Into the Fog with an Age-Old Mystery in Black Sonata
Unravel an old-fashioned Shakespearean mystery with the power of deduction on a path through London in Black Sonata.
The mystery genre has always appealed to me in various ways, ranging from Murder, She Wrote to Murder by Death. Ha! Black Sonata has long sat on my shelf like an unsolved case file, mostly after I felt like I mastered it. Yet it was time to return to London and try out a few new expansion modules. With my wits in tow, I was off to solve this mystery!
Game Overview
Game Name: Black Sonata
Publication Year: 2017
Designer: John Kean
Artist: John Kean
Publisher: Side Room Games
Solo Mode: Designed for Solo (Included in the Base Game)
The mysterious Dark Lady’s identity must be uncovered as she travels through London. Her path meanders with hidden movement, and collecting clues slowly narrows down the possible attributes. It takes planning, focus, and a little bit of luck to ultimately confront her and win!
First Play
February 20, 2019
Complexity
2
Latest Play
December 11, 2021
Expansions
1
Setup Time
Almost None
Lifetime Plays
18
Play Time
15 Minutes
High Score
53
Game Area
24" x 16"
Low Score
-6
Preparing the Chase
One of the main aspects that shines for me is the compact play area. Almost everything happens on a small board, with some cards and components off to the side.
In the past, I did well enough to track down the Dark Lady at a fairly reliable pace. But it had been a few years…
My standard difficulty level is the expert mode with one of the hardest paths. Time to live dangerously and hope my skills were still up to snuff! Within minutes, I was ready.
Hidden movement and deduction are some of the trickiest mechanics to utilize in solo, and both are amazing here!
A Clue at St. Paul’s
The unknown Dark Lady moves each turn, and markers may be used to show her possible locations. Sometimes, it’s easy to pinpoint where she is. A little luck is needed!
I traveled around to visit every area of London, which is required to pick up a mandatory clue. Then, to the chase!
She appeared to be on her way north, so I danced around until it looked like she moved to my location at St. Paul’s.
A-ha! With these clever cards, her portrait only shows up with a correct guess. I picked up another clue, then she fled and I was back to figuring out her next move.
Eastcheap Success
I followed the Dark Lady all over London. There were times when I picked up a clue, or guessed wrong and had to allow her to slip even further away. Very tricky!
Even wrong guesses can be helpful, though. The path setup arrangements all differ in difficulty, so it was no surprise that I was faltering. All as expected!
But I saw how time was running out. With another clue, I narrowed down all of the traits and laid in wait.
In Eastcheap, there was an exciting moment when I pointed out the Dark Lady with a flourish. Victory!
‘Twas You, Anne!
Indeed, Anne Whateley was the mysterious figure after following all the clues. I’ve hidden them here since it can give away some winning combinations. No spoilers!
The way the clues come together is quite fun, as it usually takes about 3-5 total cards to piece everything together.
I got my guesses wrong once or twice when I was still learning the game. Luckily, I picked up on how to use my proper deduction skills. Just a step above amateur. Ha!
With the expansion modules nearby, I decided to give the base game one more attempt. What could go wrong?
An Elusive Lady
Oh, my. Well, I ended up running out of time before I could track down Emilia Lanier! She was all over the place and the clues I picked up didn’t help all that much.
I made a few mistakes along the way… There go those amateur detective skills again! It was still a lot of fun.
Despite the loss, I felt ready to add in some expansion modules and see how they might change the game a bit. The rules were relatively short, after all.
Back to London I went with a new individual to track down and a few tools to make the path easier to follow. Onward!
Finding the Fair Youth
Rather than another way to track a specific identity, the Fair Youth must be tracked to the correct location. A hideout exists here and bystanders can offer clues.
I still had to look for the Dark Lady, so this provided me with a new task. Not at all easy! The new pointers helped out with the path, but I had to deduce a lot more.
In the end, I confronted the Dark Lady when I uncovered the Fair Youth, netting me a nice bonus! Got them both!
Yet this felt like it added on a little too much play time for me. Only one thing to do… Play again and speed it up!
Session Overview
Play Number: 15-18
Expansion: Black Sonata: The Fair Youth
Solo Mode: Designed for Solo (Included in the Base Game)
Play Details: Expert Difficulty Level
Outcome: 15, 0, 42, and -6 (3 Wins and 1 Loss)
I watched as play sped up as I stopped referencing the new rules, but I made a little blunder with the Fair Youth. I thought I set myself up for success again… Yet it was St. Paul’s and not Cornhill as I incorrectly guessed! The Dark Lady was still confronted, though. I still need to try this out a little more. Almost felt like a little too much for me.
%
10 Plays
Affordability
Price & Value
7
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
7
Originality
Design & Theme
10
Quality
Components & Rules
10
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
7
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
6
+ Pros (Positives)
- A fun sort of mystery lies at the heart of gameplay that allows for both hidden movement and deduction in solo.
- Gameplay is relatively quick with an easy-to-follow sequence of play and enough time to consider the clues.
- The artwork is fantastic and fits the theme perfectly with iconography that’s bold and straightforward.
- Not every move of the Dark Lady is obvious, so tracking her path correctly is very fun and exciting.
- Stacking the cards to look for the portrait through the keyhole is a clever mechanic that adds to the immersion.
- Various difficulty levels and path card sequences add variety and challenges to customize the experience.
– Cons (Negatives)
- Over time, the different paths run the risk of being memorized so that the challenge isn’t always there.
- The order of the clue cards can feel a little unbalanced since some combinations lead to finding solutions quicker.
- Some of the paths on the map can be hard to find initially since the large pawn can block some of the artwork.
- Repetition can make the base game a bit stale and the expansion modules might not spice up the core enough.
Victory Conditions
Identify the Dark Lady
- Overall Goal Progress 100%
Goals and Milestones
Win at least 1 game at the easy difficulty level.
Win at least 1 game at the normal difficulty level.
Win at least 1 game at the advanced difficulty level.
Win at least 1 game at the expert difficulty level.
Continue the Conversation
What do you like about Black Sonata? As I mentioned before, finding a game that brings hidden movement and deduction to a solo game so well is hard to find. Are there any other similar games that come to mind? This is a mystery I always enjoy solving, although I’m a little torn on the Fair Youth. Plenty of other modules to try out, though!
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