This is going to be a shorter review than a lot of them, at least talking about some elements of the game. I’ve already done a full review on Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game, and Batman: Everybody Lies builds off of that system that has now been used for so many different settings from a modern crime setting, to Batman, to 70’s spy, to Dune. So let’s get into the game.

The Game – Batman: Everybody Lies

Like I said, I’m not going to get into too many details on the game because, it’s a system that’s been done before. It does tweak what was done in the base Detective game, though, a little bit. So let’s focus on the differences here so you know what has changed.

Firstly, each character that you can play as has some backstory that you, as the player gets to find out about. Basically an introductory letter to the case and a specific mission that you want to find the answer for. And you can push further at some locations and some leads to find your answer. You are tested on them, so you want to do that as that’ll help your overall score.

Next, time is fixed in this. I don’t mean that it wasn’t working before, but it was variable, it might take you two hours it might take you three. Now everything takes one time unit and it isn’t done in days, you just has certain check points where you can stop.

Finally, there are also scenes. Now this is something that they kind of did for the original. But the basic idea is that there are comic panels that you can look at and try and figure out clues from it. It adds to the immersion of the game play.

What Doesn’t Work?

The group as a whole thought it was a bit odd how little Batman was in a game about Batman. No one plays as Batman, he is just a side character whom you can interact with. That makes sense in some ways because Batman would just always be the answer to doing anything. But it struggles a little bit because there isn’t enough Batman, not enough interactions with Batman or Bruce Wayne or Alfred.

The story is tied together, each part loosely connects in, though it feels like more so through the cast of characters versus a deeply intertwining story that the original game has. And some of it might be that we didn’t play it as consecutively, but the story is just not as strong, which makes sense in some ways because they needed to work with DC to get everything approved for a story.

What Works?

I do think that Batman in general for a setting works well, or Gotham I should say. And while I have some issues with how it was pulled off, it is still a solid experience playing it. Mainly because a lot of Batman’s rogues gallery is fun. And they use parts of it throughout, I won’t say who all shows up but they do a solid job of mixing in characters.

And I think some of the new things work well. The time is fine either way, but it makes it easier for new players. But the other things, the comic panels, I like those. And I like that each character has their own thing, sometimes which you run out of time to figure out. But because we know the characters you play as, or at least they are in the comics, they can create that extra bit of connection with them.

Who Is It For?

I think this is for someone who wants a deduction game or wants to get people to play a deduction game. The Batman theme is going to be more appealing than what feels like NCIS or CSI. At least for some people it will be. And because of certain things being easier, I think that it’s simpler to get to the table.

On the flip side, it’s just a little bit less interesting in a lot of ways than the other one. My complaint about how the story ties together won’t be noticed, though, if you haven’t played the other. But I do think for some people it might feel like it’s lacking a little bit.

Final Thoughts on Batman: Everybody Lies

I was going to talk about which one I preferred but it’s clear that I like Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game better. Now that doesn’t mean that Batman: Everybody Lies is a bad game, it just isn’t as good. I had a lot of fun with it and I know that they are working on more. And I hope that it builds up in the future to more in depth or connected stories.

I definitely think that there are elements that work well. And it’s fun to have it in a fictional setting like this one. And I do think that it’s easier to get into and that’s a good thing. So I more see it as that I’m not the target audience completely for this one. Because I know the other game and was up for that challenge, but if it was my first one, I think I’d have loved it more than I do.

My Grade: B-
Casual Grade: A-
Gamer Grade: B-

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