Shadow House: The Code
- Board's Eye View
- Aug 22
- 3 min read
Designed by Eros Lin and published by EmperorS4, Shadow House: The Code is a standalone sequel to EmperorS4's Shadow House: Masquerade, which was published in 2023. In this game, the 3–5 players are detectives seeking out clues that will help them deduce the two-digit code to access the safe at the Shadow Viscount's mansion. It can be played either in 'Faction Mode' or in 'Conspiracy Mode'. Tho' the rules refer in Conspiracy Mode to detectives 'working together', both modes are essentially competitive.
Each player takes one of the six character cards that matches them to the red, blue or yellow faction and a set of face-down 'hint tokens' numbered 1-8. Two clue cards are concealed in the safe and the remaining clue cards are dealt out face-down to the players, who must then arrange them (face-down) left to right in ascending order, along with their face-down character card; all the character cards have value 5.
On your turn in Faction Mode you will mostly either 'Have a drink' or 'Dig'. If you 'Have a drink' you flip two of your hint tokens and place them in the correct position in relation to the row of cards in front of you, so that each hint token is greater than or equal to the card on its left and less than or equal to the card on its right. All other players flip and place out one hint token. If you 'Dig', you point to a clue card of another player and announce its value; if correct, the clue card is revealed. If your deduction or guess was incorrect, you have to reveal one of your own clue cards. If all of your clue cards are revealed, you must also flip your character card.
When a player thinks they have sufficient information to deduce the values of the two clue cards in the safe, they take an 'Unlock' action. If you're right, you win the round. If you're wrong, you assume the role of the Safe Keeper; you are still in the game and can still take 'Have a drink' or 'Dig' actions but you can no longer try to guess the clues in the safe. You earn tho' a hint token for any other player's incorrect 'Unlock' guesses, and if you collect three hint tokens you win the round. Winning a round is worth 2 points, but players also earn 1 point if all the rival factions' character cards have been flipped. The game is won when a player has 3 or more points.
If you play in Conspiracy Mode then instead of the 'Have a drink' and 'Dig' actions, each turn a player draws two of their hint tokens and passes them to another player who must then reveal how many of those numbers are in their row; they then place the hint tokens in their row.
Whichever mode you choose, and regardless of player count, Shadow House: The Code is a quick deduction game that plays comfortably in a filler-length 10-15 minutes. Its mechanics are not dissimilar to those deployed in Bomb Busters (Pegasus Spiele), which we featured last year on Board's Eye View and which was the winner this year of the prestigious Spiel des Jahres award. Because players in Shadow House: The Code are in a competitive race to be the first to deduce the numbers that make up the safe code, there's a temptation in this game to push your luck and risk a guess rather than necessarily waiting until you have enough information to make a secure deduction...
