- Author José Antonio Abascal
- Illustrator Joan Guardiet
- Game mechanics Deduction, Memory, Pattern Recognition
- Player Type Sociable, Sporadic
- Gaming Situations Dinner with Your In-Laws, Double date, Less than One Hour
In Checkpoint Charlie, the Berlin Wall of the 60's is the backdrop for this curious game of deduction, in which the doggiest players must be the first to deduce which of the felines circulating in the vicinity is the leader of the spies.
Not even the strongest coffee is able to protect you from the cold in this unpleasant winter morning in Germany. Your detective agency has given you the task of secretly identifying the leader of the spies and his assistants, who are trying to cross the Berlin Wall. You have to adjust your trench coat and, hiding behind your newspaper, keep an eye on all the passers-by who, with an indifferent air, are walking along the Berlin Wall, very close to Checkpoint Charlie. Be quick to draw your conclusions, as there are other rival spy agencies trying to get the upper hand before you do.
José Antonio Abascal offers us this original game of deduction, observation and mental agility. This author has achieved international renown thanks to his game Paris: la cité de la lumière, and Checkpoint Charlie was the game that started his collaboration with Devir. Joan Guardiet is in charge of the graphic section with an illustration that draws on the classics of animation to make an impact with his surprising and modern graphic style.
In this game, each player will have a clue about the leader of the spies. For example, he will know if he is wearing a hat or not, or if he is carrying a newspaper under his arm or not. This clue will be secret, and will not be shared with the rest of the table. In turn, players will reveal cat cards, and based on the only clue they know, they will determine if he is not a suspect (discarding the card) or if he does indeed fit their clue and point him out as a possible spy. Observing the cards that the other players leave on the table as suspects, we will have to cross our suspicions and deduce which of them fits with all the hidden clues. Whoever manages to point out the leader of the spies first will get more points than the rest.
Checkpoint Charlie is a game that invites you to play several games in a row, as it develops very quickly. The game can be enjoyed by people of any age, even if they are not too familiar with modern board games, as its rules are very accessible to any audience.