Adventure Games: Die drei ??? – Das Geheimnis der Statue
Adventure Games: Die drei ??? – Das Geheimnis der Statue Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Materials
- 18 large location cards (A–R)
- 13 small location cards (D1–W)
- 68 adventure cards (10–76)
- 7 mission cards (M1–M7)
- 2 overview cards (A1–A2)
- 3 statement cards (W1–W3)
- 6 miscellaneous cards (Z1–Z6)
- 7 riddle cards (Q1–Q7)
- 15 suspect cards (V1–V15)
- 19 NPCs
- 24 assorted tokens
- 1 investigation marker with stand
- 1 adventure book
Game Setup
Place the adventure book, the large location cards (A–R), the small location cards (D1, E1, F1, F2, L1, L2, R1, R2 and S–W) and the adventure cards (10–76) as stacks on the table, with the backs facing up. Above these three stacks, form further stacks as follows: mission cards (M1–M7), rule cards (A1 & A2), riddle cards (Q1–Q7), suspect cards (V1–V15), statement cards (W1–W3) and miscellaneous cards (Z1–Z6). Take care that you do not see any of the fronts yet!
Check that the stacks are sorted in ascending order by letters or numbers (A, 10, D1 etc. on top). Remember that you may only look at the backs of the stacks until the game instructs you to draw certain cards!
Carefully remove the large token with the three ??? and the 24 checkmark, X and question-mark tokens from the punchboard frames. Put the large ??? token into the stand. This is your investigation marker.
Attention: The punchboard frames also hold NPC tokens (81–99) that you should not look at yet. Remove them from the frame only when the game explicitly tells you to. For this purpose each token has a matching number (81 to 99) on its back.
The setup should then look roughly as follows: the small and large location cards and the adventure cards lie as face-down stacks on the table, the investigation marker is ready, the punchboard frames and the adventure book are at hand, and the checkmark/question-mark tokens form a supply.
Now lay adventure cards 10, 11 and 12 face up on the table. These are the three ???. Whether you play alone or with two, three or four players, all three cards are always in play. You play the group together, rather than each having an individual character. Your investigation marker therefore always shows where the characters are.
A Few Words in Advance
Attention: If you have already played other Adventure Games, you can start directly with entry 100. Note, however, that this time you only have one investigation marker, and that the NPCs (known from Abaddon and Nebelreich) and your abilities (known from Azcana) add new combination possibilities. So at least read cards A1 and A2 before you start!
If a card text or a text in the adventure book contradicts the rules in this rulebook, the card text or the text in the adventure book applies!
- This is a cooperative game. Agree with each other on how to proceed, what to combine and which locations to look at more closely.
- You may look at entries in the adventure book you have already read at any time.
- When you are to or may read an entry, pay attention to the instructions in blue type. Some entries say that the first time you should read a following passage. Others ask whether you have a particular card or whether a token lies at a location card. We recommend taking notes during your adventure, especially if you save the game and want to continue on another day. Some entries also present you with a choice but allow you to come back later and decide differently. Or you are asked for adventure cards that you do not have, or do not have yet. Then it can be worth returning to these places later.
- Alternatively, you can use the question marks for this. These tokens are at your free disposal. You can use them during the game to mark locations, adventure cards or other tokens, for example if you think they might still be important for the progress of the story, if you need an item you do not have yet, to remind yourself to try something with it, etc. Simply place one of the question marks next to the entry or on the adventure card. But never cover any text or numbers! Also remember to remove the question marks again once they have served their purpose.
- If you are ever stuck, use the walkthrough, which you can find in our explainer app and on our website. Go to www.kosmos.de and enter "Das Geheimnis der Statue" in the search field. Then click on "PDF Walkthrough". Or look at the hint tips on pages 10–15 for the corresponding number of the adventure card, location or token etc. There is a solution for everything, telling you what you can do with it or there, or what is needed for it or there, so that the story continues. Attention: The hint tips do not reveal anything about the story, and the walkthrough not too much! So do not hesitate to use them and just look before you become frustrated by a supposed dead end!
- You can read the texts to yourselves or have them read aloud to you by the KOSMOS explainer app. The hint tips can also be looked up in the app.
Course of Play
Whoever most recently read or saw the three ??? begins the first turn. When the turn is finished, the next person clockwise follows, etc.
On your turn you may move the investigation marker and perform one action.
Moving
On your turn you may move the investigation marker to any location of your choice on a location card that is lying out, unless an adventure card or an entry in the adventure book says otherwise. You may also forgo your movement, but if you move, your movement must take place before your action.
The location cards are the large cards marked with letters. Each location card has several locations. These are the areas marked with three-digit numbers.
