Beadle & Grimm\u2019s is following its 2025 release of Star Trek: Picard <\/em>murder mystery game and an escape room in a box based on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds<\/em> <\/em>with two more Star Trek-themed games. This time around, players will be able to enjoy the antics of Star Trek: Lower Decks<\/em> <\/em>or prove the innocence of one of the franchise\u2019s sketchiest characters. A Kickstarter campaign for Deep Space Nine: Holosuite Homicide <\/em>and Lower Decks: Chaos Protocol <\/em>launches on April 13.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cFor all four of these games, we had to come up with a story that was interesting and compelling and understandable, no matter how much or how little of Star Trek you knew,\u201d Beadle & Grimm\u2019s co-founder Bill Rehor told Polygon in a video interview. \u201cIt couldn’t be reliant on any particular aspect of lore if that wasn\u2019t something we could very easily explain.\u201d<\/p>\n In Holosuite Homicide<\/em>, you play a Starfleet Command junior investigator trying to prove the equipment at Quark’s Bar, Grill, Gaming House and Holosuite Arcade on Deep Space Nine didn\u2019t malfunction and kill someone. Getting entangled in Quark\u2019s shady business would typically be Odo\u2019s job as the space station\u2019s chief of security, but Beadle and Grimm\u2019s designers opted against assigning players characters.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the really beautiful things about this whole genre of games is that you can play them with basically any number of players. Assigning specific roles to people might become limiting,\u201d Rehor said. \u201cIt seemed better to leave it a little bit less defined.\u201d<\/p>\n Beadle & Grimm\u2019s primarily makes high-end accessories for Dungeons & Dragons and other tabletop role-playing games, and the company brings the same level of design to the props for its Star Trek games. The murder mystery box contains three envelopes which are opened at different phases of the investigation, each packed with clues players need to decipher. Players also get wearable badges that can be scanned with a phone to enable augmented reality elements, like going to a web page to type in a code to get more information.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had so much fun creating materials that were coming from Odo, Captain Sisko and Quark,\u201d Beadle & Grimm co-founder Jon Ciccolini said. \u201cWe\u2019re coming up with things that we\u2019ve never done before for any of our D&D stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n Ciccolini said he regretted that the poster map included in the Picard<\/em> game Murder on the Titan-A<\/em> <\/em>didn\u2019t have much game function tied to it. So this time around, the map of Deep Space Nine\u2019s promenade is closely tied to some clues and one of the major puzzles. Other puzzles will require players to use a prop to play music and even take their badges apart. None of the components will be destroyed, so you can sell the game or give it to a friend when you\u2019re done playing.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are a couple of props in there that are directly lifted from the show that fans of the show will recognize,\u201d Rehor said. \u201cIt’s been a very fun process to just figure out each of those pieces individually and how we can make them serve the puzzle, make them look cool, make them exciting for people to discover as they progress through the game.\u201d<\/p>\n A poll of backers of Beadle & Grimm\u2019s first Kickstarter campaign found there was a lot of enthusiasm for Lower Decks<\/em>, a passion shared by some of the game designers. That inspired the creation of Lower Decks: Chaos Protocol<\/em>, where players must solve 10 increasingly difficult puzzles in order to free the Lower Decks team from a dormant Federation security system they accidentally triggered.<\/p>\n The game went through extensive playtesting to ensure the puzzles were satisfying to solve, but not too hard. The game\u2019s digital elements also ensure players can get some more information if they\u2019re stuck by asking for help from Q, a mischievous, godlike being who\u2019s made regular appearances in the franchise since The Next Generation<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Star Trek universe has this great built-in character of Q that kind of watches everything and knows all and can jump in and provide hints,\u201d Ciccolini said.<\/p>\n Rehor said he hopes these games will serve as a gateway to get Star Trek fans and board game players to try TTRPGs.<\/p>\n \u201cNobody has to DM it,\u201d he said. \u201cNobody has to prep. Nobody has to roll up a character. If somebody doesn\u2019t show up that night, it doesn\u2019t stop you from being able to play. I think that a big part of the popularity of these kinds of games is that it\u2019s giving you a lot of those same experiences, but with a much lower barrier for entry.\u201d<\/p>\n The Kickstarter campaign for Deep Space Nine: Holosuite Homicide <\/em>and Lower Decks: Chaos Protocol <\/em>launches on April 14. Backers who pledge within the first 72 hours will receive a free Deep Space Nine Pack for Star Trek Online<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"Handouts](\"https:\/\/static0.polygonimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ds9-holosuite-homicide-element-evidence.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2\")
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