A Carnivore Did It!
A Carnivore Did It! Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 7 Suspect cards
- 50 Statement cards
- 1 Magnifying Glass
- 20 Dossier sheets
How to Play
There are 2 ways to play A Carnivore Did It!: Open Case (see Game Modes), a freeform mode where you tackle a single case of your choice, and Campaign (see Campaign Mode), where you must solve 8 cases of increasing difficulty in sequence. Both modes follow the same rules for setting up and solving cases.
Choosing a Dossier (Difficulty Level)
To play a case of A Carnivore Did It!, you must first choose a difficulty level and take the corresponding Dossier. Each Dossier contains 100 cases divided into 4 columns, 2 on each side. Each Dossier is defined by a set of characteristics that apply to all the cases it contains:
- Suspects — The number of Suspect cards you will place on the table.
- Culprits — The number of Culprits you must find.
- Truths or Lies — The number of True or False statements — either fixed or a range (e.g., 1–2 means "1 or 2 True statements").
- Time Limits — 3 lengths of time to evaluate your performance — finish quickly for a 3-star rating, take longer for 2 stars or 1 star. Primarily used in Campaign Mode, optional in Open Case Mode. The same information is also indicated at the bottom of each Dossier.
- Diet (Carnivore or Herbivore) — each Suspect card also shows the suspect's diet (Carnivore or Herbivore), height, suspect number, and suspect name.
Placing Suspect Cards
Before playing a case from the Dossier, place the appropriate Suspect cards on the table. Starting with Suspect 1 and continuing in ascending order, take the number of Suspects shown on the chosen Dossier and place them on the table in a circle formation. For example, if the Dossier shows 4 Suspects, use Suspects 1 through 4 and lay them out in a circle: Suspect 1, Suspect 2, Suspect 3, Suspect 4, going around.
Setting Up the Case
Slide the Magnifying Glass onto the chosen Dossier as shown in the figure until the desired case is visible inside the selection window (you can either choose it or determine it at random). You can rotate the Magnifying Glass to align the selection window with the column that contains the case you wish to tackle. Once a case is selected, read the case number followed by the numbers of the Statement cards you will use for that case.
The Statements listed are placed face down next to the Suspect cards in the indicated order, from left to right — the first card next to Suspect 1, the second next to Suspect 2, and so on.
When you are ready to start, flip all Statement cards face up and start the Investigation.
Investigation
Your goal is to find the Culprit by determining who is telling the truth and who is lying — using logic and deduction.
Each Suspect gives a Statement, which may be true or false. Each Dossier tells how many Suspects are telling the truth — or lying, depending on the Dossier.
Always keep in mind that:
- The Culprit may be lying or telling the truth — guilt and honesty are not mutually exclusive.
- Starting from Dossier 13, the cases will feature more than 1 Culprit.
- Each case has just one unique solution that satisfies all conditions in the Dossier (number of Culprits, number of lies, number of truths).
Worked example (Dossier 01): the Dossier shows 3 Suspects, 1 Culprit, and exactly 1 Lie, with time limits of 2'/4'/8'.
- Panther's statement: "Someone shorter than 170 cm did it."
- Shark's statement: "Peacock is lying."
- Peacock's statement: "Shark did it."
If Peacock's statement were true, the other two would have to be false — Peacock would not be Lying, and the Culprit would be taller than 170 cm. Since there must be exactly 1 Lie in a case from Dossier 01, that's impossible. Therefore, Peacock's statement must be false, and the others must be true. Shark didn't do it, someone shorter than 170 cm did it, so the Culprit is Peacock.
Checking the Solution
When you think you have found the solution to the case, taking care not to move the Magnifying Glass, flip the Dossier to the other side: the solution will appear in the window of the Magnifying Glass!
Statements 101
When false, some statements may have unobvious implications. Here's how to handle them:
- "Horse and Bear are lying" is false even if just one of them (e.g., Horse) is telling the truth.
- "Panther or Peacock did it (or both)" is false only if both are innocent.
- "Someone taller than me did it" is false if the suspect making the statement is guilty (and there is only one culprit).
In cases with multiple culprits, some Statements only need to refer to at least one of them to be considered true.
- "A herbivore did it" is true if at least one of the culprits is a herbivore.
- "A herbivore did it" is false if none of the culprits are herbivores.
Statements like "A Suspect next to me did it" may refer to both adjacent Suspects in the circle formation. For example, in a case with 4 Suspects, Suspect 1 (Panther) is considered next to both Suspect 2 (Peacock) and Suspect 4 (Iguana).
Usability 101
Keeping track of all the information can become complicated, frustrating, and overwhelming — especially at higher difficulty levels when you're dealing with many suspects and conditional statements.
