Category: News

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The (Board) Game is Afoot: Introducing Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty’s Web

(Note from Selena Buttons: Recently, I had the great pleasure of meeting Lucy Keifer, JHWS “Talia”, and getting a peek at the prototype of this excellent board game. The crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter runs through the end of this month. I’m already a backer, and I hope you’ll join me so we can all get a chance to play, so I’ve asked her to write up this post telling you all about it!)

The (Board) Game is Afoot: Introducing Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty’s Web

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(because Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective and 221B Baker Street are not very good)
by Lucy Keifer, JHWS “Talia”

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tONSR9hsnXQ

I listened the Sherlock Holmes radio plays from the 50s before I could read. Holmes has been in my life since always.

Then in high school I got my hands on a Leslie Klinger Annotated, and the second I knew Higher Criticism was a thing I wrote a paper about how “The Greek Interpreter” makes a lot more sense if the whole thing is just a training exercise staged by Mycroft to see if Melas should be promoted to more important spy-work. (Come on. He’s “sent for at strange hours by foreigners who get into difficulties” and speaks “nearly all” languages. He’s a spy.)

And that might have been it, if my mom and sister hadn’t been stuck in traffic, and my sister hadn’t noticed that the car next to her had a license plate that read SHOLMZ. Obviously, when traffic was completely stopped and they were parallel with the SHOLMZ car, Mom calls over to the guy driving it.

“I like your license plate! Are you a detective?”

“No. I’m the foremost Sherlock Holmes annotator.”

“Then you must be Leslie Klinger!”

“I am Leslie Klinger.”

“My daughter has all your books! She just wrote an article! Will you read it!”

(People have trouble saying no to Mom.)

So Les Klinger read my article, liked my article, asked if I wanted my article in the Baker Street Journal. Then, once that happened, I was invited to the BSJ Contributors dinner, which happened to be part of the New York BSI Weekend. I went, realized that Sherlockians are actually the best people in the world. And then just kept coming back.

The other constant in my life is board games. We are a board game industry family (and I swear, that’s really a thing). Dad’s been a board game exec since ever, and I grew up playtesting board games, critiquing board games, thinking about why board games work, being able to explain why this one is good and this one isn’t. I do a lot of board game design work now, especially since Dad became a freelance consultant/inventor, and our family basically became a very small game company. I’m just legacied in at this point.

And it always bothered me that the Sherlock Holmes board games were so, well, bad. I mean, Holmes solves crimes! He calls his crime solving a game! When he’s played by Johnny Lee Miller he makes these really cool crime-solving collages that look like a game!

So of course the first game I properly invented (with Dad) had to be about Sherlock Holmes.

image2-24This is a crime solving game. It’s played a board of moving tiles – Professor Moriarty is a tile at the center, and all the unsolved crimes in London are tiles around him. Obviously, he’s behind everything – you just have to prove how. So you make chains of tiles (witnesses, informants, clues) and build a case against him. You play as Holmes, Watson, Irene, Lestrade, Mycroft, or Mrs. Hudson… and Moriarty, he plays himself. He steals clues, kidnaps witnesses, kidnaps you, and everyone either wins or loses together. I love cooperative games, and there aren’t nearly enough.

And I make little canonical in-jokes, and came up with special abilities for the characters that reflect their personalities. (Like Mycroft gets to know what Moriarty is going to do slightly before he actually does it.) There are references to Sweeney Todd and Jack the Ripper that snuck in there too. Not sure how that happened.

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Me & my family at the Kickstarter launch party

And now Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty’s Web is on Kickstarter, and people from Hong Kong and Denmark want to buy my game, and I’m getting in touch with all these interesting websites and podcasts and cons and game cafés.  And my family is so completely behind me, helping me invent the game, doing the art, making the Kickstarter video, doing social media and marketing, and I’m just so overwhelmed by how lovely it’s all been.

So that’s my story. I’d love it if you wanted to check out my game. Please do if you enjoy casual light strategy, co-operative games, mystery solving, story generation, Sherlock Holmes, Victorian England, and/or pretty watercolors.

 

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My sister Emily and me, debuting the game at Comic-Con.

