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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.
This page includes videos and mentions from the whole A Study in Emerald family. Drill into a specific game below.
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- Cthulhu
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- They ended really strong in book three. It was a good ending of sorts and I really liked it.
- I don't care about it.
- They have multiple multiple uh points of view which I was fine following the one person.
- I just found it to be maybe the last book will bring everything back together, but I doubt it. I just don't care anymore.
- Look, I'm okay with characters dying and things that you need that to progress a story sometimes, but good grief. Does it have to be that bad all the time?
- The mobs are out there and the mobs are going to hunt you down and no matter what you say.
- It has definitely become a witch hunt in many ways where people like as soon as they hear the word the letters AI, they're like, 'I'm out.'
- I think the backlash is and people going and rating games one on BoardGameGeek is kind of ridiculous.
- That has nothing to do with the game. It really doesn't. That's that's just nonsensical.
- I'm kind of mind-boggled with how much people complain about prices of games.
- Yes, games are expensive. They're really expensive to make.
- You don't go yell at your gas station attendant, you shouldn't when gas goes up. That's not them who are doing it.
- It should be a friendly place to go to.
- I always try to put some monkeys in my zoo, period. Just so I can say I have some monkeys.
- I dislike the cat character a lot and I found it to be okay.
- But I will warn you, I noticed that a lot of people when they do this, they also forget about the part where they you should make money.
- Wash it in the shower?
- If I ran BoardGameGeek, if I saw someone rate a one with a comment of 'I hate what they did here.' I would just delete that rating instantly.
- I think are you kidding me? This is so nonsensical.
- I love going to bookstores.
- Any place that has unique interesting thing, a hot sauce store, a a beef jerky store, whatever.
References (from this video)
- 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.