Express surveys: inspect, exchange and earn in just 30 minutes

What is the Investigations Express board game?

Through three investigations with totally different themes, you first collect as much information as possible, then share it with the other players, then manage to answer the questions and thus solve the case.

Accessible from 10 years old, for 2 to 6 players, it is a short and accessible investigation game, which is played with family or friends, for games of 30 minutes at most.

Edited by Blam, Express Surveys is a game by Antonin Boccara, illustrated by Claire Conan, Eliot Trouttet and Audrey Vellard, and sold for €15 at Philibert.

How do I play Quick Surveys?

Installing maps

Once the investigation has been chosen, among the three proposed in the box (tales, mythology or the circus), the implementation is extremely fast.

We start by reading the short presentation of the case and the list of the various suspects. The various cards relating to this investigation are then spread out on the table, face down.

We start a 5 minute timer, and the game begins.

The rules of the game of Investigations Express

A game takes place in two phases.

During the first, the players have 5 minutes, each in their corner, to read and observe as much as possible the cards spread out in front of them. It can be the testimony of a character, a letter, an extract from a newspaper, etc., or simply an image where every detail can be important.

But be careful not to go too fast all the same, since you have to remember all this information: once consulted, the card is again put back face down in the center of the table.

Of course, other players can look at the same cards as you, but the timer goes by quickly, and you usually can’t see them all and remember them all.

Especially since some cards are forbidden to us. Thus, the front of each of them has a colored pin, and each player is not allowed to look at the cards of one of these colors. Even if we return all the others, we still lack information.

The second phase begins when the timer has elapsed. The players then exchange what they saw, what they remembered, and what they think they understood about the story, the links between the characters, the potential culprit, etc.

Then, the assembly answers a series of questions, and the more answers there are, the more the investigation is crowned with success. Two clues can be used if you ever get stuck.

We obviously do not go into the details of each survey so as not to spoil the surprise for you.

Why play Quick Surveys?

Surveys Express is an effective game

Even though it came highly recommended to us, we were a little dubious about the idea of ​​an investigation game in less than 30 minutes. It was a good thing for us to try it, since we had a very pleasant time at each game.

Obviously, we are far from the big successful investigation games, Detective on your mind. These are often long, with complicated cases, with many ramifications. In short, difficult to access.

It’s the complete opposite ofExpress Surveysand here we are closer to the range detective, but even shorter. The 30 minutes advertised on the box are even very long, rather count about twenty.

Thanks to this short duration, the extremely simple rules and the light themes, nothing gory or sordid in the investigations, the game is played perfectly well with the family, with children. But it remains just as interesting between adults, the configuration in which we played it. We simply advise you to limit yourself to four players, more numerous it is a bit of a mess and less interesting.

Despite this, the investigative work is present, everything does not flow from source, it is necessary to consider several possibilities before finding the right one… or not. Some false leads are even present to sow doubt.

An original and collaborative investigation game accessible to all

It is obviously this need to share the information collected between the players which constitutes the major asset of the game. Even if some ideas emerge after the first phase, the whole remains rather nebulous. We do not remember everything, details escape us, and above all we miss certain information. And it is through discussions, hypotheses and crossed clues that the puzzle comes together little by little. Until the click where everything, or almost, becomes clear.

Beyond the fact that there are only three investigations in the box (fingers crossed that more will arrive quickly), we don’t have much to complain about the game. The only detail that has bothered most people around the table comes from the heads of the human characters. While the rest of the illustrations are rather successful and pretty, their faces are rather failed, too caricatural, even almost vulgar. It doesn’t take anything away from the quality of the game, but it’s a bit of a curious artistic direction choice.

In short, if you are looking for an original investigation game, easy to access, to play as much with family as between friends, with short and rhythmic parts, Express Surveys should quite probably satisfy you. And if you still doubt, the publisher had the good idea to offer a demonstration case to download from its site. The concept clearly hit the mark on our side, and we can’t wait to find out what’s next.

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