DETECTIVE: CITY OF ANGELS

This recently released tabletop take on 1940s noir (think James Ellroy, only 12-rated) is designed primarily as a competitive mystery-solving experience. Rival detectives must tackle tuck-box-contained cases of increasing difficulty, aiming to be the first to solve them while contending with a GM-like Chisel player who deals out the clues and takes the roles of the suspects. But designer Evan Derrick generously includes a solo Sleuth mode, which switches the Chisel for a game book, but keeps the emphasis on interrogation and character insight as you dart around its gorgeous city board, hunting for evidence. You might miss getting to play a defined gumshoe character (you simply choose a colour), but Derrick’s slick, relatively light rule-system makes it easy to dip into and become absorbed by, even if it does necessarily lack replayability.