Deduce or Die!

Deduce or Die!

Designer: Larry Levy
Publisher: The Games Journal
Type: Card
Status: Free
BGG entry: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/19765
Available from: http://www.thegamesjournal.com/rules/DeduceOrDie.shtml

You're a successful trial lawyer and this year you've decided to take a cruise for your vacation. Unfortunately, a terrible storm sinks the ship and you and a few others find yourselves stranded on a conveniently located tropical island. The good news is, there's enough food, fresh water, and shelter to keep everyone alive indefinitely. The bad news is that the chances of you ever being rescued are slim and none. The really bad news is that everyone else on the island is also a trial lawyer!

But the worst news is that you all woke up this morning to find one member of the group dead, obviously murdered by one of you. Since no one relishes the thought of spending the rest of their life with a murderer, and since, after all, you are lawyers, a trial has been set up in which everyone takes turns interrogating the others. If a sufficiently good motive can be established for one of you, their execution can be swiftly arranged. It would be nice if you could be the one who makes the accusation; your little group will need a leader and nothing impresses lawyers more than a winning argument. Of course, if the true murderer can make a good enough case against someone else, they will have successfully gotten away with murder. And the person they accuse could very well be you. Counselor, you are on trial for your life: call your first witness.

Deduce or Die! is a deduction game in which the players are trying to find out who among them is a murderer. The actual murderer is as anxious as anyone else to determine the facts of the case, as that will allow him or her to pin the blame on someone else. The first player who can correctly accuse another player of the crime wins the game.