Accused Mystery Card Game. Lagoon, United Kingdom (originally by Pepys, United Kingdom). Bespoke gaming deck, 53 single-headed cards + rules booklet. Size: 58mm x 88mm.
Deck make-up:
Cards: 53 cards featuring various criminals, motives, opportunites, clues, and police characters (see below for full set).
A collecting-type game originally released around 1948 by Pepys. Players attempt to "organise" a crime by melding criminals, motives and opportunities. Other players can then "solve" these crimes by laying down an appropriate clue or police card. There are also special hands which form a posse of inspectors, a nest of criminals, or a police college. The game is won by the player with the most points when any player has disposed of all their cards. In practice, the game is a bit complicated for young kids (in part due to an over-complicated points system), but is fine for those a little older.
The game was "invented by the popular Novelist and Broadcaster Laurence Maynell". It followed on from a very similar card game, also by Pepys, called The Crime Club, released around 1938.
The game was later reissued by Pepys with a more cartoonish policeman character (right). This, it seems, was an effort to vaguely tie in with the Adventures Of PC49 series on radio (1947-53). In 2011, Lagoon reissued the game (for some reason retitled to Accused) in a tin box (with the first policeman character back again).
Click on any card to explore the design (of the Accused reissue).
(Comments or corrections, please e-mail: Click to see e-mail address.)
Card image size, below:
