Thursday 21 January 2010

Scotland Yard

Before I became a complete geek and started playing RPGs, when I was still a young and innocent child, I used to be into board games, something I only play during the holidays now. One of my favourite was Scotland Yard (you can find a few reviews here and a Youtube one here). I think it was triggered by my Anglophilia, which I had even then, even if I hadn't been in England yet. My first perception of London was through the map that served as the board for the game.

Other than my love and fascination for British culture (yes, I love British culture), the game appealed to me for many reasons. So, apart from the particular and pretty nice English feel to the game (the name Scotland Yard has almost mythical associations), it has that adventure element (pursuing a criminal in London is more dynamic and exciting than say investigating in Cluedo), it has a clever little game system that makes you use strategy and cooperation, it also has a bit of a dramatic background.

I discovered an advert for the game on Youtube. I loved watching it as a child, even though I could not understand a word of English. It was like watching the trailer of a movie in which I had a role. Now I wonder: why would Metropolitan Police detectives have American accents? I understand for Mister X, he could be of any nationality, but the police officers themselves?

2 comments:

L'Étrange cas said...

Woaw, on a ce jeu-là à la maison, mais je n'ai jamais joué! Faudra que je jette un oeil...

Guillaume said...

Tu as ce jeu-là et tu ne l'as jamais joué? Tu manques quelque chose. C'est comme voyager à travers Londres sans les désagréments (la pluie) et l'excitation en plus. Joue avec une real ale anglaise comme apéritif et c'est comme si tu y étais. Un conseil primordial: ne pas égarer les jetons.