If The Meeple Guild were to categorize 2025, it might be remembered as the year when games just a little “different” kept hitting our table. We’ve already played titles like Bloomchasers, Yoink!, and Rivages—games with rule sets that stray from the usual—and now we can add A Carnivore Did It! to that list.
Designed by Daumilas Ardickas and Urtis Šulinskas, and published by Horrible Guild, A Carnivore Did It! puts players in the role of detectives trying to deduce the culprit from an array of suspects. Each suspect offers a statement that may or may not be true, and the game helpfully tells you how many liars are in the mix. From there, it becomes a logic puzzle: identify who’s lying, then pinpoint the culprit.
The game plays one to five players, though there’s no real reason more couldn’t join in a cooperative discussion, other than the potential chaos of too many theories flying around. It’s a strong solo puzzle but also works well as a group effort.
Initially, I suspected The Meeple Guild might not take to this one because it’s quite different—but that uniqueness actually boosted interest. A Carnivore Did It! stands apart from everything else in our collection, making it a refreshingly entertaining experience.
If the game hooks you, it could easily become a go-to solo time sink, especially since it stays fresh for a very long time. While the basic cases are straightforward—with only a few suspects and one culprit—the difficulty ramps up quickly. Some scenarios feature two or even three culprits, multiple liars, conditional statements, and up to seven suspects.
The game includes 2,000 cases, each with a single solution, and that sheer volume sets it apart. Admittedly, you’d have to fall deeply in love with the game to work through every case, but the abundance ensures it remains engaging as long as it keeps your interest.
While we liked the game a lot, its brain-burner nature limits how long it stays on our table in a single session. A half-dozen cases—maybe ten at most—is our limit, and not every week, either. But drag it out every couple of months for a mental workout, and A Carnivore Did It! truly shines.
As a solo experience, it could be fun (and humbling) to track how many cases you solve correctly before checking the answers—I suspect my success rate would be far from impressive.
In the end, A Carnivore Did It! is an acquired taste, but if it clicks for you, it offers hours of intriguing gameplay.
Check it out at www.horribleguild.com
About Author
Calvin Daniels is a Saskatchewan-born, self-taught journalist. He is currently Editor of Yorkton This Week, with 35-years in the newspaper business.
A Surprising Mind-Twister
Designed by Daumilas Ardickas and Urtis Šulinskas, and published by Horrible Guild, A Carnivore Did It! puts players in the role of detectives trying to deduce the culprit from an array of suspects. Each suspect offers a statement that may or may not be true, and the game helpfully tells you how many liars are in the mix. From there, it becomes a logic puzzle: identify who’s lying, then pinpoint the culprit.
The game plays one to five players, though there’s no real reason more couldn’t join in a cooperative discussion, other than the potential chaos of too many theories flying around. It’s a strong solo puzzle but also works well as a group effort.
Initially, I suspected The Meeple Guild might not take to this one because it’s quite different—but that uniqueness actually boosted interest. A Carnivore Did It! stands apart from everything else in our collection, making it a refreshingly entertaining experience.
If the game hooks you, it could easily become a go-to solo time sink, especially since it stays fresh for a very long time. While the basic cases are straightforward—with only a few suspects and one culprit—the difficulty ramps up quickly. Some scenarios feature two or even three culprits, multiple liars, conditional statements, and up to seven suspects.
The game includes 2,000 cases, each with a single solution, and that sheer volume sets it apart. Admittedly, you’d have to fall deeply in love with the game to work through every case, but the abundance ensures it remains engaging as long as it keeps your interest.
While we liked the game a lot, its brain-burner nature limits how long it stays on our table in a single session. A half-dozen cases—maybe ten at most—is our limit, and not every week, either. But drag it out every couple of months for a mental workout, and A Carnivore Did It! truly shines.
As a solo experience, it could be fun (and humbling) to track how many cases you solve correctly before checking the answers—I suspect my success rate would be far from impressive.
In the end, A Carnivore Did It! is an acquired taste, but if it clicks for you, it offers hours of intriguing gameplay.
Check it out at www.horribleguild.com
About Author
Calvin Daniels
Calvin Daniels is a Saskatchewan-born, self-taught journalist. He is currently Editor of Yorkton This Week, with 35-years in the newspaper business.
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