Game: Alibi

Thread: Re: Motived by Love: the theme doesn't entirely work?

revgiblet — 2008-11-19T05:25:07+00:00

I suppose that you could argue that the guilty party has a possessive non-sexual love for Brenda/Brenda's Lover. Love doesn't have to be eros all the time, does it?

Actually, we played this game for the first time last night and spent an unreasonable amount of time discussing exactly this subject.

Must be said, I wasn't a huge fan of the game. The questions mechanic seemed utterly pointless. All my information came from the cards that I was being handed each turn.

Thread: Re: Printing error in Score Sheet

DraperyFalls — 2008-05-13T15:02:13+00:00

Thanks! I hadn't even noticed, but that could definitely have led to some complication.

Also on my score sheet, "On Stage" is printed, but the corresponding card reads "On Set", but I see yours is not this way.

Thread: Re: Motived by Love: the theme doesn't entirely work?

cosine — 2007-08-10T21:28:58+00:00

We have the most fun with these and other motives; motives are what makes this game such an improvement over Clue.

Of course, a man can "Wants Brenda's Lover" or a woman can "Wants Brenda" ... they're gay! Why is this unacceptable? It's a real motive that happens in the real world, family game or not.

And why would someone kill someone they wanted? Anger at rejection or denial, of course! "If I can't have Brenda, no one will!"

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EndersGame — 2007-02-19T21:32:00+00:00

Printing error on published Score Sheet - as discussed in this thread: http://bgg.cc/thread/152563

Thread: Printing error in Score Sheet

EndersGame — 2007-02-19T21:29:26+00:00

Players familiar with the game will already be aware of this, but new players should be aware that the Score Sheet that comes with the game contains a printing error.

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Note how the icons for two of the types of Choker (weapon) are incorrectly reversed: the icon for Piano Wire on the score sheet matches the icon on the card for Rope, and the icon for Rope on the score sheet matches the icon on the card for Piano Wire. Here's an image with the error clearly labelled:

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It's simple to fix, and corrected score sheets can be downloaded from BGG, but it's good for new players to be aware of.

Corrected Score Sheet:
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Download links:
http://bgg.cc/file/18267/AlibiScoreSheets.doc
http://bgg.cc/file/17469/Alibi-RecordSheet-Corrected.jpg

Thread: Re: Comparisons to Mystery of the Abbey?

EndersGame — 2007-02-19T18:04:07+00:00

I recently played Alibi for the first time, but was immediately struck by how similar it was to Mystery of the Abbey. Since Alibi is the older of the two, could Mystery of the Abbey perhaps have borrowed mechanics and ideas from Alibi?

The two games are slightly different, to be sure:
1. Alibi has some additional aspects, such as the possiblity of creating and revealing melds for points, and the need to discover the location, weapon and motive, in addition to the suspect.
2. Mystery of the Abbey has more theme, and having a board and various events does make it somewhat more interesting but also more chaotic than Alibi.
Alibi better fits the description "Clue on steroids" than Mystery of the Abbey does, since it is more of a pure deduction game, but without the roll-and-move luck of Clue, whereas Mystery of the Abbey is more of a social and thematic experience.

But the basic game-play seems to be a common element of both games: by a process of elimination and passing cards to your neighbour, identify which missing card (suspect) is the murderer. I wonder if Mystery of the Abbey is indebted to Alibi, just as Alibi is indebted to Clue?

For more discussion, see also this thread in the Mystery of the Abbey forum: http://bgg.cc/thread/152499

Thread: Motived by Love: the theme doesn't entirely work?

EndersGame — 2007-02-19T18:02:39+00:00

Anyone else noticed this? When we last played Alibi, it took an eight-year-old girl to point out that the motives "Wants Brenda" and "Wants Brenda's Lover" only work for suspects of one gender.
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For example, "Wants Brenda's Lover" seems a credible motive for a female suspect to murder Brenda, but not a male one. And "Jilted by Brenda" seems a credible motive for a male suspect to murder Brenda, but not a female one. Similarly "Wants Brenda" seems a (partially) credible motive for a male suspect to murder Brenda, but not a female one. Although the eight-year-old did also ask: "If he wants Brenda, why did he kill her? That doesn't make sense!"

In short: "Wants Brenda's Lover" only seems to work if the suspect is female, "Jilted by Brenda" only seems to work if the suspect is male, and "Wants Brenda" hardly seems to work at all. And please let's not hear suggestions that homosexual relations are intended - this is after all, a family game from 1992, not an adult themed one!

But this is just a minor complaint, even if the random selection of "Love" motives might create some thematically implausible crimes, it doesn't detract from the deductive element of the game in the slightest.

Thread: 1st two games - from getting spanked to almost winning!

