It was first published in 1983 by Ravensburger and is named after Scotland Yard which is the headquarters of London's Metropolitan Police Service in real-life.

Scotland Yard is an asymmetric board game, during which the detective players cooperatively solve a variant of the pursuit–evasion problem.

However, a player travelling by bus or underground may bypass an occupied space if the closest adjacent stop in that direction is open.

For each move that Mr. X makes, they write down their destination secretly and then cover it with the ticket they have used to reach it, thus providing the detectives with clues as to their whereabouts.

[2] Detectives may take this opportunity to refine their search and, if possible, plan ways to encircle them based on where they are and the next few moves they make.

The 2013 Ravensburger and 1985 Milton Bradley editions vary slightly in the number of transportation tickets, double-move, and starting position cards included, as noted.

In a game with five or fewer players, up to two of the pawns meant to represent the detectives may instead be designated as "bobbies", indicated by placing a circular ring on them.

Scotland Yard: Swiss Edition uses the same gameplay and is set in Switzerland, with the addition of more boat routes and ski areas available only to Mr.

[10] A faster travel version called Die Jagd Nach Mister X exists that functions quite differently.

In this version, each player takes turns as Mr. X, and points collected (in the form of the detectives' used travel tokens) determine the overall winner.

[11] In 1986, Alain Munoz and Serge Laget posted an article in the French magazine Jeux & Stratégie suggesting alternative rules to balance and expand the game.

[12][13] Spanish company Cefa published Alerta Roja (Red Alert) in 1986, which is generally a remake of Scotland Yard with minor variations to the rules and a different theme (secret agents chase a nuclear terrorist though the sewers of a futuristic city).

The reviewer noted "Trapping Mr. X requires logic and teamwork; eluding the detectives takes sneakiness and an occasional risky move by Mr.