| Subject Name: | Scotland Yard |
| Image Link: | Scotland Yard game logo.png |
| Players: | 3–6 |
| Ages: | 10+ |
| Setup Time: | 5–15 minutes |
| Playing Time: | 1 hour (player dependent) |
| Random Chance: | Initial set-up |
| Skills: | Tactics, strategy, and bluffing |
Scotland Yard is a board game in which a team of players controlling different detectives cooperate to track down a player controlling a criminal as they move around a board representing the streets of London. It was first published in 1983. It is named after Scotland Yard which is the headquarters of London's Metropolitan Police Service in real-life. Scotland Yard is an asymmetric board game, during which the detective players cooperatively solve a variant of the pursuit–evasion problem. The game is published by Ravensburger in most of Europe and Canada and by Milton Bradley in the United States. It received the Spiel des Jahres (Game of the Year) award in 1983[1] -the same year that it was published.
One player controls 'Mr. X': a criminal whose location is only revealed periodically throughout gameplay. The other players each control at least one detective, all of which are always present on the board. In the Milton Bradley version, there are always five detectives on the board, so with less than six players, one player can control two or three detectives.[2]
Each player draws one (or more) starting card(s) to determine the starting locations of each piece;[2] the detectives place their tokens at the locations they drew, but Mr. X, who draws first, does not. The locations on the cards are spaced far enough apart to ensure that Mr. X cannot be caught in the first round of play. There are a total of 199 spaces ("stations") on the board.[3]
Movement is governed by exchanging transportation tokens ("tickets"), which allow passage between spaces according to the following modes:
Each detective begins with a finite mix of taxi, bus, and underground tickets.[2] Mr. X starts with the remaining transport tickets; however, once each transport ticket is used by a detective, it is turned over to Mr. X, effectively giving that player an unlimited amount of transport tokens.[2]
From any given space, movement is possible along a line matching the mode of transportation (taxi, bus, or underground) to the closest adjacent space for that mode.[2] For example, consider movement from space #74. The possible movements from this space are:
Mr. X also has a supply of black tickets that are valid for any mode of transport available from the current location of Mr. X.[2] These tickets can also be used to move between the ferry stops on the River Thames, joined by black lines; Mr. X is the only one who can travel in this manner.[2] In addition, the player assuming the role of Mr. X is given several double-move tokens, which allows them to make two moves in a single turn.[2]
A space may be occupied by only one (visible) pawn at a time, so if an adjacent space is already occupied, the pawn may not be moved there. However, if the closest space for a bus or underground trip lies beyond an occupied adjacent space, that space may be bypassed.[2]
Mr. X's movements are documented through a "travel log" with paper inserts, divided into slots that are covered by used tickets; for each move that Mr. X makes, they write down their destination secretly and then cover it with the ticket they have used to reach it, thus providing the detectives with clues as to their whereabouts. The first number written down is not the starting space; rather, it is the first destination using the ticket displayed.[2] If a double move is used, Mr. X must log both moves, use two transportation tickets, and surrender one of the double move tickets.[2] Mr. X moves first on every turn, after which the detectives move in any order.
At five specific times during the game, Mr. X has to reveal their current position. The windows on the travel log for these moves are shaped differently to remind the player to do so.[2] Detectives may take this opportunity to refine their search and, if possible, plan ways to encircle them based on where they are and the next few moves they make.
The detectives win the game if any of them lands on Mr. X's current location, or if it becomes impossible for Mr. X to move without landing on a detective. Mr. X wins by avoiding capture until all detectives can no longer move because they have either exhausted their ticket supplies or reached positions from which they cannot move because they have no usable tickets.[2]
| Ravensburger (2013) ! | Milton Bradley (1985) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Taxi | 57 | 54 | ||
Bus | 45 | 43 | ||
Underground | 23 | |||
Concealed | 5 | |||
Double Move | 3 | 2 | ||
| Starting positions | X: 51, 127, 166, 170 | D: 103, 155 | 13, 26, 29, 34, 50, 53, 91, 94, 103, 112, 117, 132, 138, 141, 155, 174, 197, 198 | |
Movement is changed when there are fewer players; rather than all the visible pawns being detectives, one or two may be designated "bobbies", wearing a circular ring and moving freely without using tickets; they are moved by consensus by the detective players.
As published by Ravensburger in 2013, it contains:[4]
| 171 | 200 | |
| 159 | 171 | |
| 128 | 159 | |
| 118 | 128 | |
| 108 | 118 |
The game has been adapted to take place on maps of different cities. Scotland Yard Tokyo, also distributed by Ravensburger is set on the streets of Tokyo; the major difference is game aesthetics. Scotland Yard: Swiss Edition uses the same gameplay and is set in Switzerland, with the addition of more boat routes and ski areas available only to Mr. X.[9]
NY Chase is a version based on New York City. In this version, detectives do not hand their used tokens over, and they have access to roadblocks and a helicopter, tilting the game more in favour of those playing as detectives.[10]
A faster travel version called Die Jagd Nach Mister X exists that functions quite differently. In this version, Mr. X's location is only hidden when a black travel token is used, and the game is essentially an open chase around London. Evasion is accomplished with black tokens and using the fastest travel to distant locations. In this version, each player takes turns as Mr. X, and points collected (in the form of the detectives' used travel tokens) determine the overall winner.[11]
In 1986 Alain Munoz and Serge Laget posted an article in the French magazine Jeux & Stratégie suggesting alternative rules to balance and expand the game.[12] [13]
Spanish company Cefa published Alerta Roja (Red Alert) in 1986, which is generally a remake of Scotland Yard with minor variations to the rules and a different theme (secret agents chase a nuclear terrorist though the sewers of a futuristic city).
Ravensburger has published rules designed to introduce new players to the game. In the "beginners version", Mr. X starts on space 82, and the detectives start on 41, 46, and/or 124, with 142 added if four detectives are playing. The number of turns is reduced to 13, underground tickets are not used, and Mr. X is limited to one concealed-move ticket and one double-move ticket.[14]
The game was first adapted for the Nintendo Game Boy in 1990, and then as Scotland Yard Interactive for the Philips CD-I in 1993. It was adapted for Windows by Cryo Interactive in 1998, for the Nintendo DS by Sproing Interactive in 2008, as well as for iPhone (2012)[15] and Android (2015) by Ravensburger Digital.
Games included Scotland Yard in its top 100 games of 1986, calling it "a suspenseful chase through the streets of London in this game of deduction and bluff." The reviewer noted "Trapping Mr. X requires logic and teamwork; eluding the detectives takes sneakiness and an occasional risky move by Mr. X."[16] A review from Lautapeliopas praised the game's accessibility and functionality, but said the playing as detectives is less engaging.[17]