Inntrepid — 2006-06-10T07:59:52+00:00

I picked up Alibi on the way home from work at our FLGS on Friday afternoon. I had been thinking of getting this game for several months, but never did buy it. Next week my brother’s families and our family are getting together for a vacation and when we get together we play some type of party game. I figured that this was a perfectly good reason to buy a new game or at least that is how I was going to explain it to my wife.

After getting home and reading a little more about Alibi on the BGG, I noticed a typo on the Record Sheet was mentioned. Sure enough Rope and Piano Wire had the wrong labels. After eating dinner and creating new record sheets, with the correct labels and pictures for Rope and Piano Wire, I talked my wife into playing a 3 player game with our son and me. Everybody was a little leery of learning a new game, but I convinced them that they would have fun and that it would be quick.

I shuffled each group of cards and pulled out a suspect, place, weapon & emotion card and set them in the box. Then I shuffled all 4 groups together and dealt them out to the three of us. The first game was a learning/practice game so I did not keep very good notes on what was happening, for this session report. I think we played about 8 or 9 rounds and I thought I had it figured out, so I made the 1st accusation and I got spanked. After everybody wrote down their: Who, What, Where, When and Why, I stated my accusation and my wife and son started laughing. I knew I was in trouble. Lets just say after all points and penalties were totaled up I ended up with 9 points, my son had 44 and my wife had 50. She thought the game was great!!

Well, it was fairly easy to talk them into another game. They both did really well in the last game and were ready to lay the smack down on me again. This speaks a lot about the fun factor because it was past when my wife usually goes to bed and she was willing to play another game. The cards were sorted and shuffled and a new suspect, place, weapon and motive were picked. The rest of the cards were shuffled together, dealt out and we were off on our next mystery.

Right off the bat my son reveals that it did not happen on the boat or the shore and I revealed that the motive was not fame. Through questions asked in the 1st round everybody figures out that it did not happen in the house. Everybody then gives the person to the left 1 card and we get ready for round 2. This round of questions all involve a Gun and the gun is eliminated as a weapon. Now everybody gives the player to the left 2 cards and round 3 begins.

I was beginning to think that we were all going to ask the same questions every round but during the 3rd and 4th rounds different questions are asked by each player. The 5th round sees a resurgence of questions about one thing and poison is eliminated as a weapon. During the 6th round different questions are asked about different suspects. My son eliminates choking and a fake death as the causes of death and my wife eliminates Slim Slant as a suspect and a senseless death as the motive by revealing the sets.

I have 3 full sets in my hand; suspects Dr. Sam Salt and Mona Byrd and all of the auto location cards. Although I am feeling a little behind with only 7 points, my son has 20 and my wife has 9, I decide not to reveal them for the 9 points and keep them to myself. During the next couple of turns I end up passing some of these cards from the complete sets, to my son because I do not want to give him other cards I have had since the beginning.

Round 7 is another round about only 1 thing, Carla Mansion in this case and she is pretty much eliminated. The next round is another round of different questions. I have it figured out for sure that the location is the Alleyway In Town and the weapon was a Butchers Cleaver. After my queston in round 8, I finally have the suspect narrowed down to 1 person, Murray Agent. During my turn, in round 9, I will make my accusation, about who killed Brenda, where and with what.

Then disaster strikes, my wife gives me the 2 Murray Agent cards I did not have. He could not be the suspect. She saves me from making a false accusation but I had everybody else crossed off as suspects. I frantically go over my list and try to figure out where I screwed up. Then I see where I made a questionable mark by Cookie Carpenter, she has to be the one. It is my wife’s turn to start the questioning and then when it is my turn I make my accusation. Cookie Carpenter killed Brenda in the alleyway in town with a butcher’s cleaver. The motive I was not sure about but I had no boxes marked off for Love and only one left for Money (big contract). I said she did it for love.... and I was wrong. I would have been better off saying nothing for a motive (I will remember that next time).

The final score was: my son had 26 points and my wife and I each had 30. My guess about the motive cost me 10 points and if I had not guessed on the motive I would have had 40 points and would have won. In our, after game, discussion I found out that my not revealing that, Dr. Sam Salt and Mona Byrd did not do it, kept my son from figuring out the suspect. Also I hung onto the Studio – On Set card the whole game and my wife and son both thought that was the location (that cost each of them 8 points).

It took us about 2 hours to play thru 2 games but it did not seem like it. Everybody had a great time and there was much discussion about who figured out what and when after the game. I am looking forward to playing Alibi with more players in the near future.

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Inntrepid — 2006-06-10T05:01:43+00:00

Corrected - Alibi Record Sheet. Rope and Piano Wire, images and lablels now match.

Thread: Re: Comparisons to Mystery of the Abbey?

KrudgeWelder — 2006-01-31T16:20:02+00:00

I'm a big mystery game buff so I own both. Really Alibi is simply Abbey without the board. As pointed out, there are categories in Alibi similar to clue but the way of getting information is similar. You ask open ended questions that can be answered with a number rather than the traditional Clue form of showing cards as a way of answering. So other people can hear the Q&A and make deductions off that. Plus it has the passing element.