Feel free to define your own methods (alone or with your group) to help visualize your reasoning process. For example, you might rotate Statement cards horizontally to mark them as false, or do the same with Suspects you believe are not Culprits. Anything that helps your detective minds stay focused is fair game!
Game Modes
In A Carnivore Did It!, you can warm up and hone your investigative skills with Open Case Mode. Choose from 2,000 unique cases — perfect for a quick challenge or a brain-burning mystery.
For a true detective experience, though, we suggest playing in Campaign Mode! Tackle 8 cases in a row, each one more difficult than the last, as you race against the clock to earn the highest score!
Open Case Mode
To play in Open Case Mode, just pick any case from any Dossier and try to solve it following the general rules for play. You may also apply the rules for Evaluating Your Performance or even play the Competitive Variant.
Evaluate Your Performance (Optional)
While Campaign Mode has a more structured scoring system using the Time Limits shown at the top and bottom of each Dossier, you can also use them in Open Case Mode as an informal system to evaluate your performance.
Finish the case within the first Time Limit to earn 3 stars. If you take longer, but finish within the second limit, you'll earn 2 stars. Complete it within the third limit to get 1 star. Exceed all 3 limits or give the wrong answer, and you earn no stars.
Competitive Variant
Feeling competitive? Try playing competitively instead of cooperatively. All players analyze the Statements at the same time, just like in a regular game — but without discussing anything. Everyone works independently, thinking through the clues on their own. Each player writes down their own guess — don't forget to note the order in which you do so. Once everyone is ready, check the solution. The player who wrote down the correct answer first is the winner!
Campaign Mode
In Campaign Mode, you'll face 8 cases in a row, each more challenging than the last. Each case is set up just like in Open Case Mode — but this time, you'll follow a strict progression and play with a time limit.
Starting with the lowest Dossier of the campaign level you've chosen (see below), you'll play 1 case per Dossier, climbing through 8 consecutive Dossiers. Once you solve a case, continue with the next Dossier in the sequence. No skipping ahead, no going back — just a steady ascent through increasingly complex investigations.
There are 3 campaign levels:
- Normal — Dossiers 01–08. A perfect starting point to test your logic and deduction skills.
- Advanced — Dossiers 05-12. More Suspects, trickier Statements, increasingly tangled cases.
- Hard — Dossiers 13-20. Multiple Culprits and layers of deception — a true test for master detectives only.
Each Dossier has 3 Time Limits for evaluation, shown at the top and bottom: start a stopwatch as soon as you flip the Statements and solve the case before the first Time Limit to earn 3 stars. If you take longer, but finish within the second limit, you'll earn 2 stars. Complete it within the third limit to get 1 star.
If you take even longer than that or give the wrong answer, the case fails — but don't fret! You have 2 Badges on the campaign sheet that you can spend to skip a failed case. You get no stars for the case on the current Dossier, but you can move directly to a case from the next Dossier. Beware, though: for each Badge you spend, you lose 1 star at the end of the campaign. Cross the Badge out as a reminder that it has been used.
Running Out of Badges
If you fail a case and have no more Badges available, you are out of attempts — your campaign ends immediately. Stop playing at once and calculate your score based on your progress up to that point.
Campaign Sheet
After each case, record your score using one of the campaign sheets provided at the back of the rulebook. Each campaign sheet has 3 columns, one per attempt, and for each column you check the Difficulty Level played (Normal 1-8, Advanced 5-12, or Hard 13-20), then note the Dossier number, your time, and your star result (0-3 stars) for each case in sequence. Each column also has 2 Badges you can cross out if you spend them to skip a failed case (each spent Badge costs 1 star at the end of the campaign).
When your campaign ends (whether you made it to the end or it ended early), total up the stars you have earned, subtract 1 star for each Badge you spent, and see how well you performed. Your final score earns you a detective rank — how far up the ladder can you climb?
Detective Ranks
| Score | Rank |
|---|---|
| 7+ | Cadet |
| 10+ | Rookie |
| 13+ | Officer |
| 16+ | Detective |
| 19+ | Profiler |
| 22+ | Inspector |
Additional campaign sheets can be downloaded and printed via the QR code on the back of the rulebook.
Credits
- Game Design: Urtis Sulinskas, Daumilas Ardickas
- Artwork: Cecilia "Lonnie" Petrucci
- Development: Hjalmar Hach, Lorenzo Silva, Federico Corbetta Caci
- Project Manager: Federico Corbetta Caci
- Art Direction: Federico Corbetta Caci
- Logo and Graphic Design: Annachiara Rossi
- Graphic Identity Research: Dario Maggiore
- Rulebook: Alessandro Pra'
- Editing: William Niebling
- Horrible Guild Team: Davide Amici, Ylenia D'Abundo, Federico "Toy" Dossi, Giulia Monte, Camilla Muschio, Laura Severino
If you have any issues, please contact Horrible Guild at horribleguild.com/cc.