Created by Charlie Harding, 2022

The Story

Download and print the game board here, then read on…

Ewan White – found dead on Saturday evening at approximately 8.45pm. The body was found at the foot of the stairs leading to stores, on a spot marked “×”. Jodie found the body. Apparently, her screams were heard in the office nearby! Does Jodie protest too much?

Cause of death has yet to be determined, but there are several likely objects around the society that could have been used:

• Crampons
• Penknife
• Petrol stove
• Flint and steel
• Ice axe
• Walking poles
• Climbing rope

The murder could have taken places at any of the recent society events:

• Flashpoint
• Redpoint
• Lake District
• Snowdonia
• Highbury Vaults
• Info Point
• Frubesheim
• Mendips
• The Avon Gorge

Chief suspects have to be the last people to sign in to stores. They are:

1. David Exton  
2. Raef Coles  
3. Arya Rassi  
4. Jodie Hill  
5. Eva Livingstone  
6. Bronwen Hall  

All seem anxious to talk!

Download and print the game board here, then read on…

The Game

HOW TO SOLVE THE MYSTERY

At the beginning of the game, a character, weapon and room card will be placed secretly into the murder envelope.

To solve the mystery you must find out…

• Who committed the crime;
• What the weapon used was; and
• In which room the crime was committed.

(The three cards in the envelope will reveal the answers.)

You will be dealt some cards. Don’t let the other players see these cards! You can immediately eliminate these characters, rooms and weapons from your investigation.

During the game, move from room to room to make your enquiries. Once inside a room, make a “suggestion” on your turn by calling a character and a weapon into the room. You can then question your fellow players as, one by one, you ask them to reveal if they have a card that matches the room you’re in or the character and weapon you’ve named in your suggestion. Your turn ends when one of these is matched by another player’s card. Keep note of your findings and carry on playing.

By clever deduction, you’ll eventually be ready to make an accusation. Will you be first to reveal the answer to the mystery?

The Investigation

SETTING THE SCENE FOR THE INVESTIGATION

1. Print and cut out the cards on A4 card/thick paper.
2. Construct some playing pieces (e.g. prison dice, coloured red, sky blue, beige, grey, pink and teal with felt tip pen, or for bonus points, (ask an engineering student to) 3D-print some). Place all six playing pieces on their corresponding START spaces around the board. NOTE: spare playing pieces fall under suspicion just the same as the pieces in play, and can therefore be called into rooms by players making suggestions.
3. Place the square weapon cards face up next to the board.
4. Find an envelope/opaque container, the murder envelope. Shuffle the six character cards then take the top card and secretly place it in the murder envelope, without looking at it or any of the other cards. Do the same with the room cards and weapon cards. You should end up with three random cards in the murder envelope: one character card, one weapon card and one room card.
5. Shuffle the remaining cards together, making sure none of the cards are seen by any of the players. Deal all the cards to all the players. Some players may receive more cards than others according to the number of players in the game. These players will start the game with a slight advantage.
6. Each player takes a detective notepad sheet. You will use this to eliminate characters, weapons and rooms. Keep it covered throughout the game. Don’t let the other players see who or what you have eliminated from your enquiries.

PLAYING DETECTIVES

1. Choose the playing piece which is closest to you on the board to be your character. You will move this character around the board.
2. Each player rolls one die. The highest number goes first. Play then continues clockwise.
3. On your turn – roll two dice and move that number of spaces around the board.

Entering a room

When you enter a room, you can immediately make a suggestion. You do this by calling into the room any character or weapon involved in you deduction.

For example, you enter the Highbury Vaults and call in Raef and the petrol stove. (Place Raef’s playing piece and the petrol stove in the Highbury Vaults.) Now make you suggestion – “I suggest it was Raef, in the Highbury, with the stove.”

Hint: A player’s piece may remain in the same room for as many turns as it takes to eliminate that room from the investigation.

Answering a suggestion

If the player to your right makes a suggestion, and you have at least one of the cards mentioned, you must show one of these cards secretly to this player.

If you don’t have any, the enquiry passes to the next player and so on, until one of the cards has been shown to the player making the suggestion.

At certain times in the game, particularly near the end, it is possible that none of the players will have any of the cards mentioned in the suggestion.

Making your deductions

Before you make a suggestion you must be clear about what information you want to obtain. Are you trying to find the culprit? Do you want to eliminate a room or are you searching to find the murder weapons?

If you search for general clues you may want to mention those characters, rooms and weapons that you don’t hold in you hand!

If on the other hand, you are trying to eliminate a specific character, you could include in your suggestion a weapon card and a room card that you hold in your hand. If nobody has the character you name, you can safely assume that this is in the murder envelope and the character in your suggestion is therefore the murderer. If another player shows you the character card, eliminate this character from your investigation by crossing the name from your list of suspects in your Detective Notebook.

The Accusation

MEANS, MOTIVE, OPPORTUNITY!

Keep moving you playing piece around the board, making suggestions when you enter rooms, until you think you know the answer to the three questions:

• Who committed the crime?
• What was the weapon used? and
• In which room the crime was committed?

Having made a suggestion, you can in the same turn, make an accusation.

To make an accusation, write down the answer to the three questions in your Detective Notebook. You must be sure, as you can only make one accusation in the game.

Once you have written down the answers, look in the envelope to confirm your suspicions.

If you are correct

Reveal the three cards to the other players and declare yourself “Super Sleuth”.

If you make a wrong accusation

Replace the three cards in the envelope, making sure none of the other players sees the murder cards. You must remain in the game to answer the other players’ suggestions. You can’t make another suggestion or accusation.

The Facts

GATHERING THE FACTS

Players must enter the rooms by the doors only. The doorways do not count as a space. Once you have entered a room, this is the end of your turn. On your next turn you can move onto a secret passage and gain entry to another room without throwing the dice. This constitutes your move.

The secret passages are from the Info Point to Frubesheim, and from Flashpoint to Redpoint.

Playing pieces must not move diagonally. No two pieces can occupy the same square, and you can’t move your piece through the square on which another piece stands. A room, however, may be occupied by any number of pieces and weapons.

Playing pieces called to different locations on the board are not returned to their original place. If you find that your piece has been moved to a room you wanted to visit, you can automatically make a suggestion involving that room on your next turn. Otherwise, you must move.

The art of conspiracy – you can make suggestions involving cards you hold to confuse other players.

False witness – if it is discovered that you accidentally failed to show a card in you hand that was involved in a suggestion, you can no longer take part in the investigation. You must, however, remain in the game to answer suggestions.