The Key: Theft at Cliffrock Villa Review

boardgamequest.com:

We review The Key: Theft at Cliffrock Villla, a deduction game published by HABA Games. In The Key: Theft at Cliffrock Villla, the players are trying to deduce the facts of three different crimes.

I’m a big fan of logic puzzles. I even have an old book of them that I take on vacations with me. My friend calls it my book of “SAT questions”. Personally, I think they are just a fun way to stretch those mental muscles. Taking a few bits of information and extrapolating out further details is just a great skill to develop.

Which brings me to today’s review of The Key: Theft at Cliffrock Villa. There have been a series of robberies and players take on the role of investigators trying to piece together the information. Designed by Thomas Sing and published by HABA Games, The Key plays in about 15-20 minutes and is appropriate for players ages 8+.

In his review of The Key: Sabotage at Lucky Llama Land Review, Dylan gave a pretty solid overview of how the game is played. You can hop over to the review there if you want the full details. Since the gameplay is largely the same, I’m not going to spend time rehashing the gameplay overview. There are a few differences between this game and that one, but the main mechanics are the same.

Draw cards in real-time from the center of the table and use the information you get to try and piece together the details of the crime. Players will need to deduce the perpetrators, time of the crimes, stolen items, and escape plans. The winner will be the player who not necessarily finishes the quickest, but the one who is the most efficient.

As a fan of deductive games in general, I enjoyed The Key. Is super easy to get to the table—just spread the cards on the table, pick a key color and say go. If