Deception: Murder in Hong Kong’s first expansion calls in Undercover Allies

Deception: Murder in Hong Kong is one of the best social deduction games around, pitting a team of investigators against the traitor among their ranks as they attempt to solve a murder by uncovering clues to the motive, weapon and location of the killing.

Now, the party game is getting its first full expansion, Deception: Undercover Allies, which will expand the number of unique player roles available – as well as throwing in a whole bunch of new means, clue, scene and event cards.

In the base game, the majority of players take on the role of investigators, who must simply solve the crime. They’re assisted by a forensic scientist who knows the solution but cannot communicate openly with the team, and hindered by the hidden murderer among the, who initially selects the clue and means cards that indicate the crime and attempts to stop the other players discovering the truth.

Two additional roles, the accomplice and witness, can be used in groups of six or more, allowing a player to help the murderer or know the identities of the hidden criminals, respectively.

Undercover Allies adds two more roles to the mix: the inside man and lab technician. The inside man works with the murderer, spreading rumours and misleading investigators, while the lab technician joins the forensic scientist to verify whether a specific clue or means card applies to the crime.

The box also boosts the variety of the possible solutions with 80 clue cards, five scene tiles – which includes a new event – 50 means cards and two extra badge tokens, expanding the player count from 12 up to 14.

According to the creators, the cards are designed to balance the murderer’s weapon choice, helping to make less popular causes of death (illness and disease are named specifically) more viable by causing more uncertainty among the investigators.

An extra $37 Kickstarter pledge level adds 20 cards themed around three specific regions: North America, Western Europe and Southern Europe.

Undercover Allies is $24 (plus $7 shipping to the UK) on Kickstarter, with deliver to backers planned for December. A wider release should happen in the following month.

The campaign has already passed its $25,000 target by close to $10,000, and will run until July 4th.