Every year, on All Hallows’ Eve, a group of special agents congregate to crack the mystery of a cold-blooded murder that took place seven years ago. Welcome to OPS BLACK ’07 - A Halloween Murder Mystery.

OPS BLACK is a real-time mystery-solving game that sets you, a special agent assigned to an agency, as Sherlock Holmes – in a race to uncover the truth and put the murderer away. One of the seven VIP agents is the murderer, and it is up to you to obtain the necessary information and clues from the VIP agents as well as other special agents like yourself. The race against time begins – who will discover the truth? A reward has been set for the talented agents who come the closest – so look carefully and listen attentively – because the truth is out there. (Enter eerie X-files music)

I was privileged to be invited for this exclusive Halloween mystery as Agent G from the agency X-Calibre – a highly classified and feared agency in the world believed to have emerged from the ruins of the cold war. Hoho, super spy!

Held at the cozy Settlers Café along North Canal Road (the branch at Clark Quay), the Halloween party held by Black is just exactly what the doctor ordered for a truly memorable Halloween. A cozy setting, mellow ambience; throw in food, good company and lots of fun – you’ve got for yourself the best possible way you can ever spend Halloween. Believe me – it’s as good as it’s hyped up to be – if not better.

Right, pardon me for blabbering on assuming that you know everything.

So here’s giving you a clearer picture of what you might be expecting. It goes like this – first you get there on time (be punctual!) and then get briefed on what’s going to happen. Next you start mingling and playing (settler’s) games with everyone there while at the same time trying to solve the murder mystery, which is the bigger picture at hand. Winning games will provide more clues and aid you in your quest to uncover the truth, while enigmatic forces will be trying to mislead you and hinder your progress in solving the mystery. Finally, you... Oh wait, information overload. But you get the idea now, don’t you?

My tip is that you bring along a couple of good friends, because having a few buddies to share the clues makes it a whole lot easier and certainly a whole lot more enjoyable. Never mind if your friends can’t make it though; if you’re free – go anyway! Because I went alone and I swear (god forbid) I had the best Halloween ever, period. You might want to doll up a little too, because I went didn’t and I stuck out like a sore thumb. (Wonder why.)

Well, not letting out too many details here because I’m afraid it might spoil the experience, lest you be reading this before Halloween next year. But it’s not just solving a murder mystery I’ll say, it’s about playing the assortment of board games available at Settlers, it’s also about meeting new people and ultimately celebrating the spirit of All Hallows’ Eve!

So if you’re up for a night of challenging fun on Halloween/Eve of Halloween, the OPS BLACK is more than what you can hope for. It will put your observational skills, deducing abilities and sociability to the test. I’ll give it a 4.5 out of a 5 rating, if you need an idea of how fun it really is.

Alas, Halloween has just passed its rounds and will only be back in 364 days. If you’re up for it, check out opsblack.wordpress.com to get a clearer picture (Click the link, click it!). Oh and I wasn’t kidding about the rewards – there are some pretty juicy ones up for grabs. Till next Halloween – I’ll see you there!

*Youth.SG hopes everyone had a smashing Halloween! :D

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