This is probably my favorite game. It's fun. It doesn't take too long. It is hard for me to win it, but when I lose I feel like 'I could've won if I'd only played better,' instead of 'if I'd had better luck.' That especially makes me want to play it again and again. Some of the antiques are so cute that my wife will take them, even if there are better cards she could take. She wins anyway. Often everybody picks a detective at the same time, and then everybody laughs out loud. I like the try-to-read-other-people's-minds aspect of the game very much. The game will be different every time, because it depends so much on what the players are like as people. How many games are there that involve interaction with others, hard-thinking, and laughter, all at once? It's good stuff.

Adel Verpflichtet is one of the most impressive jobs of mixing excellent balanced play with strong mechanics and it's all amazingly built on a foundation of Rock, Paper, Scissors.

I have seen some diehard gamers suggest this game is nothing more than that basic childs game, but that's like suggesting that the Indy 500 is just driving a car.

The theme here works very well. You feel like a snob much of the time and feel like a crook when you're stealing items from another player, etc.

The game pieces and board are excellent. It's easy to learn, teach and play and all moves along at a nice pace. The strategy elements are subtle but essential. This is far from a basic guessing game.

The game is best targeted to moderate gamers who enjoy the social interaction elements gaming brings as opposed to the more intense gamers who are mainly interested in only the game.

In my group, it has yet to fail to provide an excellent play experience.