2400 Crime Solving in the Future!

 

2400 is the third game in the Chronicles of Crime the Millennium series, it is a mystery murder/crime solving game set place in a futuristic time. This is a part physical card game along side a digital app that helps you navigate crime scenes, investigate suspects and look at evidence. The app is set up to allow you to play on your own or with a group of crime solvers. The Chronicles of Crime series along with many other exciting games is sold by Lucky Duck Games. 

In this game you will play as a character known as Kalia (shown on the front of the cover & the image above). She is a former officer of the Elite BelCor Watchmen who left to become a detective on her own terms. This is set in a futuristic time so through out some of the story lines you will receive different electronical devices that will help you solve the crime, these devices are placed onto her player card above. She also has a cybernetic raven who is a companion that helps search a data base on information on some of the people & clue cards you will scan during the game.

Each game in this series typically has four story lines/games to play along with a tutorial showing you how the game is played. For your first time around it is helpful to do the tutorial so you can get a hang of the game & see how everything works. Even if you've played one of the other Chronicles of Crime games, I suggest doing the tutorial anyways. It may be a shorter version of an actual play through, but it gives you an additional crime to solve which is nice. Depending on how good your crime solving skills are, how quickly you can come to conclusions and work out how clues connect to one another a game can last anywhere from half an hour to about an hour and a half. 

When using the app I highly recommend playing this in a well lit area, if there is too much of a shadow on the QR code it tends to not want to scan it right away. We usually play at the kitchen table with the window open or in the living room under the lights. One of my favorite features of this game is the crime scene investigation mode, you can use VR glasses or select "No glasses" & it will let you view it on your phone. The crime scene investigation mode allows you to take a 360 degree view of the room or area you are investigating simply by moving your phone around the room as if you are viewing everything in person. You can view the floor, all the walls & even the ceiling are beautifully animated. While one person is viewing the room they will state out loud what they see in the scene, during which time the other players will be looking through a deck of clue cards to pick out which go with the scene to be scanned & investigated. 

Scanning the clues you found at the scene will lead you to other suspects, areas & more clues to be found to complete the goal. I would say about half of the game is pretty straight forward, the other half you'll really need to think about how to connect clues to suspects, how to get people to talk & where to go next location wise. Each time you scan a new location, ask suspects about clues, ect. it adds minutes to an in game time, certain activities such as traveling will add more time to your total. Your in game time can affect your total score at the end if you go over the given amount of time, for example one story might give you three days to complete the search while another only gives you twenty-four hours. However your out of game time does not add into the in game total & time is only added to it with each scan you do, so you are able to take time to talk & debate where to go next, what to scan, talk through the clues, etc. If you wish to play solo there is an option in the app that will let you search the crime scenes as a solo player to make it easier to look through the clue stack at the same time. 

I personally love the Chronicles of Crime games, I like the mystery & looking for clues. The game is recommended for ages 12+ as some scenes might contain blood or a story might contain sexual references, the app will let you know which have this type of content. Is this a family friendly game? This is completely up to the parent! If a parent is reading the story as you progress through the game it is easy to leave out certain details without affecting the game. My nine year old doesn't usually play this with us as some of the clues can be a little difficult to piece together at times so he finds the game boring, my thirteen year old likes the game a bit more & enjoys helping out figuring out where the clues lead. The only negative thing about this set is I wish it came with a few more stories so I had more game to play as once you finish all four stories you already have the answers & can't really play it a second time. The good news is though that if you don't want to keep it in your collection after completing everything, you can pass it onto a friend or loved one to play. You can buy this game on their website for $29.99, you can also find some of their games on Amazon & in stores.  

Disclaimer- The products mentioned above were provided by Lucky Duck Games for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.