.png)
Case Pursuit Deduction Game Review
WBG Score: 7
Player Count: 1plus
You’ll like this if you like: Deduction and True Crime
Published by: Case Pursuit
Designed by: Case Pursuit
This is a free review copy of the pre-production version. The box art will change, and some art and components may change a little. See our review policy here.
There is something wonderfully appealing about a murder mystery that arrives as a pile of documents rather than a box full of tokens, boards and miniatures. Case Pursuit is a digital-first investigation game where you download a case file, work through the evidence, build your theory and eventually submit your conclusion online. You can play directly from the PDF, but I printed everything out because, for me, half the fun of this sort of game is physically handling the evidence, spreading documents around and feeling like I am actually working through a case rather than scrolling through one.
The first Core Series case, Last Call at Blackwood Lounge, revolves around the murder of a wealthy businessman and gives you a sizeable cast of suspects to investigate. Your job is to work out who killed him, how they did it and why, using the information scattered throughout the case files. It is familiar territory for anyone who has played this style of mystery game before, but Case Pursuit is less interested in elaborate puzzles and codes than it is in straightforward detective work.
Opening The Case
Once purchased, the case is available as a digital download, with both a full case packet and individual evidence files. There is also a printer-friendly version, which is very welcome because there is a lot here to read. You can keep everything digital, print the lot or mix the two approaches, so there is a useful amount of flexibility depending on how you like to investigate.
The evidence itself takes several forms. You will read suspect interviews, inspect photographs, study security records and compare timelines built from phone calls, messages, emails and other documents. The important information is rarely delivered in one neat place, so you gradually begin cross-referencing statements and noticing when one person's version of events does not quite fit with something you have already seen elsewhere.
There are online elements too, with certain details in the files allowing you to unlock additional evidence. Eventually, when you are confident you understand what happened, you submit your theory and reveal the official resolution. There are hints available if you become stuck, but the experience is clearly designed around giving you enough information to work things out yourself rather than nudging you constantly towards the solution.
Deduction Rather Than Puzzles
That distinction is probably the most important thing to understand about Case Pursuit. This is not really an escape-room-style experience full of ciphers, cryptic riddles and elaborate mechanical puzzles. Instead, you are doing something much closer to traditional detective work: reading carefully, establishing timelines, checking alibis, looking for inconsistencies and deciding which pieces of evidence actually matter.
Personally, I liked that approach. There were moments where I noticed smaller hidden details that I suspect were not absolutely necessary to solve the case, but which helped strengthen the theory I was developing. Those touches reward paying attention without turning the investigation into a hunt for obscure tricks, and they fit nicely with the feeling that you are building a case rather than simply cracking a succession of puzzles.
It also means there is quite a lot of reading. I played alone, which suited the experience extremely well, although there is nothing stopping several people working through the evidence together and debating their theories. For me, though, this became a surprisingly relaxing couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon, sitting on the sofa with a cup of tea, some favourite music playing and a large stack of suspicious documents to work through.
Following The Evidence
The pleasure comes from slowly understanding how everything connects. An interview may initially seem routine, only for a security log or message elsewhere in the case to suddenly make one particular answer much more interesting. A timeline starts to form in your head, suspects move up and down your list, and pieces of information that originally seemed insignificant gradually become useful.
Case Pursuit's creator has professional experience around security operations, observation, incident reporting and surveillance environments, and you can see why that background suits this type of game. The documents are designed to feel like things you might genuinely encounter during an investigation rather than colourful puzzle sheets wearing a police badge. That grounding helps the case maintain its atmosphere even when you are simply reading another interview or checking another record.
It is not, however, doing anything particularly revolutionary. If you have played other murder investigation games, the basic rhythm will feel immediately familiar, and I never encountered a mechanic or revelation that made me think the genre had suddenly been reinvented. Case Pursuit's strength is not novelty. It is taking the familiar true-crime investigation format and presenting it in a clean, logical and enjoyable way.
A Different Kind Of Game Night
One thing I particularly appreciated was the pace. There is no timer pushing you onwards, nobody waiting for their turn and no pressure to solve something before the evening runs out. You can reread interviews, rearrange your evidence and disappear down whichever line of investigation currently interests you.
That also gives it quite a different atmosphere from many puzzle games. Rather than constantly chasing the next "aha!" moment, I found myself enjoying the quieter process of forming and testing theories. It is methodical rather than frantic, and that is exactly why it worked for me.
The digital format helps too. There is no box to ship and no large collection of components required, so Case Pursuit can provide a substantial investigation without the price or physical footprint of a traditional boxed mystery game. The trade-off, of course, is that if you prefer physical play you will need to do the printing yourself, and there are enough pages here that this is worth considering before you start.
Pros
Logical, evidence-led deduction. The focus is on timelines, contradictions and reasoning rather than cryptic puzzles.
Flexible format. Play digitally, print the case or combine the two depending on how you prefer to investigate.
A surprisingly relaxing solo experience. It works particularly well if you enjoy slowly absorbing information and developing your own theory.
Believable presentation. Interviews, logs, messages and evidence combine to create a convincing investigation.
Cons
There is a lot of reading. If you want constant puzzles or rapid interaction, this probably is not the right style of mystery game.
It does not reinvent the genre. Most of its ideas will feel familiar if you have played similar detective experiences.
Printing is substantial. The printer-friendly version helps, but physical players still need to produce a considerable stack of pages.
Final Thoughts
Case Pursuit succeeds because it understands what is enjoyable about this style of mystery. It gives you a believable pile of evidence, enough suspects to create uncertainty and enough contradictions to keep you questioning what you think you know. More importantly, it trusts you to do the investigative work yourself instead of constantly interrupting the experience with artificial puzzles.
I particularly enjoyed how calm the whole thing felt. Sitting down for a couple of hours, reading through interviews and records and gradually piecing together a murder is not necessarily what everyone wants from a board game afternoon, but for me it was extremely satisfying. It appealed to exactly the same part of my brain that enjoys true crime, logical deduction and trying to understand how a story fits together.
It may not break new ground, but it does what it sets out to do very well. Last Call at Blackwood Lounge is a solid, engaging introduction to Case Pursuit and has left me interested in seeing how future cases develop the format, particularly if the creator begins experimenting with more unusual evidence and structures while retaining this grounded, logical approach.
