The game was inspired by the exploits of Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional detective Sherlock Holmes and derives its title from the detective's residence at 221B Baker Street in London.

The original board game was created and copyrighted by American writer Jay Moriarty (dba Antler Productions) in 1975.

To solve the case, players roll dice to move among 15 different locales throughout London, collecting the clues necessary to unravel the mystery.

Once a player believes he has solved the case, he returns to Baker Street where he must successfully answer a quiz.

Harvey Bernstein reviewed the game for Antic and stated that "I will admit that the graphics are fairly good but, aside from a handful of quotes in the documentation, no attempt is made to capture the style of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's beloved text.