Tabletop RPG · since 2020 · #71 most discussed

Brindlewood Bay

Play cozy elderly women who solve murder mysteries with a Cthulhu cult in the background, deciding the solution as you go.

Carved from BrindlewoodMystery2d6playbooksinvestigationpartial successworldbuilding togethertheater of the mindShort arcsNeeds a GM

6.1

Geek rating

From 24 firsthand play reports in 6 r/rpg threads. The threads alone average 6.4.

Player rating— / 10

No visitor ratings yet.

Discussion5.8 / 10

140 r/rpg posts named it, October 2023 to October 2026.

Rules weight

Fits on a page. Hype 4.8 for its age.

Have you played it?

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What players say

At the table

Brindlewood Bay is a cozy mystery game where older amateur sleuths solve murders, and the players, not the Keeper, settle who did it. Tables split sharply. Some love the shared theorizing, and others miss having a fixed answer to uncover.

What works

Group theorizing can produce "oh, that fits" moments, and Keeper prep and pressure drop because no fixed solution is needed. (thread)
One player was more impressed by the clue/theory system than expected. They said it plays like the TV shows that inspired it. (thread)
Character creation with bonds gave one group nearly a full session of worldbuilding. (thread)
Day, Night and Meddling triggers are simple to call once you listen for them. Moves also set up failure consequences as a short conversation. (thread)
Requiring everyone to agree on the solution before the final roll gave one table an answer that made sense to all of them. (thread)

What tables struggle with

Players who wanted alibis, murder weapons and timelines felt the game didn't support that kind of investigating. (thread)
With no fixed answer there is no puzzle, and clues can feel pointless when everything hinges on one final roll. One Keeper ran a full campaign and decided it wasn't for them. (thread)
Some players disliked the open-ended "quantum" solution, and one said he never wants to play again. (thread)
One Keeper felt burnt out when players improvised whole scenes without triggering moves or rolls. Commenters mostly blamed a table mismatch rather than the game. (thread)
The elderly-sleuth premise slowed one group, since people didn't bring problems to the PCs. Locations also felt thin. (thread)

Who it suits

Groups who know and enjoy Murder, She Wrote-style TV and want to play that tone.
Improv-minded players and Keepers who want low prep and shared authority over the solution.
Not players who want a puzzle with a hidden answer to deduce.

In players' words

"It's extremely satisfying when the group comes up with a theory that makes everyone go \"Oh yeah, that fits perfectly.\"" (thread)
"In a mystery game I want there to be an answer, I want there to be a puzzle to solve." (thread)

The threads behind it

Each thread is rated for the play it describes, from the firsthand reports in it. Load one here or read it on Reddit.

6.8

I don’t get why Brindlewood Bay is so hyped (but I think it might be my own fault), can someone explain the appeal for me?

The thread is mostly a debate about the 'players decide who did it' mechanic. The people who say they actually played or ran Brindlewood Bay split. GMs and fans enjoy the collaborative, low-prep theorizing, while two players found it unsatisfying for traditional investigating. 7 firsthand · 203 comments

Open on Reddit

5.5

Brindlewood Bay is NOT just playacting mystery stories

Firsthand reports are split. Some tables enjoyed collaboratively building a solution they all bought into, while others, including one who ran a full campaign, found the clues meaningless and the final roll hollow. Much of the thread is a philosophical argument about whether BB counts as a 'true' mystery game, not detailed play reports. 6 firsthand · 209 comments

Open on Reddit

7.5

Brindlewood Bay's clue/theory rules did not disappoint

The few people who played Brindlewood Bay report that the clue/theory system and the TV-style episodic feel work very well, and that character creation and the mystery seeds were highlights. The main friction is the elderly-amateur-sleuth premise: the OP's group found that it slowed play and that NPCs didn't bring problems to the PCs. Much of the thread is about The Between and other Carved from Brindlewood games, which I ignored. 4 firsthand · 39 comments

Open on Reddit

6.0

RPG like brindlewood bay

Few commenters clearly describe playing Brindlewood Bay itself. OP's group loved the setting and the grandmother-sleuth vibe, but some players disliked the open-ended "quantum" solutions, and the thread then drifts to other games, including Gumshoe and other games built on the same ruleset. 3 firsthand · 21 comments

Open on Reddit

4.5

Feeling Burnt Out as a Brindlewood Bay Keeper, Players Just Keep Improv-ing Through Everything!!!

The one detailed firsthand account is a Keeper three sessions in whose players improvise banter and whole climaxes without using moves or rolls, leaving the Keeper feeling burnt out while the players enjoy themselves. Commenters mostly call this a table or GM-player mismatch rather than a Brindlewood Bay flaw, and the only other firsthand comment is a brief, positive note about a campaign reaching its conspiracy arc. 2 firsthand · 51 comments

Open on Reddit

7.5

Brindlewood Bay, PBTA, advice and questions

The thread is mostly general PbtA and GM advice for a newcomer, with little direct Brindlewood Bay play reported. The two firsthand voices are a devoted fan who finds it much easier to run than it looks, and a GM whose players misread its Murder She Wrote tone and treated it like a standard mystery-hunter game. 2 firsthand · 13 comments

Open on Reddit