Foul Play: The Manor House Murder Review

The butler did it. Or the groundskeeper. Maybe the maid actually? It’s a tale of murder as old as manor houses. You and your fellow detectives must unearth the truth about the grizzly Manor House Murder in a game that’s a little bit Guess Who? and a little bit Happy Families. Foul Play is the creation of After Dark Murder Mystery, a murder mystery production company who turned to competitive sleuthing card games while the current pandemic kept the more theatrical murders socially distanced.

Players lay a grid of cards on the table between them to form the crime scene, they then take a hand of cards each, and the hunt is afoot. Play a card, follow its action – steal a card without looking, replace a card in the crime scene, swap a card and so on – and then draw from the evidence lockers. Amongst the action cards are suspect cards and evidence cards, the latter give you a clue about the suspect, and the former you need in your hand to claim that you’ve worked it out. 

It’s quite jolly in its way, and there is a certain amount of tension in trying to work out what other people have already seen. It does all feel like a race through the deck however, which soon dissipates the tension. The amusing Bad Cop mode where it doesn’t matter who you name as the perp, as long as you can frame them with the right evidence, is even more of an arbitrary race. Foul Play feels like it would play better with a bigger group than we were able to get together, but it lacks a lot of the whodunnit elements we’d like from a game of this theme. Still, it remains a light entry to the spot the murderer genre, which is always welcome.  

Christopher John Eggett

PLAY IT? MAYBE

Join us in person

We can't wait for Tabletop Gaming Live 2022! An epic weekend in Manchester full of board games, card games, roleplaying games, wargames and more, with amazing exhibitors, great games, and an opportunity to game together in person.

Buy your tickets here!

Designer: Ben & Lee Cooper-Muir

Publisher: After Dark Murder Mystery

Time: 15-40 minutes

Players: 2-5

Age: 8+

Price: £9

This feature originally appeared in Issue 53 of Tabletop Gaming. Pick up the latest issue of the UK's fastest-growing gaming magazine in print or digital here or subscribe to make sure you never miss another issue.

Sometimes we may include links to online retailers, from which we might receive a commission if you make a purchase. Affiliate links do not influence editorial coverage and will only be used when covering relevant products

Looking for more?

This review came from Tabletop Gaming Magazine, which is home to all of the latest and greatest tabletop goodness. Whether you're a board gamer, card gamer, wargamer, RPG player or all of the above, find your copy here.

Get your magazine here

Read More... 

If you want to read more about one of the most hotly anticipated games of the year, check out our interview with Cole Wehrle on ARCS! A new game from the designer of Root and Oath, and we've got all you need to know.

To infinity and beyond

Join us in person

We can't wait for Tabletop Gaming Live 2022! An epic weekend in Manchester full of board games, card games, roleplaying games, wargames and more, with amazing exhibitors, great games, and an opportunity to game together in person.

See you there!

Treat Yourself! 

Have you visited our game store? We have everything from mystery boxes, to games and accessories – including the above Power Rangers: Heroes of the Grid, with a great discount! Head over to find your new favourite game.

Visit the Game Store

Sometimes we may include links to online retailers, from which we might receive a commission if you make a purchase. Affiliate links do not influence editorial coverage and will only be used when covering relevant products