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Painter Detective
2015
Rules assistance for Painter Detective
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 3–7 players
- 40 min
- 9+
- Complexity 1.0/5
Rules assistant for Painter Detective
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Painter Detective is a board game released in 2015 for 3–7 players and ages 9 and up. It was designed by おーつぼじゅうじん (Jyujin Ohtsubo), Yuko Yano (矢野 由布子), and Yacoyon and its main mechanics are Memory, Paper-and-Pencil, and Line Drawing.
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About the game
User summary: 似顔絵探偵 (Nigaoe Tantei) is Painter Detective. In the game of Painter Detective, one player takes the role of detective, and the others are the witnesses. Each suspect card depicts a face of a suspect, and a criminal is chosen randomly from 48 suspect cards. The witnesses looks at the face of the criminal and memorize its characteristics in five seconds. Then each witness is assigned one or two face parts they must explain, and describes the criminal's characteristics by verbal method only. The detective listens to the descriptions and draws a composite sketch, and tells the criminal from the suspect cards. In 2016, a female edition was published jointly with YACO, called Painter Detective Girl 似顔絵探偵ガール (Nigaoe Tantei Garu). Gameplay is the same, the artwork by 矢野 由布子 (Yuko Yano) shows only female characteristics. The publishers says on the box "The Painter Detective receives the request, it's a "Search of the Lost Girl"! Let's make the portrait from the unclear information by some witness. This game is the party game with the memory, the observation and the drawing.". Publisher's summary: まず、プレイヤーの中から１人の探偵役を決めます。その他は目撃者役です。 顔のイラストが描かれた、48枚の容疑者カードの中からランダムで、１枚の犯人を選びます。 目撃者役のプレイヤーのみ５秒間だけ見て、記憶します。その後、鼻、目、口・ひげ、輪郭などを示した、パーツカードが配られ、 各容疑者役のプレイヤーは自分の担当のパーツのみ、ジェスチャー無しで口だけで探偵役に伝えます。 探偵役は目撃者の話を聞いて、似顔絵を描き、その後、その絵を頼りに容疑者カードの中から犯人を捜し出します。
Categories
Mechanics
Publishers
- Cocktail Games
- Joynt Game Factory (ジョイントゲームファクトリー)
- Yaco
Questions and answers
Painter Detective supports 3–7 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The catalogue lists Painter Detective for ages 9 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Painter Detective has a complexity rating of 1.0 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Painter Detective belongs to these categories: Party Game. Its main mechanics are Memory, Paper-and-Pencil, and Line Drawing. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Painter Detective are: おーつぼじゅうじん (Jyujin Ohtsubo), Yuko Yano (矢野 由布子), and Yacoyon. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Painter Detective as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.