Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Deep strategy
How it plays
How does it play?
For more than four centuries scholars have argued over the identity of the mysterious Dark Lady of William Shakespeare's sonnets.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Hidden Movement
One or more pieces move secretly while opponents infer their locations.
Action Queue
Place actions into an ordered queue that resolves now or on later turns.
Deduction
Combine clues and exclusions to identify hidden information.
Push Your Luck
Choose whether to secure current gains or risk them for a larger reward.
Point-to-Point Movement
Move along explicit connections between named locations or nodes.
Solo / Solitaire Game
Provide rules and objectives designed for a single player.
Read the full game description
For more than four centuries scholars have argued over the identity of the mysterious Dark Lady of William Shakespeare's sonnets. According to the sonnets, the Dark Lady seduced the poet and held him in an agonised thrall while also conducting an affair with the Fair Youth whom Shakespeare also loved. In Black Sonata you will find yourself in Shakespeare's London, circa 1600, in pursuit of the shadowy Lady. A specially ordered deck of cards determines her hidden movements from place to place. You must deduce her location and then intercept her to catch a glimpse and gain a clue to her identity. You will need several clues to deduce her identity, but with each clue gained the Lady becomes harder to track. Black Sonata combines hidden movement and logical deduction into a unique solitaire steeped in literary history. Can you finally solve English literature's greatest mystery? Or will the Dark Lady elude you, melting from your grasp like a curl of smoke and promises?