Since we got Abbey, Alibi has been shelved but I have to point out that before Abbey came along Alibi got a LOT of game play. We've been able to play Alibi up to 10 people since the deck is so large. Also, the card game format appeals to non-boardgamers and so my wife and I were able to convince people like my parents to play Alibi where the moving a pawn on a board format of Abbey can turn them off.

Abbey is the better buy but if you find Alibi on sale and you like an occasional change of scene, it might be worth it for you.

Thread: Re: Comparisons to Mystery of the Abbey?

dkearns — 2006-01-27T01:25:32+00:00

I like Alibi. Passing proceeds in a regular order. In Abbey the power cards can result in weird passes where a subset of players can get a huge information benefit. I also remember liking the meld system in Alibi wherein if certain cards keep getting passed around the table you meld them out of circulation.

My primary complaint with Alibi is that in my edition, there were three or four errors on the notesheets. While I call attention to the errors before playing, this lack of attention to detail is inexcusable for a deduction game. Hopefully, these errors have been fixed in more recent printings.

Thread: Re: Comparisons to Mystery of the Abbey?

AllenDoum — 2006-01-26T22:05:06+00:00

The similarity is in the increasing numbers of passed cards between the players hands. This makes deduction difficult, at best. Just as it limits it in Mystery at the Abbey. This problem is more pronounced in Alibi, which does not have all of the thematic board play of MatA. The fact that the cards in MatA are all suspects, with interlocking characteristics, rather than cards in seperate catagories is another advantage of MatA.

So, IMO, if you have MatA, there is no advantage in getting Alibi.

Thread: Comparisons to Mystery of the Abbey?

mangler103 — 2006-01-26T18:43:41+00:00

This game looks interesting, but it seems to be an awful lot like Mystery of the Abbey. Can anyone who has played both compare them a bit? Is it worth having both?

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EndersGame — 2006-01-26T17:45:51+00:00

All the WEAPON cards (six sets of three cards each)

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EndersGame — 2006-01-26T17:43:18+00:00

All the PLACE cards (six sets of three cards each)

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EndersGame — 2006-01-26T17:42:52+00:00

All the EMOTION cards (six sets of three cards each)

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EndersGame — 2006-01-26T17:37:46+00:00

All eight different SUSPECTS

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EndersGame — 2006-01-26T17:34:02+00:00

Alibi Record-sheet

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EndersGame — 2006-01-26T17:33:17+00:00

Alibi rule booklet

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EndersGame — 2006-01-26T17:23:31+00:00

Set of three WEAPONS cards (poisons)

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EndersGame — 2006-01-26T17:19:48+00:00

Set of three PLACE cards (house)

Thread: User Review

nextinline — 2005-03-21T02:31:44+00:00

I was happy to find this game as I am a fan of deductive games. When my daughter was young she and I enoyed many games of Guess Who and Clue. I was looking for something she could take on sleepovers that could be easily taught to friends.

This is a great deductive card game for most people, however, the momentum can be destroyed if any of the players has analysis paralysis or if they frequently forget to mark their record sheet.
Marking the record sheet and keeping a separate record of rounds (which is required in order to know how many cards to pass to the next person) can get a little tedious. The number of cards passed to your left is raised by one for each round until it's possible to pass your entire hand away for any number of cards the player to your right has passed on to you.

If these problems develop I would suggest one person be in charge of keeping track of which round it is and another person to be in charge of hand functions.
For example: "Okay, everybody, pass your cards and mark your new information on your record sheet". If steps are taken in concert then all the players will be ready to participate in the questioning at about the same time. Have a system especially for when you have more players.

About skill: Decisions are made. The only way to bluff is to carefully select the cards you decide to pass to the person on your left. IMO the game is over too quickly for any advantage to be gained in 'red herring' type questioning but it might work for you. The earliest melds get more points so it will probably pay to play those. Luckily, melds do not have to be done on your turn but you do have control over when you play them to the table. And, of course, the more information you put out there the more information you narrow down to everyone's advantage.

Asking questions: All questions must be answered honestly. All questions must be asked in a way that solicites a numerical response. Opponents may refer to their cards or to their record sheet to answer.
For example: "How many guns do you have?" would imply that you refer to your hand for the answer.
While "How many guns have you seen during the game?" would imply that you refer to your record sheet.
Other examples of questions are supplied in the rule booklet.

First Accuser: Only the First Accuser is required to identify the Suspect and three additional pieces of correct information. Following accusers choose based on their information or they make guesses. Unfortunately, any wrong guess attempts will cause negative points and, for the First Accuser, will cause DOUBLE the negative points.

The things that threaten to fail the game are also the things that make it work.
It's a very social game.
It's fun.
It's super easy to teach and learn.
Scoring is easy after a close reading of the rules.

Definitely worth the time and money.