Review – Lovely City – Deadly Secrets by A Killing Affair
Website Link – https://www.akillingaffair.com/lovely-city
Price – $38 per episode individually or $35 per episode with a subscription. You can also purchase the full season, which averages to $32 per episode.
THE PRODUCT:
Lovely City – Deadly Secrets is part of season five of A Killing Affair’s Lovely City murder mystery boxes. The series is a collection of murder mysteries that often take place over several episodes. Season five’s Deadly Secrets is a one episode tale.
This time a wife is suspected of killing her husband on Halloween night. She claims innocence, but the case isn’t looking too good for her. Can the players figure out what really happened?
Deadly Secrets is played using a mixture of physical components and online resources. The final answer will also be entered online.
As a duo, the game took us about 4-5 hours to complete.
OUR THOUGHTS:
Puzzles: 3.5/5 Stars
Like most murder mysteries, players will need to use their deductive skills to piece together the many facts they uncover. The smallest details may be the key to solving the case, so players will want to make sure they don’t miss anything.
Along the way, there will be quite a few other types of puzzles as well, including a number of ciphers. The puzzles are mostly well-clued and provide a good bit of challenge and work to make sure that players are trying to give each component plenty of attention. Though there are several we stumbled upon/felt like we recognized as puzzles even before anything pointed us in that direction.
However, the heavy reliance on ciphers during one part of the game did feel a bit tedious at points but nothing game ruining. Just be prepared to translate quite a bit.
Also, the final answer submission simply asks for the murder’s name, so it will be up to players to decide when they are fully ready. If you’re looking for reassurance and regular guide posts, you won’t get them, but it should be clear when you’re making progress as new details emerge.
Narrative: 4/5 Stars
Deadly Secrets’ story involved a murder within a gated community. The most likely suspects are those who live within the community. There are a lot of details and background to dig into throughout the case. With a dozen possible suspects, A Killing Affair puts a lot of effort into sharing their story through the use of its physical and digital components. Players will want to pay close attention to make sure they get all the story has to offer.
Overall Fun: 3.5/5 Stars
As a whole, we enjoyed Deadly Secrets. It had a lot to offer and we definitely had to pull together a lot of information to solve the case correctly. It was fun to figure out how different pieces came together and to discover some of the neat secrets contained within the components. The designers definitely tried to go above and beyond with the inclusion of items that were vital to the story as well as some that added more thematic flavor.
Overall, we felt this was a well put together murder-myster box that would feel at home with the many other great boxes of the genre.
Who Should Play:
Deadly Secrets is a great idea for anyone who loves murder mysteries and/or games that rely heavily on deduction and close detail inspection. Also recommended for those who know the woes of living in an HOA enforced community.
FINAL SCORES:
Puzzles: 3.5/5 Stars
Narrative: 4/5 Stars
Overall Fun: 3.5/5 Stars
OFFICIAL C&C FINAL RATING: 3.7/5 Stars
Recommended: Yes
Disclaimer: we were provided with a free copy of this episode to review. All thoughts and opinions are our own.
Chaos & Confetti 