One's a real straight shooter. The other's a total wild card. But on the case, chasing down the murderer...they are always Partners.

Partners is a totally unique new storytelling game for exactly two players. A love letter to the police procedural and mystery of the week television genre, players take the roles of detectives hot on a murder case each session of play. Not only are you playing the two irascible, ill-matched detectives, you'll also play their boss, their subordinates and other familiar roles of mystery television. All you need is this book and a single pack of regular playing cards.

Never seen any crime TV shows? No problem: the system does all the work. In a new twist on most detective games, instead of players trying to uncover a plot created by a GM, random card draws slowly reveal which suspects are in play and what kind of clues they provide. Only when the final card is drawn in the final scene will the detectives - and the players - know who did it.  The game is designed to suit experienced roleplayers and crime fiction addicts as well as novices to either.  The literary focus also means it works perfectly as a shared journaling game, or for play across internet video chat.
 

Multi-award-winning game designer Steve Dee has been developing the game for over two years. All of these steps have brought us to Kickstarter, where it funded and was turned into a gorgeous fully-illustrated 140 page paperback, designed to look just like an old mystery novel. 

The Book

Partners is like no other RPG, so we want it to look like no other RPG as well. The book is a paperback designed to look like it was lifted straight from the 1980s pulp mysteries it emulates - without the actual low budget. 140 pages of text have been gorgeously laid-out in this evocative style by Matt Roberts, who won critical acclaim for his work on our previous RPG Relics. Complimenting this is the stylish pen and ink art by Kristopher Neal McClanahan throughout. Deep but economically written, it is a hefty tome of crime-busting storytelling tools that also fits in your pocket. The only other thing you need to play is a regular pack of cards. 

Click here to download printer-friendly game play sheets

Partners​ hit seven stretch goals on Kickstarter leading to seven beautiful supplements in various genres!
Partners: The Noir File
Partners: The Sherlock File
Partners: The Junior Detective File
Partners: The Eldritch File
Partners: The Conspiracy File
Partners: The Cyber File
Partners: The Teatime File