Charm City Blues (2017)

We stand staring at the chalk outline on the wet sidewalk.
“Five bucks says it’s Tanos,” Robertson says.
I toss my cigarette to the ground, grind it down the the toe of my shoe.
“Five bucks it is.”

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Charm City Blues is my love letter to the crime noir genre. As members of the elite Vice Squad, you'll be traveling around Charm City in an attempt to build a case and catch your Suspect before the end of the Plot. Charm City Blues is completely cooperative with each player having a personal Vice that effects the way you play the game.

Charm City Blues is played on a 5x4 grid of cards laid out in numerical order to create Charm City. At the start of the game players will choose a Difficulty and Suspect and deal 12 cards from the Plot deck. Then, roll the d20 Clue die 4 times to spawn Clues on the Location cards with the corresponding number. The goal of the game is to build a case and catch the Suspect by filling up the Difficulty and Suspect cards with clues before the Plot deck runs out.

Each round of Charm City Blues is divided into two phases, the Plot phase and the Investigation phase. During the Plot phase the player with the Commissioner token flips the top card of the Plot deck. This card gives a narrative cue which the Commissioner will expand on in telling a few lines of story about the game so far. Then, each player will have a chance to gain clues during their Investigation.

Each player has four abilities: Fight, Arrest, Research, and Interrogate. During your investigations you will test these abilities by rolling the number of d6 listed next to your Ability and trying to match or beat the number required on the Location card. If you succeed, you move the Clue up to the Difficulty or Suspect card and gain some cold hard cash. If you fail, you lose Hit Points or gain Suspicion Points. Lose too many Hit Points or gain too may Suspicion Points and the game is over.