Electronic Detective (1979)

The ultimate "Who-Done-It" game, where 1-4 players combine human deductive reasoning with advanced computer logic to solve over 130,000 totally different murder mysteries.

Bang! Bang! Shots ring out in the big city. A body lies alone at the docks. The funeral dirge sounds. 19 colorful characters at the scene of the crime flee to other parts of town. As one of the “private eyes” assigned to the case, you must interrogate these suspects. Players compete, using logic and deduction, to be first to identify the murderer.

Features

• Each suspect card contains different questions you may ask to obtain vital information which will help you deduce the identity of the murderer.
• The computer becomes the suspects, as you “grill” them one by one. You have the questions and it has the answers. Get careless and you’ll ask for useless information. Ask a smart question and you’ll have a key fact in a flash!
• Electronic Display (light-emitting diodes) shows you the answers.
• Your case fact sheet helps you study and weigh the suspects’ statements, and logically follow the tangled web of evidence. Now you’re ready to make an accusation. If you’re correct the sirens sound. If not…Bang! Bang! The next victim is you and you’re out of the game!
• In its powerful microcomputer brain electronic detective has all the suspects’ alibis, plus key clues pertaining to the dastardly deed. Its electronic I.Q. is at your fingertips!
• You may recheck clues at any time using the computer’s electronic memory bank.
• Gun shots, police sirens, and the funeral dirge are all part of the game’s play.
• May be played at 3 different levels: “Gumshoe,” “Sleuth,” or “Master Detective.”
• Automatically switches off after game play is completed.
• Battery operated – you can play it anywhere.

A game where the computer knows all the facts (it plays the role of all 20 "characters"). The computer randomly selects 1 of 20 characters to be murdered and sets up the crime. Then, it's your job as a detective to interrogate the remaining 19 suspects to figure out which one of them did it.

Each player takes a 'Case Fact Sheet' where they record all of the information they gather about the crime:

• The murderer's sex.
• The murderer's location.
• The murder weapon's caliber.
• The murder's fingerprint information.

On each turn a player chooses a suspect, and any public information the suspect provides is shared with all the players. Next, the player may (depending on the difficulty setting) ask one to three questions of the suspect, and this private information the suspect provides is kept secret.

The first player to successfully identify the guilty suspect wins the game.