Revealing the Medium’s Secret

Houdini’s Last Act feels like a magic trick. And not only because designers Chris Zinsli and Suzanne Zinsli (no relation) (okay, maybe there’s some relation, but it’s rude to assume) provide an actual card-shuffling trick as an intermission. Set during the final years of the escapist’s life, the game’s apprentices — of which there must always be precisely four — are here to assist Houdini in exposing various spirit mediums as frauds and hucksters. It’s a noble objective, protecting the bereaved from those who would take advantage of them. But it’s also a testy proposition, one liable to end in disaster. Thus the game’s core tension: Will you work toward the show’s success? Or look after your own self-interest? Preparing for the final show. As a plaything, Houdini’s Last Act is tightly wound. There are two discrete acts, divided by the aforementioned magic trick, and it’s necessary to see them in motion to really understand what sleight of hand the Zinslis are getting up to. In other…