![\"\"](\"https:\/\/faidutti.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/mabox.jpg\" "\\"mabox\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nCette abbaye tenue par les hospitaliers est une \u00e9tape sur les chemins de Saint-Jacques. \u00c0 votre arriv\u00e9e, hier au soir, vous pensiez y trouver le calme et le repos. La d\u00e9couverte, au petit matin, du corps sans vie de fr\u00e8re Adelme, en contrebas du monast\u00e8re, a rompu l’habituelle s\u00e9r\u00e9nit\u00e9 des lieux. Comment le jeune fr\u00e8re, aussi agile de pieds que d\u2019esprit, a-t-il pu \u00eatre entra\u00een\u00e9 dans pareille chute? Quelqu’un l’a-t-il aid\u00e9?<\/p>\n
Myst\u00e8re \u00e0 l\u2019Abbaye est un jeu d\u2019enqu\u00eate faisant part belle \u00e0 l\u2019intuition autant qu\u2019\u00e0 la d\u00e9duction. Les joueurs enqu\u00eatent dans une abbaye m\u00e9di\u00e9vale, interrogeant moines et novices, feuilletant livres et parchemins, fouillant les cellules et le clo\u00eetre. Dans une atmosph\u00e8re recr\u00e9\u00e9e avec soin, le jeu est \u00e0 la fois amusant, captivant et intense. Le mat\u00e9riel luxueux, l\u2019interaction permanente entre les joueurs, le subtil jeu des questions, la dynamique de l’intrigue, font de Myst\u00e8re \u00e0 l\u2019Abbaye un plaisir toujours renouvel\u00e9.<\/p>\n
J’ai toujours \u00e9t\u00e9 un grand joueur de Cluedo. Depuis longtemps, je r\u00eavais de concevoir un jeu de d\u00e9duction en “revisitant” le Cluedo comme mes amis de Ludod\u00e9lire avaient revisit\u00e9 le Monopoly pour cr\u00e9er Supergang, comme j’avais moi-m\u00eame exploit\u00e9 Risk et Civilisation pour faire La Vall\u00e9e des mammouths.<\/p>\n
La toute premi\u00e8re version de ce jeu, dont il ne reste m\u00eame pas une maquette, se d\u00e9roulait dans un classique univers de polar. D\u00e8s la deuxi\u00e8me partie de test, un joueur sugg\u00e9rait de resituer le jeu dans un univers de science-fiction. Ainsi naquit La cr\u00e9ature rouge avec un \u0153il et huit tentacules. Les joueurs devaient retrouver la carte manquante en interrogeant leurs adversaires sur les cartes qu’ils avaient en main. Les questions \u00e9taient ferm\u00e9es, du type “combien as-tu de cr\u00e9atures vertes avec trois yeux et des antennes?”. Le jeu \u00e9tait certes int\u00e9ressant, mais abominablement prise de t\u00eate, une sorte de m\u00e9lange de Mastermind et de Cluedo – et j’ai d\u00e9couvert apr\u00e8s coup qu’il ressemblait beaucoup au Sleuth de Sid Sackson. Je fis longtemps le tour des \u00e9diteurs avec une maquette sous le bras, pour m’entendre g\u00e9n\u00e9ralement r\u00e9pondre d’une part que \u00e7a ressemblait trop au Cluedo et au Master Mind et d’autre part que les jeux de science-fiction ne se vendaient pas. Je me r\u00e9solus donc \u00e0 reprendre le probl\u00e8me \u00e0 l’origine, en ne gardant que le m\u00e9canisme de base des caract\u00e9ristiques des suspects, qui me semblait bon.<\/p>\n
<\/a>La Cr\u00e9ature rouge avec un \u0153il et huit tentacules, un prototype de Herv\u00e9 Marly et Bruno Faidutti.