More information about Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty’s Web:

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On September 8th…

September 8, 1889: Victor Hatherley lost his thumb about 2:00 am [ENGR]

September 8, 1889: Holmes, Watson, Inspector Bradstreet, an unnamed plain-clothes man, and Victor Hatherley took the train to Eyeford [ENGR]

September 8, 1889: Dr. Becher’s house, where Colonel Lysander Stark was counterfeiting half-crowns, burned down [ENGR]

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On September 7th…

September 7, 1889: Colonel Lysander Stark visited and hired Victor Hatherley. [ENGR]

September 7, 1889: Victor Hatherley took the train from London to Eyford arriving at about 11:15 pm. [ENGR]

September 7, 1903: Holmes and Watson first met Professor Presbury. [CREE]

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Quiz: The Solitary Cyclist

As you recover from the mental exertions of the Treasure Hunt, try out this short quiz on “The Solitary Cyclist”. There are five questions, each of which has a two part answer, for a total of 10 points. Submit your answers by email to Selena by Sunday, September 18.

  1. Watson is very specific about the day and date that Miss Violet Smith visits 221B. He is also incorrect. When does he say she came, and why is it wrong?
  2. Holmes says engaging in this sport is “always a treat”. What sport, and where did he engage in it?
  3. This city was the target of a devastating attack 45 years later, but at the time of this story, it is home to a person most significant to Miss Violet Smith. What city, and whom does she say is there?
  4. This was an unconventional way to choose a groom, especially as neither candidate had yet met the bride. How was the decision made, and between what two parties?
  5. It may have felt like 90 days, but it was really nowhere near that long. What, and how long was it?
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4th Annual Treasure Hunt Answers

Hi All:

You will find attached the answer file for the Treasure Hunt just ended. I had hoped to add the accepted alternative answers  to this file but time does not permit.  I did add just one alternative answer to the document; see question #12.  As no competitors submitted the answer sought for #12, and 99% submitted the same alternative answer, that alternative was accepted.

I hope you had fun with the 2016 version of the hunt and, like me, you are looking forward to the 2017 edition when the amazing Michele Lopez serves as Treasure Hunt Master.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks,

Margie

2016 Treasure Hunt Answers

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4th Annual Treasure Hunt Results

“…I can congratulate ourselves upon several most happy results…”

The month of August is, as always, Treasure Hunt month for the John H Watson Society. Knowing the many hours required to finish the Treasure Hunt, we are always gratified to see the number of entries submitted. After many hours of scoring yesterday with the help of Sheila Holtgrieve (JHWS ‘Daisy’), I am happy to announce the results of the 4th Annual John H Watson Society Treasure Hunt.

Team Competition

With 144 available points this year, our returning 2015 High Honors team from Italy, Uno Studio In Holmes, has earned High Honors again this year with an incredible 142 points. Team members include Michele Lopez, Enrico Solito, Stefano Guerra, Vera Mazzotta, and Gabriele Mazzoni. Congratulations again to this amazing team.

Team Honors this year is shared between returning competitors The Retired Beekeepers of Sussex with 135 points and the newly formed team An Experience of Canon Which Extends Over Four Players and Three Separate States with 134 points. The UK-based Beekeepers are represented by Elinor Gray, Rowan MacBean, Tweedisgood, Spacefall, and Cheryl LeBlanc-Weldon of the Halifax Spence Munros in Nova Scotia. An Experience of Canon Which Extends Over Four Players and Three Separate States team members are Rob Nunn and Brad Keefauver (Two Guys Down In Illinois team from last year), Beth Gallego (California), and Ron Lies (Colorado). Giving this team an extra award for the-longest-possible-team-name was briefly considered.

Two teams earn the O.V.E (Order of Valiant Effort) award this year: First time competitor, The White Rose Irregulars of York, Pennsylvania, with 126 points, and the returning team from Canada, The Bootmakers Of Toronto, with 122 points. Beth Austin, Debbie Clark, Denny Dobry, Tom Drucker, and Flo Specter represent the Irregulars, while Peter Calamai, Chris Redmond, Cliff Goldfarb, Doug Wrigglesworth and John Gehan represent the Bootmakers.

