Kit Reviews - A Study In Emerald

A Study in Emerald is a board game based upon the Neil Gaiman short story of the same name which in its concept is a Sherlock Holmes story based in the universe of H.P. Lovecraft’s Necronomicon. The game itself is a secret identity/card drafting game where you either play a Loyalist or a Restorationist, the loyalists are trying to serve and protect the ruling Old Ones, and the restorationists are trying to kill the Old Ones. The trick comes that not only do you not know who is on the opposite team, you don’t know who is on your team, and the game has a single winner.

Each player takes two actions per round to do one of several things, be it take more cards, move the team trackers, assassinate, play/move agents, or play/reclaim influence, and these actions are taken by playing cards that have the corresponding symbol on it. Each player can only claim cards or assassinate in cities where they have the most agents and/or influence and when they do these actions, they lose all of the influence in the city to limbo, which they then have to spend actions getting back.

You score victory points by claiming cards, assassinating Old Ones and other player’s Agents, and upping the score on the point tracker, and the game ends when one player gets to a predetermined score defined by the amount of players or a Restorationist loses all of their Sanity. There are Loyalists, Restorationist, and neutral victory points and you score these points regardless of team during the game but only keep points that are either neutral or your team at end game, so if you are restorationist and score all of your points in loyalist points, you might score maximum points and end the game, but you almost certainly won’t win. Your teammates also matter, if a member of your team comes last, everyone on that team loses 5 points, which can make the difference between winning and losing at end game, so identifying your teammates and supporting them can really help. This loss and gain of points is so important in fact that last time I played I was second from last at end game, but won the game in the end because the other four players lost so many points.

This game is incredibly complex, with multiple ways to win and lots of strategies, in fact the creator has said that if you play this game 3 times and think you understand how to win, then you don’t understand the game. I really like this game, but it is really hard to understand.

I scored A Study in Emerald 2.8/5 and this will come down to the five categories: Originality; Theme; Mechanic; Clarity; and Availability.

Originality 3/5

This game is very original in mechanic, I haven’t ever seen something with this much going on while staying true to the central theme. The theme is what stops this game scoring higher here, as it’s based on a short story by a famous author, itself based in two previously defined universes. I will say I haven’t seen the universes of Sherlock Holmes and Cthulu combined anywhere else, but both themes on their own are everywhere in the board game industry.

Theme 4/5

While both Cthulu and Sherlock Holmes are old hat for board games, I’ve never seen them combined before (other than in the original short story) and it is done very well. The artwork, both board and card, evokes victorian Europe with a creepy twist, and the old gods themselves are suitably horrifying. The theme is well worked into the Mechanic and the palette choice is ever so slightly off putting, mixing bland browns and beiges with sharp colour contrasts.

Mechanics 4/5

The mechanics are very well thought out in this game, fitting well with the theme, forcing you to try and guess the identities of your opponents while trying to manage your own actions, making you feel mildly insane by the end of the game. The two action limit is a master stroke, limiting down time and keeps the pace chugging along at a fairly good rate. The coloured meeples and wooden cubes representing agents and influence help you keep track of what you and your opponents are doing. The fact that claiming cards and assassinating forces you to lose your influence is a great catch up mechanic, these actions often give you big advantages, but other players can force you to spend everything to get there and it puts you behind for two to three turns. The game also changes every time you play as only about a third of the deck is placed out each game, meaning you’ll have a different set of cards each time, which in turn makes you change up your strategy, meaning there isn’t one sure way to win.

Clarity 2/5

This is a horrifically complex game, I had played it three times and thought I had a handle on it, until I played it with a friend and found that I had been playing it completely wrong. I have played it several times since and I’m still not sure I get it 100%. As I said earlier, the creator intended it to be a complex game, and when you’ve been playing games for a while, this can be lovely, but definitely not for beginners.

Availability 1/5

I think both editions of this game are actually out of print now, I bought mine from a shop but it was the only copy there and I haven’t seen it anywhere else, I tried looking online and you could get some of the 2nd edition copies (the copy I have) on amazon for £70 (I paid £25) or you can pay over $300 for a 1st edition copy from ebay.

Final Score 2.8/5

This is a beautiful, well designed, fantastically multifaceted game with almost infinite replay-ability and all the games will be a little different. It is, however, horrifically complex, hard to understand, and really hard to find. I really like this game but I wouldn’t take it to game night every week, nor will it be to everyone’s taste, and certainly isn’t for first time board gamers. If your are looking for something a bit different, and can find a copy, I would certainly recommend this game, just maybe watch a couple of lets play videos before hand.

Much Love

Kit