Akta Tajemnic: Kobieta nad stawem

About

Akta Tajemnic: Kobieta nad stawem (Polish for "Files of Secrets: The Woman by the Pond") is a cooperative detective game for 1 to 10 players, designed by Marcin Myszka, the host of the Polish true-crime podcast Kryminatorium. The game is published in Polish only. The case is set in 1985 in Poznań, in communist-era Poland. The body of a young waitress is found in a park by a pond, with one hand missing. Evidence at the scene suggests the killing was not random. Players take the role of investigators trying to reconstruct what happened and identify the perpetrator. The box contains seven sealed envelopes filled with physical case materials: police reports, witness statements, interrogation transcripts, photographs, letters, handwritten notes, a newspaper clipping, a map, a restaurant menu, and a transit schedule. A companion website guides players through the investigation without spoilers and provides audio versions of selected interrogations, which are also included on paper. Players decide what to examine and in what order, then submit their accusation through the website at the end of the case. There is no board, no dice, no score track. The game is driven entirely by reading the documents, comparing testimonies, spotting inconsistencies, and building a theory of the crime. It can be played solo, but is designed as a group activity with players splitting the materials between them. A single playthrough takes around three hours. The case is one-shot and is not meant to be replayed once solved. The publisher rates the game 18+ due to graphic content and mature themes related to a violent crime against a woman. Format-wise it sits in the same family as Chronicles of Crime, Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game, and Kryminauci, but without an app-only structure - the bulk of the experience is physical documents, with the website acting as a guide rather than a primary interface.

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