Gamelyn Games is adding a Noir-style mystery-solving game to its Tiny Epic series with the launch of Tiny Epic Crimes into distribution later this year, in the fourth quarter.

In Tiny Epic Crimes, the players are given 48 hours to solve a terrible murder, using their crime-busting skills to identify and apprehend the culprit.  As detectives of Echo Ridge City, they must consider clues including the murder weapon, forensic evidence, and more to deduce the solution.  The gameplay is built around the “Tiny Epic Decoder System”, which combines a red-filter and special envelopes to decipher clues.

In addition to solving the main mystery, the detectives must also contend with other crimes around the city.  These side mysteries can provide the players with valuable information as well, but they use up time that they need to confront the principal murder.

Tiny Epic Crimes will include 4 double-sided player mats, 2 double-sided time mats, 79 cards, 6 envelopes, 25 wooden tokens, 60 cardboard tokens, 1 “magnifying glass” decoder, a cloth bag, and dice shaped like bullets.  The game was designed by Scott Almes (Tiny Epic Galaxies, Heroes of Land, Air & Sea) and features artwork by Nikoletta Vaszi (Tiny Epic Dungeons, Tiny Epic Vikings) inspired by film noir and gangster stories.

Gamelyn raised funding for Tiny Epic Crimes through a Kickstarter campaign in December that attracted $348,779 in pledges from 8,883 backers (an average of $39.26 per backer).

Gamelyn’s Tiny Epic Vikings released earlier this year (see “Gamelyn Games’ ‘Tiny Epic Vikings’ Sets Sail”).