reads a brief introduction to a case, then decides where to look for clues, and consults a book telling what clues are found at that location. When a player believes he or she knows the details of the case, the player moves on to the quiz book and answers questions about the case. A player earns points by answering questions correctly, but loses points for each location visited beforehand.
The game comprises several small books and documents, such as maps; a clue-filled reproduction of The Times; and a small directory that tells the player which London locale to "visit" to talk to a character.
The game has ten mysteries to solve, but Sleuth also published two expansion packs (The Mansion Murders, containing five additional cases, in 1983 and West End Adventures, featuring six more stories, in 1995) with further mysteries in between (The Queen's Park Affair, Adventures by Gaslight, Sherlock Holmes & the Baby).
The original gamebook was packaged in a paperboard box; the deluxe edition was bound in a leatherette binder.
ICOM Simulations adapted Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective to a video game, also called Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective, which they published in 1991. Two sequels followed in 1992 and 1993, respectively.
Ystari Games published a new version of the gamebook in French in 2011 which was translated to English in 2012 and subsequently reprinted in 2015. Since 2012, Ystari released expansions in French as well - some new, written by French authors, some old, such as The Queen's Park Affair and those originally appearing in The Mansion Murders set.
In another Sleuth Publications gamebook, Gumshoe, the Hardboiled Detective in the Thirties (1985), the player assumes the role of a detective in 1930s San Francisco. Clues are found in city maps, mug shots, finger print files, newspapers, crime reports, etc.