Honorable Mention this year to two teams that began the hunt but due to unfortunate circumstances could not complete it: The Sherlock Holmes Society of India and The Sound of the Baskervilles of Seattle. We hope the fates are kinder next year and these teams can return to hunt again. 2016 marks the first time La Fayette of La Societe Sherlock Holmes de France could not participate due to schedule conflicts; we sincerely hope kind fates extend to that excellent team next year too.

Individual Competition

High Honors in the very difficult Individual category goes to first time US competitor Michael Ellis with 128 points. Mark Doyle of Australia, another first time competitor, has earned Honors in the Individual category with 105 points. Honorable Mention to Anne Nelson of Washington, DC, who also began the hunt but could not complete it due to unforeseen complications; we warmly invite her back next year to give it another try.

Thank you all for competing this year.  A post will be made on the Quiz page soon with the answers to the hunt. We will be contacting all the participants concerning addresses for the delivery of the small mementos. I have enjoyed serving as Treasure Hunt Master for 2015 and 2016. I appreciate your participation, patience and good humor. You have taught me many good things.

Margie

JHWS Gwen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Help Wanted: Quizmaster

It’s the end of August, and there are only a few days remaining before the close of the Fourth Annual JHWS Treasure Hunt. I would like to thank and congratulate everyone who participated, including my teammates in “An Experience of Canon Extending Over Four Teammates and Three Separate States”. I think we did pretty well, but we will see what “Gwen”, our Treasure Hunt Master has to say about our answers!

Margie Deck, JHWS “Gwen”, is the mastermind behind this year’s test, and some of those questions certainly showed how she earned the name of “Pawky Puzzler”! She will be stepping down from the role of Treasure Hunt Master so that she can play along with the rest of us next year. Before she hands off the baton, I want to thank her for all her hard work!

Now that the Treasure Hunt is ending, I’d like to remind everyone that we are currently looking for a Quizmaster to preside over our regular quizzes. This person would create and post short quizzes every two weeks (except during August, the month of the Treasure Hunt). Some of our past quizzes can be found on the Quiz Page. We are also looking for submissions of individual quizzes, if you would like to just try it out. Have you been bitten by the bug to create your own Canonical Quiz? Send it to selena @ johnhwatsonsociety.com!

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Dr. Watson’s Pictures of Devonshire Countryside [HOUN]

There are no events on file for the rest of the month. I would like to leave you with the following Writing. It was written by a Sherlockian of Note who co-founded the only Scion society recognized by the Baker Street Irregulars in a nursing home. Known as Inspector Baynes in his postings he was Jody Baker in real life. His postings and his gazettes he published are really some of the best around.. I will post some more about Jody, his wonderful Sherlockian wife, his soulmate. But now here is his incomparable style.

Dr. Watson’s Pictures of Devonshire Countryside [HOUN]

Dr. Watson, with pen for a brush and his words for his paints,
pictures for us vivid landscapes of the Devonshire countryside.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
“The journey was a swift and pleasant one …. In a very few hours the
brown earth had become ruddy, the brick had changed to granite, and
red cows grazed in well-hedged fields where the lush grasses and more
luxuriant vegetation spoke of a richer, if a damper, climate.”
*******
“Over the green squares of the fields and the low curve of a wood
there rose in the distance a gray, melancholy hill, with a strange
jagged summit, dim and vague in the distance, like some fantastic
landscape in a dream. “
*******
“The wagonette swung round into a side road, and we curved upward
through deep lanes worn by centuries of wheels, high banks on either
side, heavy with dripping moss and fleshy hart’s-tongue ferns.
Bronzing bracken and mottled bramble gleamed in the light of the
sinking sun. Still steadily rising, we passed over a narrow granite
bridge and skirted a noisy stream which gushed swiftly down, foaming
and roaring amid the gray boulders. Both road and stream wound up
through a valley dense with scrub oak and fir.”
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Those Hounds, among us, who think of Watson as a dunce or a dullard
(as depicted by Nigel Bruce, in days of yore) may want to pause and
reflect upon Watson’s writings.

Respectfully,
Inspector Baynes.

So on to September my dear Watsonians, Ron aka Chips