A crime was just committed! The victim is unable to speak — but they can draw, and in doing so they will ideally help the inspectors guess who in the vast crowd is the criminal! This shifty character will do anything and everything to cover their tracks, though, so will you be able to stop them before the last message?
In Last Message, the victim of the crime gives clues over four rounds to help the detectives determine the identity of the criminal. To give clues in a round, the victim has 30 seconds in which to draw and write in a 3x3 grid — but before handing over these clues, the criminal can erase part of these drawings.
If the criminal is not identified by the end of the fourth round, they win the game; otherwise, the detectives and the victim win.
Last Message - How To Play
Images
- intriguing deduction with partial information
- crime deduction with drawing clues
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- "this is going to be a really hard list"
- "the cover art is amazing"
- "pop-up book game"
- "it's a game but it's a pop-up book"
- "all new monsters every single one of these monsters has all new wind conditions"
References (from this video)
- Adds a multi-role dynamic
- One-versus-all tension
- Rules and setup can be dense for first-time players
- mystery investigation with roles
- MicroMacro: Crime City
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- asymmetric roles with clues — Criminal, victim, and detectives interact on a large map to uncover the culprit through clues.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- it's just really great to have that option here
- Sunday is the day to go most of my plays were at home but we have almost an equal amount on BGA again that definitely contributes to the frequency and how many games I was able to play it's just really great to have that option here
- I think the one thing that was a letdown for me was that you're not accounting for where you are in the lane
- I'm really loving these in hand micro games lately
- I would rather play ashes in the future
References (from this video)
- fun party game
- love that concept
- works well as a party game
- dying person writing a message
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Deduction — Players have to guess clues from a partially erased message.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Hey everybody, I'm Tom Vassal. Welcome to Look Back. This is a series that I do where I take a look at reviews that I did 1 year ago, 5 years ago, 10 years ago, and even 20 years ago during this time frame.
- It's It's doing okay. I think it's in the 4000s at BoardGameGeek. I just didn't like it at all. Boring, boring airplane travel game.
- What a fantastic game, a real-time shoot-'em-up strategy style game. Very entertaining. 10 out of 10. Just a great game. Still love this game 10 years later.
- honestly for a game that's themed on Taco Bell is like a 10 out of 10 in a sense cuz you're expecting it to be bad.
- This is the follow-up to the very popular Dominant Species.
- This is a fun party game in which someone's dying and they write a message on the board, but the other person he erases I think half of it.
- So, this is like the lowest seven I can give a game in a sense.
- The artwork is a little uh uh It's all mixed over. It's muddled and they made it for people who love Overpower and they threw in the kitchen sink.
- We're trying to get more people to play these games and they made it super complex.
- Point chips from a bag. That battle system is my favorite part and a lot of interesting decisions.
- The theme of the world is a little mundane for me. I wish there was more. It wasn't as interesting as it could be.
References (from this video)
- crime and deduction
- crime investigation with a witness who can draw clues
- secret roles with victim, criminal, and detectives
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- board comparison — Detectives can compare new clue boards to previously collected ones to aid deduction.
- clue drafting on boards — The victim draws and writes clues on one of four blank nine-square boards within a 30-second window.
- clue erasure and tracking — The criminal erases five spaces (in round 1), then fewer spaces in later rounds to hinder clues.
- clue repetition rule — Words cannot be repeated on the same board across clues during a round; repetition across rounds on new boards is allowed.
- Deduction — The criminal erases five spaces (in round 1), then fewer spaces in later rounds to hinder clues.
- Difficulty options — Rulebook options allow increasing difficulty, such as removing text, changing erasure counts, or choosing objects instead of characters.
- Hidden Roles — Criminal privately selects a character on the board to represent them; only the victim and criminal know who it is.
- secret role assignment — Criminal privately selects a character on the board to represent them; only the victim and criminal know who it is.
- suspect selection by detectives — Detectives choose one character from the illustration as the suspected criminal.
- timed rounds — Game consists of four rounds with a sand timer each round to limit clue writing time.
- validation by criminal — Criminal confirms whether the detectives picked the correct character without giving extra information.
- win condition — If the detectives identify the criminal, everyone on the crime scene team wins; otherwise the criminal wins.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- the good news is that we have a witness
- the detectives and the victim all win
- the game is played over four rounds
References (from this video)
- Engaging social deduction with a crime-mystery flavor
- Fast-paced and replayable across multiple groups
- Encourages teamwork and player interaction
- Rule clarity is important; miscommunication can derail rounds
- May feel chaotic for very large groups or for players who dislike role play
- investigation, crime, and collective storytelling with role dynamics.
- A party game framed as a collaborative crime mystery, designed for fast rounds and group participation.
- theatrical and slightly dramatic, with clear turns for the victim, criminal, and detectives.
- Mysterium
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- clue-based deduction across rounds — Four rounds of information exchange, where clues guide the detectives toward identifying the criminal.
- role-based team play — Players are divided into victim, criminal, and detectives; the detectives work as a team to identify the culprit.
- shared investigation with evolving constraints — The victim and criminal coordinate in a way that tests the detectives' ability to interpret hints.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- it's quick it's really really funny and it has some twists and turns
- which actually is a public domain game
- it's simple it's straightforward
- it's very quick and funny
- one player plays the victim... another player plays the criminal and all the other players play detectives
- the other team has a summary
- you have to sing the opposition
- it's silent game where you can't talk and create this story by texting each other
- the cinematic music in the background
- it's meditative for sure as well