The Red Creature with one eye and eight tentacles, a prototype by Herv\u00e9 Marly and Bruno Faidutti.<\/p><\/div>\n
Depuis longtemps aussi, je voulais collaborer avec Serge Laget, l’un des cr\u00e9ateurs du regrett\u00e9 Gang des tractions avant. Je descendis donc le voir \u00e0 Lyon, et nous e\u00fbmes une longue journ\u00e9e de brainstorming d’o\u00f9 il ressortit que le jeu devait se d\u00e9rouler dans l’univers des “policiers m\u00e9di\u00e9vaux” tr\u00e8s \u00e0 la mode alors, sur un plateau repr\u00e9sentant le monast\u00e8re, o\u00f9 chaque pi\u00e8ce ou b\u00e2timent permettrait des actions diff\u00e9rentes. Nous nous quitt\u00e2mes l\u00e0-dessus, et ce fut la seule fois o\u00f9 nous avons effectivement travaill\u00e9 ensemble, car chacun a ensuite gamberg\u00e9 de son c\u00f4t\u00e9. Craignant un peu le s\u00e9rieux de Serge, grand joueur d’\u00e9checs et de 1830, je d\u00e9cidai d’introduire tant qu’il en \u00e9tait encore temps quelques \u00e9l\u00e9ments de chaos dans un syst\u00e8me jusque-l\u00e0 bien r\u00e9gl\u00e9: ce furent les cartes qui tournent \u00e0 chaque messe, les \u00e9v\u00e9nements perturbant la sortie de l’office, et les questions ouvertes auxquelles on n’est pas tenu de r\u00e9pondre. Pendant ce temps, Serge Laget concevait le syst\u00e8me de d\u00e9placement et le plan de l’abbaye, qui n’a quasiment pas chang\u00e9 entre la premi\u00e8re maquette et la version finale.<\/p>\n
Quelques coups de t\u00e9l\u00e9phone nous permirent de nous mettre d’accord, et chacun testa le jeu de son c\u00f4t\u00e9, avec ses \u00e9quipes. Les maquettes firent le tour des \u00e9diteurs, et la version monastique excita bien plus leur curiosit\u00e9 que son anc\u00eatre tentaculaire. Le jeu aboutit finalement chez MultiSim, un petit \u00e9diteur sp\u00e9cialis\u00e9 dans les jeux de r\u00f4les.<\/p>\n
La premi\u00e8re version de Meurtre \u00e0 l’Abbaye n’a pas \u00e9t\u00e9 un franc succ\u00e8s. Il a fallu deux ans pour vendre les 3000 mis\u00e9rables boites fran\u00e7aises de la premi\u00e8re \u00e9dition, qui n’a jamais \u00e9t\u00e9 traduite en anglais ou en allemand, et ce n’est qu’apr\u00e8s que les collectionneurs ont commenc\u00e9 \u00e0 me proposer des prix d\u00e9lirants pour un jeu dont je n’avais plus une boite.
\nCet \u00e9chec a sans doute plusieurs raisons. L’\u00e9diteur, Multisim, n’avait pas le r\u00e9seau commercial adapt\u00e9 \u00e0 ce genre de jeu, plus grand public que ses jeux de r\u00f4les. Les jeux de d\u00e9duction, peut-\u00eatre parce qu’ils sont peu nombreux (et ils sont peu nombreux parce qu’ils sont difficiles \u00e0 concevoir), sont m\u00e9connus et m\u00e9pris\u00e9s des joueurs, qui les assimilent d’office au Cluedo (et si Meurtre \u00e0 l’Abbaye est, par certains c\u00f4t\u00e9s, une parodie du Cluedo, ce n’est en aucune fa\u00e7on un clone de celui-ci). Si la maquette \u00e9tait assez r\u00e9ussie, l’\u00e9diteur, plus habitu\u00e9 \u00e0 publier des jeux de cartes ou des jeux de r\u00f4les que des jeux de soci\u00e9t\u00e9, ne parvint qu’\u00e0 produire une boite de jeu assez cheap, avec un plateau en carton souple et de vilains pions en plastique, et le tout pour un prix clairement trop \u00e9lev\u00e9. En outre, Meurtre \u00e0 l’Abbaye est paru alors que tous les joueurs – moi le premier – d\u00e9pensaient toute leur fortune en cartes Magic.<\/p>\n
Bref, un bon jeu sorti au mauvais moment, chez le mauvais \u00e9diteur et pr\u00e9sent\u00e9 maladroitement. Ce jeu m\u00e9ritait donc une seconde chance. Ayant r\u00e9cup\u00e9r\u00e9 les droits, je l’ai de nouveau propos\u00e9 r\u00e9guli\u00e8rement \u00e0 tous les \u00e9diteurs fran\u00e7ais et allemands, pour m’entendre r\u00e9pondre que \u00e7a ressemblait trop au Cluedo, que les jeux de d\u00e9duction ne se vendaient gu\u00e8re, que publier un jeu \u00e0 th\u00e8me religieux pouvait exposer \u00e0 de graves ennuis, et caetera.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/a>Un mat\u00e9riel superbe, illustr\u00e9 par Julien Delval et Emmanuel Roudier.
