What you are trying to find
The game has 21 cards in three kinds:
| Kind | Count | The question it answers |
|---|---|---|
| Crew | 6 | Who took it |
| Methods | 6 | How they cracked the safe |
| Locations | 9 | Where it's stashed |
Before the first turn, the game takes one card of each kind at random and puts them in the stash, face down. Nobody sees them. The other 18 cards are dealt to the players, and each card in your hand is one that cannot be in the stash.
Setting up
There is nothing to set up. The game shuffles, deals and places everyone on the board. An opening roll decides who goes first, and play then runs round the table in turn order.
A table seats three to six. In a private room the host can fill any seats with bots and choose their level: Easy, Normal or Hard. Only two of you? Add a bot to make three; a two-player mode is coming soon.
Your turn, step by step
- Roll. You roll two dice. The total is how far you can move.
- Tap a location. Every location on the board is a target. Tap one, and the game shows the shortest path and the square where you will stop. Tap again to confirm. You never move diagonally, and you do not need an exact roll to get through a door. If you change your mind, you get one undo per turn.
- Or take a secret passage. If you start your turn in one of the four corner locations, you can skip the roll and take its passage to the opposite corner.
- Interrogate. Once you are inside a location, you can ask a question (see below).
- Accuse, if you are sure. Once per game, from inside a location, you can open the stash.
Interrogating
An interrogation is a question in three parts: one crew member, one method, and the location you are standing in. For example: Marcus, with the drill kit, in the kitchen.
The crew member and the method you named are moved into your location. Then the question goes round the table, starting with the player on your left:
- If that player holds any of the three cards, they must show you one of them. Only you see which. They choose which one if they hold more than one.
- If they hold none, they say so, and the question passes to the next player.
- The question stops at the first player who shows a card. If nobody can, the case log says so.
The player answering has 15 seconds to pick a card, so the game keeps moving.
Everyone sees that a card was shown and who showed it. Only you see the card. That difference is the whole game: you learn a card, and the others learn a little about who holds what.
Keeping notes
Your notes sheet lists every crew member, method and location, under Who took it, How they cracked it and Where it's stashed. Mark what you have seen and who showed it to you, using the sheet's symbols.
The notes assistant can fill in the sheet for you: your own cards, every card shown to you, and every "no match". It is on in the tutorial and off by default elsewhere. You can switch it off for yourself at any table.
The case log keeps the full record: every roll, every interrogation, who had no match, who showed a card, and every accusation.
Making your accusation
When you think you know all three cards, go to any location and make your accusation. You name a crew member, a method and a location. The location can be any of the nine, not only the one you are in.
You can only accuse once per game. The table sees that you are opening the stash, and you see the three cards.
- Right: you win, and the case is closed.
- Wrong: you are out. You take no more turns and cannot accuse again. You stay at the table and still show cards when your hand matches someone's question, so your cards keep helping the others.
Timers
Each turn has a timer so a game never stalls. In a private room the host picks 30, 45 or 60 seconds per turn, or no timer; the default is 45. Public tables always use 45 seconds.
With four players and the default timer, a game takes about 15 to 25 minutes.
Your first game
The fastest way to learn is Learn by playing: a real game against two easy bots, with a coach that steps in at your first move, your first location, your first shown card, your first unanswered question, and the moment you are ready to accuse. It takes about ten minutes.
Once you know the rules, read Opening Moves for how to use your first few turns well.
