I keep a little notepad just for Sleuth, dog eared and covered in my own frantic shorthand, and I love it the way you love a tool that fits your hand perfectly. This is a deduction game from the legendary Sid Sackson, and it proves that a great logic puzzle never goes out of style. It is just you, a deck of gem cards, and the one question that will not let you rest: which card is missing.

The deck shows gems in different colors and types, and one card is removed in secret at the start. Everyone holds some of the rest, and you win by deducing which single card is hidden. You do it with search cards, which let you ask other players precise questions, such as how many red gems do you hold, or how many pearls. Their answers, given openly, let everyone narrow the field, so half the skill is asking the right question and the other half is squeezing meaning from the questions your rivals ask.

What I love is how clean it is. There is no theme to hide behind and no luck to blame, just careful tracking and the slow, satisfying click of possibilities falling away until only one answer can be true. Declare correctly and the case is yours. Guess wrong and you are out, and you have no one to glare at but yourself.

It plays in around thirty minutes, rewards a notepad and a sharp mind, and scratches the same itch as a good logic grid. It is older and quieter than the flashy deduction games on shelves today, but the bones are excellent.

Are you a methodical note taker or a bold early guesser? Tell me below, and tell me how fast you have ever cracked the case.

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