Gorgeous components, illustrated by Julien Delval and Emmanuel Roudier.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
D\u00e9but 2002, alors que je n’y croyais plus gu\u00e8re, j’\u00e9tais pourtant contact\u00e9 par un franco-am\u00e9ricain, \u00c9ric Hautemont, d\u00e9sireux de monter une nouvelle soci\u00e9t\u00e9 d’\u00e9dition de jeux de soci\u00e9t\u00e9, Days of Wonder, et qui, d’embl\u00e9e, s’est montr\u00e9 int\u00e9ress\u00e9 par Meurtre \u00e0 l’Abbaye. Serge, Eric et moi nous sommes rapidement entendus pour pr\u00e9parer une nouvelle version du jeu, avec de nombreux am\u00e9nagements et clarifications des r\u00e8gles, mais sans aucun changement majeur.
\nPolitiquement correct oblige, le jeu s’appelle d\u00e9sormais Myst\u00e8re \u00e0 l’Abbaye – mais c’est toujours d’un meurtre qu’il s’agit. C’est le m\u00eame Cyrille Daujean, qui avait d\u00e9j\u00e0 r\u00e9alis\u00e9 la maquette de la premi\u00e8re version, qui a \u00e9galement con\u00e7u la deuxi\u00e8me – mais avec un budget bien plus cons\u00e9quent, ce qui a permis de faire appel \u00e0 deux illustrateurs – Julien Delval (Citadelles, Aux Pierres du Dragon…) et Emmanuel Roudier (Castel, l’Or des Dragons). Meurtre \u00e0 l’Abbaye, avec son plateau en carton fin, ses cartes en noir et blanc, ses pions et ses d\u00e9s en plastique, est devenu Myst\u00e8re \u00e0 l’Abbaye, avec son superbe plateau de jeu, ses pions en “r\u00e9sine de pierre” (\u00e7a, c’est un concept!), sa clochette pour sonner la messe. Days of Wonder a en effet fait le choix de produire des jeux assez chers, certes, mais luxueux – car un beau mat\u00e9riel ajoute beaucoup au plaisir du jeu.<\/p>\n
Cette seconde \u00e9dition s’est fort bien vendue, suffisamment m\u00eame pour que les gens de Days of Wonder se disent que les jeux d’enqu\u00eate \u00e9taient, finalement, un bon cr\u00e9neau, d’autant que la concurrence y restait assez rare. C’est avec Antoine Bauza que mon comp\u00e8re Serge Laget a cette fois con\u00e7u Mystery Express, un jeu de d\u00e9duction dans une ambiance tr\u00e8s Agatha Christie, dont l’action se d\u00e9roule dans l’Orient Express. Mystery Express est aussi un lointain cousin du Cluedo, mais plus sophistiqu\u00e9, plus exigeant. C’est un jeu que j’appr\u00e9cie vraiment, mais il \u00e9tait peut \u00eatre trop complexe, trop s\u00e9rieux et n’a pas eu le m\u00eame succ\u00e8s commercial que Myst\u00e8re \u00e0 l’Abbaye. Days of Wonder a cependant voulu lui donner sa chance en ne r\u00e9imprimant pas tout de suite son pr\u00e9d\u00e9cesseur. Ils s’y sont finalement r\u00e9solu, ce dont je ne peux que me r\u00e9jouir – m\u00eame si je regrette le relatif \u00e9chec de Mystery Express.<\/p>\n Myst\u00e8re \u00e0 l’Abbaye<\/strong><\/span> The peaceful Templars\u2019 Abbey is a rare haven of tranquility for road weary travelers. And so you found it when you arrived late last night. That serenity was shattered this morning with the discovery of the lifeless body of Brother Adelmo at the foot of the Monastery\u2019s cliffs. Did the usually nimble-footed Brother slip to his death? Or did someone help him in his fall?<\/em><\/p>\n Mystery of the Abbey is a new kind of “whodunit” game of deduction and intuition, set in a medieval abbey. Players compete and collaborate to solve the mystery by moving through the Abbey’s beautifully rendered board and questioning their brethren. Gameplay is in turn fun, captivating and tense; the atmosphere, vivid; the immersion, complete. Top notch components, constant interactivity between the players, intelligent questioning and dynamic intrigue make Mystery of the Abbey the game of choice for an hour of fun with friends and family alike.<\/em><\/p>\n I’ve always liked to play Clue and, for a long time, wanted to design a whodunnit game, a sort of “Clue revisited”, just as my friends at Ludod\u00e9lire had revisited Monopoly to create Supergang, as I myself had explkoited Risk and Civilization to make The Valley of the Mammoths.