Scotland Yard is a faithful computer version of the popular board game of the same name, developed by Cryo in collaboration with Ravensburger (publisher of the board game):
Mr. X, a fixture on England’s “Most Wanted” list, is on the run in London. Will Scotland Yard find and capture him before time runs out?
The main map shows 199 stations in the city that can be reached by taxi, bus or underground. Each type of transportation costs a ticket.
One player takes the part of Mr. X and slinks around the city, leaving clues for the others, who are the Scotland Yard detective team. If Mr. X manages to escape capture, he/she wins. All the detectives see is which travel ticket Mr. X used during that turn. The detectives must plan movement routes to surround Mr. X and try to cut off his lines of escape. To make things difficult for the detectives, they only have a limited number of tickets, and when they run out of a ticket type, they cannot use that mode of transport anymore.
As a ‘bonus’, you can choose to play the “computer enhanced” version, which purports to add RPG elements such as money, weapons, fighting, health and conversation.
The players can visit the stations and interact with people or locations.
Detectives have to catch criminals in order to earn money so they can buy information about Mr. X.
Mr. X has to find specific items in order to win. He can rob people or houses to earn money. Weapons, tickets and other helpful things can be bought at different locations. A lot of people offer information for a price. Only a gang boss of a district can sell Mr. X pricey information about the quest item. But to find the gang boss you need to buy information about his whereabouts first.
Overall, Scotland Yard is a game that emphasises logical deductions and strategic planning over luck. You can play either as Mr. X or detective, solo against the computer or with friends.
