Objective
Holmes: Sherlock against Moriarty is a strategic card game for two players where each takes on the role of either Sherlock Holmes or Professor Moriarty. The goal is to gather the most clues and evidence to either solve or obscure the case, thus scoring the most points.
Game Components
- 1 Game Board
- 1 Starting Player Marker
- 13 Character Cards
- 52 Evidence Cards
- 14 Clue Cards
- 2 Player Pieces
- Victory Point Markers
Setup
- Place the game board between the two players.
- Shuffle the character cards and place three face-up on the designated spaces of the game board.
- Shuffle the evidence cards and form a face-down draw pile.
- Prepare the clue cards in a deck.
- Each player chooses a player piece and places it on the starting space of their play area.
- Randomly give the starting player marker to one player to determine who goes first.
Gameplay
The game is played over seven days, with each day representing one round.
Turn Structure
Each turn consists of the following phases:
- Character Selection
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The current player selects a character, uses their special ability, and places their player piece on it.
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Perform Actions
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The player can perform one of the selected character’s abilities. These abilities allow collection of clue cards, exchanging cards, or other actions affecting the collection of evidence.
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Gathering Clues
- If the collected evidence cards form a specific combination, players draw corresponding clue cards, which count at the end of the day.
End of Day
- Update the open character card row by shuffling back used characters and drawing new ones.
- Draw new evidence cards and replenish the rows.
End of the Game and Scoring
After seven days, the game ends. Players count their clue and evidence cards; specific combinations yield more points. The player with the most points wins the game.
Strategic Tips - Try to anticipate what cards your opponent collects to make specific combinations more difficult for them. - Use the individual abilities of characters wisely to promote your own strategy or hinder the opponent. - Be mindful to collect several different types of evidence to stay flexible with various character abilities.