<\/em><\/p>\n The very first version of the game, of which all that remains is a mock-up, took place in a classical thriller setting. From the second game, a player suggested to resituate the game in a science fiction world. Thus was born “The Red Creature with one eye and eight tentacles”. The players had to find the missing card by asking their opponents what card they had in their hands. The questions were closed, of the type “how many green creatures with three eyes and antennas do you have?”. The game was certainly interesting, but a little processional and abominably irritating, a sort of cross between Mastermind and Clue – and I later found out that it was also very similar with Sid Sackson’s Sleuth, that I didn’t know at this time. For a long time, I made a tour of the publishers, mock-up under one arm, only to hear eiter that it looked too similar with Clue or master Mind, either that science fiction games didn’t sell. I resolved to take this problem back to its origin, only keeping the basic mechanism of the characteristics of the suspect, which seemed to be good, and trying to make the game more dynamic.<\/em><\/p>\n La toute premi\u00e8re \u00e9dition fran\u00e7aise, Meurtre \u00e0 l’Abbaye For a long time, I wanted to work together with Serge Laget, one of the creators of the lamented Gang des Tractions. I went down to see him in Lyon, and we spent a long day brainstorming and out of this emerged that the game should be set in the world of mediaeval whodunnits, which were much in fashion at these times, on a board representing a monastery where each room in the building allowed a different action. We left each other at that, and this was the only time that we effectively worked together, because afterwards each of us pondered over the game separately. Fearing that Serge would be a little on the serious side, great player of Chess and 1830 that he is, I decided to introduce, whilst there was still time, some elements of chaos into a system which until then was very orderly: these were the cards which turned at each Mass, events which disrupted exit from the church and the possibility of open questions and declining to answer. During this time, Serge Laget developed a system of movement and the map of the abbey, that hardly changed between the first mock-up and the final version.<\/em><\/p>\n Several telephone calls – emails were not such usual in these times – allowed us to reach agreement and each of us tested the game from our own side with our own team. The mock-ups did the round of the publishers and the monastic version excited them much more than its tentacled ancestor. The game ended at Multisim, a small rpg publisher who had shown an early interest in it.<\/em><\/p>\n The first edition of Murder at the Abbey was a flop. Two years were necessary to sell the 3000 copies of the first and only french print run, and there has been no german or english language edition. Soon after the game went out of print, however, collectors started to offer incredible prices for it, but I had only two boxes left, and intended to keep them.<\/em> Les personages ont \u00e9t\u00e9 dessin\u00e9s par Emmanuel Roudier. <\/p>\n In the first weeks of 2002, when I had nearly given up hope, I received a first email from a french-american guy, Eric Hautemont, who wanted to start a new game publishing company, Days of Wonder, and was already interested in this game, based on what he had heard about it. Serge, Eric and I soon made an agreement for a new version of the game, with many minor improvements and adjustments in the rules, but no major change.