deduction

From the box:

The gameboard is your battlefield. You have an army of men at your disposal and six bombs. Your mission--protect your flag and capture your opponent's flag.

Secretly place your men, bombs, and flag on the gameboard with these objectives in mind. But remember your opponent is doing the same thing, so you must plan a defense as well as an offense.

Once the armies are in place, advance your men. When you're one space away from an enemy, attack. You and your opponent declare ranks. The lower-ranking man is captured and out of play.

You control your pieces and risk your men in battles where the strength of your enemy is unknown. The suspense builds as your men move deeper into enemy territory. Move with caution and courage. The next piece you attack could be a bomb. And when attacked, it could "blast" your man off the board and out of play.

The first to capture an enemy flag is the winner!

This game is similar to, and almost certainly derived directly from, the H.P. Gibsons (UK) game L'Attaque (1909). It is not exactly the same, but not far from it (numbered pieces, spy (same name) can kill the strongest piece but only when attacking, flag, bombs, etc.) These game in turn almost certainly draw on the classic Chinese children's game Dou Shou Qi.

Re-implemented by:

Stratego (Revised Edition) (aka Stratego Fire & Ice)
The Generals
Stratego: Legends
Stratego: Star Wars
Stratego: The Lord of the Rings
Ultimate Stratego
Electronic Stratego
Stratego: Marvel Heroes
Stratego: Star Wars Saga Edition
Stratego: The Chronicles of Narnia

and numerous others.

Similar to:

Admirals
Lu Zhan Jun Qi
L'Attaque
Batalj
Sharpe's Attack

Different Edition Complications
When first produced in Europe, the most powerful pieces had higher numbers. I.e. the Marshall (most powerful piece) was a 10, the General was a 9, and so on. The higher the rank, the higher the number.
When they introduced Stratego in the USA, the numbering was reversed, so the Marshall was a 1, the General 2, and so on. The 1st rank (most powerful) was 1, the second most powerful was 2, 3rd most powerful was 3....
Then, in 2000s Hasbro re-imagined Stratego in the USA and made a few changes. They reduced the number of pieces per side (from 40 to 30), added additional powers, and changed the numbering to reflect the European system.
This caused extreme consternation with many faithful American Stratego fans who preferred the 'old way'. (Actually the second oldest way, but whatever.) Many of these insist on playing Stratego with the 'Marshall 1 system'.
This wouldn't be a problem, except any and all discussions of Stratego are fraught with misunderstandings by those who are unaware of dual numbering systems! Keep this in mind when reading information about Stratego.

Blackmail the printer. Threaten the innkeeper. Bribe the priest. Welcome to Revolution!

Secretly bid against your opponents to gain victory points, control territories (worth victory points at the end of the game) and collect more Gold, Blackmail, and Force tokens for the next round of bidding! Will you try to control the tavern or the fortress? The harbor or the plantation? Knowing where to push for points – and where to back away and let your opponents fight – is the key to victory. Whoever has the most victory points at the end of the game wins. It's a game of bluff, counter-bluff, and surprise!

Bidding tokens have different shapes and colors for easy identification. Colorful cardstock shields keep your bids private, and also provide a handy rules reference during the auction. Brightly-colored wooden blocks allow players to see, at a glance, who controls which colonial-themed territories.

Revolution! is for three or four players. The rules can be taught in minutes, and a complete game takes less than an hour. Each new game lets players find new strategies and tactics.

Get ready for Revolution!

The classic detective game! In Clue, players move from room to room in a mansion to solve the mystery of: who done it, with what, and where? Players are dealt character, weapon, and location cards after the top card from each card type is secretly placed in the confidential file in the middle of the board. Players must move to a room and then make an accusation against a character saying they did it in that room with a specific weapon. The player to the left must show one of any cards accused to the accuser if in that player's hand. Through deductive reasoning each player must figure out which character, weapon, and location are in the secret file. To do this, each player must uncover what cards are in other players hands by making more and more accusations. Once a player knows what cards the other players are holding they will know what cards are in the secret file. A great game for those who enjoy reasoning and thinking things out.

Cluzzle is the game where you try to sculpt poorly! It is a deduction game like 20 questions. At the beginning of the game, everyone makes an ambiguous clay sculpture called a Cluzzle. For the rest of the game, players ask “Yes or No” questions to figure out the other clay puzzles.

You don’t have to be an artist to play. In fact, the longer it takes others to figure out your clay sculpture, the more points you get. However, you only get points if at least one person figures out your Cluzzle before the end of the game. This means you’ll want your sculpture to be a little ambiguous, but not too ambiguous.

And this is exactly where the humor lies! The result is a hilarious game for all ages, where anyone can win and everyone will have fun. So grab your friends and family. Your ridiculously poor sculptures will inspire laughter that will be remembered for years to come!

Did you know that Alanis Morissette, Alan Moon, Stephen Glenn, Tom Vasel, and others created personalized Cluzzle Cards for the game? You can learn why the objects they chose are personal to them on the North Star Games website.

Cluzzle was modeled after a 1988 Klaus Teuber game called Barbarossa. You can learn about the history of Cluzzle on the North Star Games website.

Days of Wonder announces Mystery Express

Whodunit on Rails re-invents the classic deduction-style board game
Los Altos, CA; Paris, France - January 25, 2010. Days of Wonder announces Mystery Express, an imaginative new take on the classic deduction game from Antoine Bauza & Serge Laget. While Days of Wonder's first "whodunit" game, 2003's Mystery of the Abbey, was considerably more quirky and chaotic, Mystery Express explores the more analytical side of the genre, rewarding a logical and more precise approach to solving the crime.

Players board the famous Orient Express in Paris just as a murder occurs. The rest of the trip - through Strasbourg, Munich, Vienna, Budapest and their final destination of Istanbul - is consumed with determining the who, what, when, where and why of the crime. Players use their special powers of deduction; information gleaned from others in various train cars; and investigative actions to determine the exact circumstances of the murder. The one who correctly identifies the most elements of the crime by the time the train reaches Istanbul wins the game.

Mystery Express is a classic Days of Wonder design made up of top-notch components and unique, period-perfect illustrations. Along with the Mystery Express board map detailing its itinerary from Paris to Istanbul the game features: 5 resin character figures and matching character tokens; 5 Ticket wallets that include a description of each character's special power; 100 Deduction sheets that players use to keep track of their deductions; 72 Crime cards; a Mystery Express miniature train to track the Mystery Express's journey on the map; a Conductor figure; 2 small passenger tokens, a miniature travel bag, a train whistle and rules booklet. Mystery Express is for 3-5 players and will be available worldwide in April 2010. Price is $50/€45.

Video Overview from Myriad Games Presentations available here