Vendetta! Immerses you in a mafia mystery

Each game also has multiple outcomes to increase replayability. There have been four games announced in the series so far.

Shadows sends players to Amsterdam to steal a mysterious painting from the Bachmann Gallery. In Trance, Players run a drug gang (oh my god) and must solve a scandal surrounding an international superstar before the police arrive. Incognito Players take on the role of FBI agents who go undercover as dangerous criminals to investigate the murder of a gang member relevant to their case.

Finally, Vendetta, which I got to try out, has players called upon by the godfather of the New York mafia to investigate whether there is a traitor in the ranks!

He confides to the players that he suspects there is a traitor in the family, so the players must investigate the various family members, study documents, and interview witnesses. Every decision affects how the story unfolds, as you don’t see all the cards and documents at once.

Vendetta included a detective board where you can place all your clues and information, a notepad, 12 envelopes with evidence, and 72 playing cards, which the players must process as they figure out how to progress through the story.

The other three games, which are not out yet, contain the same amount of elements with maybe one envelope more or less, depending on the story.

The gameplay itself is pretty simple. Start by reading the back of card 1, which gives you instructions. You can’t open or read anything unless the cards tell you to, otherwise you’ll be spoiled or find something too early in the investigation that will only confuse you.

Each game has a corresponding link that allows you to get hints, enter passwords and codes while playing the game to view the corresponding puzzle, and transcripts of the audio in each game, making the game even more accessible!

During the game, you earn stars for making particularly good decisions. When you receive those stars, color them in at the top of the detective board (or keep them separate if you plan on passing the game, which is what I did). The total number determines your result at the end of the game. Masters of crime.

Cards 1-4 are instructions, 5-8 are final and are set aside, and then you get right into it, on card 9. In this case, the godfather has summoned you to his villa, and on card 10 you get more information about him and three options. You can either express your sympathy, keep your cool and start planning your investigation, or declare “Vendetta!” and swear to kill the lying relative at the end of the game.

If you choose one, you can’t do the others for the rest of the game. So technically you can play the game at least three times before you run out of things to do.

The game continues in this manner, with you taking cards and deciding what to do and researching until you reach the very end. Generally, the Masters of crime format is really interesting! I’m a big fan of the choose your own adventure style setup, and it’s fun to play a “bad guy” in a mysterious setting. The art on the colored cards (each location has a colorful card, and then the location options for that card are black and white) was really great.

Overall, the game is fun, especially if you work together as a team! How much fun you will have depends on how much you like using Google Maps and trying to find phone numbers or names or other answers to the clues in the game. Some of the Maps parts seemed like an extra step to prolong the game rather than really being immersive and realistic for an investigation. On the other hand, Vendetta had emails, audio recordings and other kinds of clues, which are definitely fun!

If you like these kinds of “in a box” experiences, then the Masters of crime universe is definitely for you. I think it took me about three hours to play through it once, and I definitely plan on going through it again to see how the other clues and locations play out. I also didn’t write anything on the sheet that came with it, because I plan on passing this game on when I’m done!

You can pick up Vendetta direct from Thames and Kosmos, with the other games in the series due out later this year.

Images and review copy courtesy of Thames and Kosmos

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