Advert: This game was loaned for review through the UK Board Game Review Circle. All opinions are our own and components are subject to change.

“When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth” is the perfect quote to describe today’s Sherlock Holmes game. But is it worth your Focus, or is it too elementary?

Key stats

2 players
15 minutes
10+ years

Publisher: OldChap Games (distributed by Hachette Boardgames UK)
Designers: Antonin Boccara, Romaric Galonnier
Art: Simon Caruso

Theme/category: Sherlock Holmes, 2-player only
Key mechanics: Deduction, Limited communication, Co-operative

Gameplay overview:

A game of Focus is played through a 4×4 grid of random items taken from famous Sherlock Holmes cases. Each player is secretly assigned one of these items, and to win both players must successfully guess their partner’s item.

To do so, players take turns selecting an item from the grid and placing it in a row in front of them – this item should ideally give a clue to point their partner towards their secret item. No other clues (verbal or otherwise) are allowed! Play continues until all cards in the 4×4 grid have been taken except the two items belonging to both players – but if either player takes their partner’s secret item at any point it’s game over!

At the start of the game, there’s an extra row of items placed next to the 4×4 grid and the first player must take their first item from here – so there’s no risk of them accidentally taking their partner’s item! Players can take more cards from this row during the game or not, it doesn’t affect the endgame trigger.

The gameplay I’ve just described is called Watson mode, and the rulebook includes a few variations with increasing difficulty. In Sherlock mode, for example, players can end the game early if they think they can guess each other’s items. In Mycroft mode, each player has TWO secret items but still only collects one row of clues – they cannot say which clues are for which item!

Our thoughts

The set-up is superquick – unless you want to play a game with all the cards of a specific case (helpfully listed in the rules thanks to Mrs Hudson, but an absolute faff to find among the 84 double sided item cards). I can imagine for a Sherlock superfan it would be quite fun to see all the different items from different cases that have been included – for me, I just enjoyed the artwork and appreciated the weird and random.

With the card grid and need for associations/deduction, the gameplay feels akin to Codenames. But in Focus finding those associations – and avoiding your partner’s item – feels much trickier. Some items are easier to link together than others, and sometimes you have a killer grid where it feels absolutely impossible to link another item to yours.

What can also feel impossible is figuring out what on earth your partner is trying to tell you through their card selections. Obviously at the beginning there’s more choice and you can pick cards with better associations to your item (assuming there are any, that is!), but as the game progresses it gets hard and you have to get more creative. This is why you keep the items you selected in order, because your partner can see which ones you picked when (and therefore which are more likely to be relevant/useful). Often you might think you’ve cracked the case, but then they pick something so random it blows your theory out the water. But it’s oh so satisfying when you do manage to make it to the end with only your items left in play!

The premise of Focus is that it was a game invented by Watson to keep Sherlock entertained during long Winter nights. So whilst the game is not dripping in theme or narrative beyond the Sherlock-related items on the cards, I think this is a very apt concept because I can imagine Watson doing something like this. And Focus feels like the perfect game to play in a more relaxed setting, on the coffee table over drinks. We also liked that there are different modes if it starts to feel too easy (although I feel like the Mycroft mode is impossible!).

Our Board Game Life regulars will know we enjoy portable games, and Focus would certainly be a perfect choice to grab and go to the coffee shop. There is a bit of dead space in the box though, so I do think it would have been even better if it came in an even smaller box, it could easily fit in a small bag (or large pocket!).

What we like:

• Super super quick set up (unless you want to use the specific cards for a specific case, which is a right faff)

• An interesting range of items and we liked they were pulled from different Sherlock cases.

• Fun but challenging deduction game trying to figure out each other’s intentions – and really satisfying if you crack it!

• Different modes if you want to vary the challenge.

• Nice portable 2-player game (but would be even better in an even smaller box!).

Considerations:

• Whilst it was always pretty challenging, there are games where it is much harder simply due to the items that are in play together.

Verdict

Admittedly we both had low expectations going into this one, for me mainly because the box didn’t draw me in at all. Buuuut we were both pleasantly surprised! Focus is a challenging little deduction game for 2-players and the sort of game Matt & I take on coffee dates. Some games can be much trickier than others depending on the cards out, but when you lose it’s so quick to set up and go again.