Dead Therapist: A Cartoon Murder Mystery Game for 1-99 players Ages 17+

Dead Therapist feels less like a traditional board game and more like someone stuffed an escape room, a murder mystery, and a deeply inappropriate comic strip into the same box. You work your way through the story one card at a time, stopping whenever the game throws a puzzle at you. Some clues are right on the cards while others send you digging through the case files, and I really like the hint system. Instead of immediately spoiling an answer when you get stuck, you can gradually reveal increasingly helpful clues before finally checking the solution. It keeps the game moving without making you feel punished for not having the same deranged thought process as the person who designed the puzzle.The biggest thing to know is that this is really an interactive story with puzzles, rather than a game with strategy, competition, or wildly different outcomes. That also means replayability is limited once you know the puzzles and mystery. But I don't think that's necessarily a dealbreaker. This is the kind of game I'd happily break out for a dedicated game night, then later play host while another group tackles it. The artwork, ridiculous dark humor, and murder-mystery premise give it a personality that feels unmistakably Exploding Kittens, and the longer 2-to-4-hour playtime makes it feel more like an event than one of their usual quick party games. Just heed that 17+ rating because the humor definitely isn't aiming for family game night. Overall, it's a clever change of pace for Exploding Kittens and an easy recommendation for people who enjoy escape rooms, logic puzzles, and murder mysteries and don't mind that the experience is basically one-and-done.