<\/em> Le plateau a \u00e9t\u00e9 dessin\u00e9 par Julien Delval. This second edition sold really well. It sold so well indeed that the Days of Wonder team thought that Whodunnit games were, after all, a profitable market niche with very little competition. So, they decided to publish a second one, Mystery Express, a deduction game designed once more by Serge Laget\u00a0 but, this time, with the help of Antoine Bauza. The setting and characters remind of Agatha Christie’s novels, the action taking place aboard the Orient Express railway. Like Mystery of the Abbey, Mystery Express is a distant cousin of Clue \/ Cluedo, but it’s a more sophisticated one. I like it a lot, but it was probably too serious, too demanding for most gamers, and it didn’t sell as well as Mystery of the Abbey. Days of wonder really tried to push it, and decided not to reprint its predecessor for a while. After having been out of print for several years, Mystery of the Abbey is now back in stores. I’m glad of it, of course, even when I regret that Mystery Express made a relative flop.<\/em><\/p>\n Mystery of the Abbey<\/strong> Cette abbaye tenue par les hospitaliers est une \u00e9tape sur les chemins de Saint-Jacques. \u00c0 votre arriv\u00e9e, hier au soir, vous pensiez y trouver le calme et le repos. La d\u00e9couverte, au petit matin, du corps sans vie de fr\u00e8re … Continue reading <\/a><\/p>\n
\n Un jeu de Bruno Faidutti et Serge Laget
\nIllustr\u00e9 par Emmanuel Roudier et Julien Delval<\/span>
\n 3 \u00e0 6 joueurs \u2013 120 minutes<\/span>
\n Publi\u00e9 par Days of Wonder (2003)
\nLudovox<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tric Trac<\/a> \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Boardgamegeek<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>
The first french edition of Murder at the Abbey<\/p><\/div>\n
\n There are many reasons to this flop. First, the publisher, Multisim, didn’t have the commercial network for such a game, targeted at a much larger audience than their role playing games. Second, whodunnit games, probably because there are very few of them (and there are few of them because they are really difficult to design) are despised by many players, who believe they are all Clue-clones (and Murder at the Abbey is in part a Clue-parody, but it’s definitely not a Clue-clone). Third, if the graphics were nice, the game components were not first rate, since the publisher had no exeperience in publishing boxed boardgames, and the price was far too high for such a cheap-looking game. Last but not least, Murder at the Abbey appeared at a time when most players – including me – were spending all their hard-earned money in Magic cards.<\/em>
\n All in all, a good game published at the wrong time, in a wrong edition and by the wrong publisher. This game deserved a second chance. I got the rights back, and started again submitting it to all french and german publishers, and always heard the same answers: it looks too much like Clue, whodunnit games don’t sell, publishing a game with a religious theme is too dangerous, et caetera.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>
The characters were drawn by Emmanuel Roudier.<\/p><\/div>\n
\n Because of political correctness, the game will now be called Mystery of the Abbey – though it still deals with solving a murder case. The graphic design was made by the same Cyrille Daujean who had already made the first edition – but with a much bigger envelope for hiring illustrators. These are Julien Delval (Citadels, Fist of Dragonstones) and Emmanuel Roudier (Castle, Dragon’s Gold). Murder at the Abbey, with its light cardboard board, its plastic pawns and dices, its black and white cards, has become Mystery of the Abbey, with its wonderful map-like board, its “stone resin” (what a concept) monk figures, its bell for calling to mass. The policy of Days of Wonder is indeed to produce games with top-notch components, even when this means that they can be a bit expensive. I think they are right in doing this, and I hope you all think the same.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>
The board was drawn by Julien Delval<\/p><\/div>\n
\n A game by Bruno Faidutti & Serge Laget
\nGraphics by Emmanuel Roudier & Julien Delval<\/span>
\n 3 to 6 players \u2013 120 minutes<\/span>
\n Published by Days of Wonder (2003)
\nBoardgamegeek<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"