Mystery buffs (such as I) are always looking for the next great mind-busting case ...and this isn't it. Although, to its credit, it is a very formidable attempt to capture the "go-to-different-places-and-collect-clues" fun of... Clue. Yes, this is basically all 221B Baker St. is: a game of Clue, with four available player characters, including the famed Sherlock Holmes. In similar board-game fashion, you roll the six-sided die and make your moves. Along the way, you may enter buildings to collect clues.
You have a choice of cases, with various clues to collect; as you enter each building, the people within it will either give you some personal information about the suspects, or some other clue. Along the way you must look for specific clues, some marked as "General Motive" -- which is a riddle telling you why they did it -- and "Killer" clues, which give a crucial piece of information about, self-evidently, the killer. It's most likely a hint as to their appearance, or something similar.
Once you believe you know who the killer is, what the murder weapon was, and why they did it, go to the Police Station, or another special location that harbors "Badges", and ask for one. You can then take your badge back to 221B Baker St. and solve the crime by answering the three questions as stated above. If you're right, congrats! A couple of screens appear telling you in detail why the killer did it, his motive, and how he committed the crime. If you're wrong -- the game doesn't end, surprisingly. You can go hunt for more clues, or be a loser and get another free badge. Meaning that, if you have enough patience, you could basically solve the crime by guessing, but there just wouldn't be any fun in that.
That’s really all there is to this game. Although simple, it boasts a few cases within that truly make you think. You also have the option of making all the clues "Coded", meaning scrambled, I guess. I didn't play on this mode much, because I wanted to solve mysteries, not play Jumble.
In all, 221B Baker St. is a pretty fun game; it's certainly worth a look if you enjoy any sort of mystery, and casual gamers might find promise in this. Otherwise, it's nothing to write home about (although I don't know why you would write home about a game, honestly).
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