- BGG rating
- 7.5
Paranormal Detectives: Companion App
- 2–6 players
- 30–50 min
- 2019
- BGG rank
- BGG #2,015
- BGG rating
- 6.9
Paranormal Detectives
2019
Rules assistance for Paranormal Detectives
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 2–6 players
- 30–50 min
- 12+
- Complexity 1.7/5
For 2 players
Rules assistant for Paranormal Detectives
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Paranormal Detectives is a board game released in 2019 for 2–6 players, 30–50 minutes per game, and ages 12 and up. It was designed by Marcin Łączyński, Adrian Orzechowski, and Szymon Maliński and its main mechanics are Variable Player Powers, Hand Management, and Cooperative Game.
Expansions
About the game
You open your eyes to discover the most horrible truth of a lifetime... It has just come to an end and you are a ghost, floating in the air! Terrified, you look at your own body. A group of strange individuals have gathered around your mortal remains, watching it closely with sparks of fascination in their eyes. They want to communicate with you to discover how your life ended. You need to talk to them and reveal the truth so the culprit can be judged! Paranormal Detectives is a deduction party game. One player takes the role of a Ghost. All other players work as Paranormal Detectives and need to discover how the victim died. Using paranormal abilities they will communicate with the Ghost, asking open questions about the details of the crime. The Ghost answers in a variety of ghostly ways - by arranging a hangman’s knot, playing chosen tarot cards, creating a word puzzle on a talking board, drawing by holding the hand of a detective and many more! At the beginning of the game, the Ghost player receives a story card with a full description of the murder. Each card depicts all the details of the case. Each Detective receives asymmetrical, pre-constructed set of interaction cards, player investigation sheet, and a player screen. On their turn, each Detective asks the Ghost any open question they want and plays a single interaction card. The card implies the way the Ghost may answer the question. There are 9 different interactions total, most of them giving information to all Detectives. Since Detectives may ask any open questions and interaction cards vary, the game allows for lots of creativity for both the Ghost and Paranormal Detectives. Detectives may try, twice during the game, to guess what has actually happened to the victim stating who was the killer, where did it happen, what was the motive, how was it done and what was the murder weapon. Then the Ghost writes down secretly on this Detective’s investigation sheet how many of their answers are correct. The game can end in two ways: If a Detective gives all correct answers. In this case, they win, together with the Ghost player. If all Detectives run out of interaction cards. In this case, if no one has guessed everything correctly then, whoever guessed correctly the most information is the sole winner of the game! Note: The rulebook includes a fully cooperate variant.
Mechanics
Publishers
- Kaissa Chess & Games
- Broadway Toys LTD
- Hobby World
- ADC Blackfire Entertainment
- Gémklub
- Rozum
- Mandoo Games
- Maldito Games
- 999 Games
- Gameology (Gameology Romania)
- Lucky Duck Games
- Cranio Creations
Questions and answers
Paranormal Detectives supports 2–6 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 listed playing time for Paranormal Detectives is 30–50 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Paranormal Detectives for ages 12 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.
Paranormal Detectives has a complexity rating of 1.7 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.
Paranormal Detectives belongs to these categories: Party Game, Deduction, and Murder / Mystery. Its main mechanics are Variable Player Powers, Hand Management, and Cooperative Game. 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 Paranormal Detectives are: Marcin Łączyński, Adrian Orzechowski, and Szymon Maliński. 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 Paranormal Detectives 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.