''221B Baker Street'' is a 1986 video game published by

Datasoft Datasoft, Inc. (also written as DataSoft) was a software developer and publisher for home computers founded in 1980 by Pat Ketchum and based out of Chatsworth, Los Angeles, Chatsworth, California. Datasoft primarily published video games, includi ...

, based on an earlier board game of the same name. The game was inspired by the exploits of

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...

's fictional detective

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

and derives its title from the detective's residence at

221B Baker Street 221B Baker Street is the London address of the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, created by author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In the United Kingdom, postal addresses with a number followed by a letter may indicate a separate address within a ...

in London. The original board game was created and copyrighted by American writer Jay Moriarty (dba Antler Productions) in 1975.

Gameplay

Up to four players compete against each other to solve various mysteries in and around

Victorian London During the 19th century, London grew enormously to become a global city of immense importance. It was the List of largest cities throughout history, largest city in the world from about 1825, the world's largest port, and the heart of Financial ...

. Each player can assume the role of one of four characters from the Sherlock Holmes books—Sherlock Holmes,

Dr. Watson Dr. John H. Watson is a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Along with Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson first appeared in the novel ''A Study in Scarlet'' (1887). "The Adventure of Shosc ...

Irene Adler Irene Adler is a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. A former opera singer and actress, she was featured in the short story " A Scandal in Bohemia", published in July 1891. Adler is one of the ...

Inspector Lestrade Detective Inspector G. Lestrade ( or ) is a fictional character appearing in the Sherlock Holmes stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle. Lestrade's first appearance was in the first Sherlock Holmes story, the 1887 novel ''A Study in Scarlet''. Hi ...

—and can select from 30 different adventures. Case file for each mystery are provided in the manual and give the particulars of the case, including key clues and suspects. To solve the case, players roll dice to move among 15 different locales throughout London, collecting the clues necessary to unravel the mystery. Each player also visits

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's London boroughs, 32 boroughs. Its name derives from the location of the original ...

to collect a badge, which allows him to "lock" a particular location on the map, making access to it by the other players more difficult. Once a player believes he has solved the case, he returns to Baker Street where he must successfully answer a quiz. Play ends when a player successfully passes the quiz.

Reception

Harvey Bernstein reviewed the game for ''

Antic Alphanumeric Television Interface Controller (ANTIC) is an LSI ASIC dedicated to generating 2D computer graphics to be shown on a television screen or computer display. Under the direction of Jay Miner, the chip was designed in 1977–1978 b ...

'' and stated that "I will admit that the graphics are fairly good but, aside from a handful of quotes in the documentation, no attempt is made to capture the style of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's beloved text."

Reviews

*''

ASM (Aktueller Software Markt) ''Aktueller Software Markt'' (literally ''Current Software Market''), commonly known by its acronym, ''ASM'', was a German multi-platform Video game journalism, video game magazine that was published by Tronic-Verlag from 1986 until 1995. It was ...

'' - Nov, 1987 *''

Atari User ''Atari User'' was a British computer magazine aimed at users of Atari home computers, and published by Database Publications (later known as Europress) between 1985 and 1988. ''Atari User'' was a general-interest computer magazine, containing ...

'' - Aug, 1987 *''

Page 6 ''Page 6'' (subtitled ''Atari Users Magazine'') was a British magazine aimed at users of Atari 8-bit computers and Atari ST home computers. The first issue was in 1982, and it was renamed to ''Page 6 Atari User'' and then ''New Atari User'' be ...

'' *''

ANALOG Computing ''ANALOG Computing'' was an American computer magazine devoted to Atari 8-bit computers. It was published from 1981 until 1989. In addition to reviews and tutorials, ''ANALOG'' printed multiple programs in each issue for users to type in. Almo ...

'' *''

Family Computing ''Family Computing'' (later ''Family & Home Office Computing'' and ''Home Office Computing'') was an American computer magazine published by Scholastic Corporation, Scholastic from the 1980s to the early 2000s. It covered all the major home comp ...

References

External links

* * * * {{Sherlock Holmes video games 1986 video games Apple II games Atari 8-bit computer games Atari ST games Commodore 64 games Datasoft games Detective video games DOS games Multiplayer and single-player video games North America-exclusive video games Video games about police officers Video games based on board games Video games based on Sherlock Holmes Video games developed in the United States Video games featuring female protagonists Video games set in London