A Study in Emerald is a game for two to five players based on the award-winning short story of the same name by Neil Gaiman. In this stylistic mash-up of Sherlock Holmes and H.P. Lovecraft, the worst has already happened and the world is now ruled by the Old Ones. However, a secret war is being fought to free mankind from their servitude. The game A Study in Emerald fleshes out this core idea by including historical figures from the late nineteenth century, most being persons involved in the anarchist movement of the time.
Deck-building forms the core of the game. You use influence cubes to bid for the right to draft cards and take control of cities. Each player has a secret identity, either a Restorationist fighting against the creatures or a Loyalist attempting to defend the status quo. Which side you are on determines what you score points for. An additional twist is that the performance of other players on the same side as you can stop you from winning if they are doing particularly badly, so you really want to know who is on which side. More specifically, when the game ends – and this can result from multiple causes, such as a marker on the War or Revolution track hitting 15 or the assassination of a Restorationist player agent – then the sides compare their scores; which side has the lowest score automatically loses, then the player with the highest score on the remaining team wins the game.
The game takes around ninety minutes to play and is more complex than most, so more suitable for the experienced gamer.
- Exciting hidden role mechanism
- Unique Lovecraftian theme
- Intrigue and deception
- Hard to find first edition
- Rebellion against cosmic overlords
- Alternative history with Lovecraftian Great Old Ones ruling the world
- Hidden roles
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- hidden roles — Players don't know who is loyal to the Great Old Ones and who is trying to rebel
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Don't get too attached to those players because they could be killed or injured
- you have a team member or two but you don't know who they are
References (from this video)
- theme handling
- art and components
- overly complex, awkward team dynamic
- deck-building and area control with hidden teamwork
- city with Lovecraftian and detective elements
- mysterious, story-driven
- Tales of the Arabian Nights
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Area Control — control city sectors to gain points
- deck-building — build the deck to influence actions
- hidden/ambiguous teamwork — team composition not always known
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- It's got a very sort of whimsical frenzy dice rolling card play kind of thing.
- it's sort of a team game but you don't know who's on your team and you're doing deck building and there's some area control.
- I hate the card play and the card play just drives me bananas.
- Cooperative Deck Builder.
- the actual mechanics of moving around in the combat was just mind-numbing for me.
- I feel like they're really careless with the theme.