When you move to a location, for a better overview take care not to place your investigation marker directly on the numbers, but always next to them.
Actions
After your movement you may perform one action, but you can also forgo it. In that case the next person is simply up.
Each of your possible actions lets you read an entry from the adventure book aloud, through which the story is continued, you discover location cards, talk to non-player characters (= NPCs) and receive adventure cards. The entries are sorted in the adventure book. First come, alphabetically, all location card entries A to R. After that follow, in this order, the three-, four-, five- and finally six-digit number entries. At the end you will find the entries for the NPCs, depending on which location card they are currently on.
If you would rather have the texts read aloud to you, select this game in the KOSMOS explainer app and then "Adventure Book". Enter the corresponding entry there and the app will read it to you.
The actions are: Investigate and Combine.
Investigate
When you are standing at a location, you can investigate it by looking up its three-digit number in the adventure book and reading it aloud.
Note: Some locations may seem insignificant at first glance. In the further course of the story, however, they can become important! So do not hesitate to return to a location at a later time and combine something with it that you did not have before.
Also bear in mind: you cannot solve every riddle or task immediately at the moment you come across it. Often you first need certain items, and sometimes a task or mission extends over several chapters. So use the question marks as a memory aid!
Combine
In the course of the game you can and must combine certain game elements with each other in order to progress. What belongs together will sometimes seem obvious to you, sometimes not. So be creative!
With each Combine action, two game elements are combined with each other. This produces a new number or number-letter combination, which you must look up in the adventure book and read aloud. When you combine numbers, you put the smaller of the two numbers in front and the larger one behind. So you do not add the numbers together, you simply put them one after another! When you combine letters with numbers, you put the letter in front and the number behind.
There are four different kinds of combinations:
- Adventure card with adventure card: This produces a four-digit combination, which usually creates something new from two items.
- Adventure card with location: This produces a five-digit combination, which usually represents a use or an investigation. Your investigation marker must be at the corresponding location for this.
- Adventure card with NPC: This produces a four-digit combination, which usually represents a question or a handover.
- Location with NPC: This produces a three-digit combination beginning with a letter. Usually this represents a conversation with the respective NPC. If an NPC changes to another location card in the course of the game, this creates a new interaction. Do not forget that!
Attention: You can never combine two locations or three items with each other! The game tells you when adventure cards go into the box after combining. If it does not say so there, you keep the adventure cards. If there is no entry for a combination, you cannot perform it. Your turn ends anyway!
Note: The characters of your group each have a special field in which they are particularly knowledgeable. Since, like every other adventure card, they each have a number, you can always combine them with other adventure cards. In addition, there are some locations with a blue background, as well as NPCs, that you can also combine with your characters. This stands, roughly, for applying the respective special field to the NPC or location, or for information from the point of view of your respective character.
There are sometimes also special combinations, but these will be explained to you by an entry or an adventure card and can only be used in the respective situation.
Example: You have found adventure cards 10 (can of cat food) and 11 (can opener). Since you are incredibly hungry but unfortunately have nothing else at hand, you want to risk a bite. To do so you must first open the can. So you combine card 10 with card 11 and look up entry 1011. It says: "Done, you have opened the can. Put cards 10 and 11 back into the box and take card 12 instead." Card 12 shows an open can of cat food. On your next turn, however, you have changed your mind and just want to get rid of the can. Perhaps you can offer it to a few cats at the beach? To do so you combine card 12 with location 104, look up entry 12104 and read what it says. It is probably a reprimand that you should not simply leave open cat food standing around on the beach!
Card Rules
The adventure cards are the small cards that show either a number, a letter or a letter-number combination, which appears on both the front and the back. Some entries in the adventure book ask you to take or give up adventure cards. If you are told to …
- take one or more adventure cards from the adventure stack ("take XY"), read them aloud and lay them face up on the table, unless they say otherwise. They are now part of your inventory. If it is clearer for you, you can always place the adventure cards with the person who was supposed to draw them. Since you travel as a group, however, you naturally always have access to all adventure cards in your inventory.
- put one or more adventure cards into the box, they are out of the game! It does not matter where the affected adventure card is.
It can happen that you are to take an adventure card that you already own, or that you are to put back an adventure card that is already out of the game. In both cases you cannot receive or put back the adventure card again. Nevertheless carry out all other instructions you are given as far as possible.
In several places in the game, adventure cards come into play that change the rules. The game tells you each time when this is the case. The cards or an entry then explain how to play with these cards. Simply follow the instructions.
Token Rules
There are various different NPC tokens in the game, as well as a whole series of checkmark, question-mark and X tokens. The game tells you when and how these come into play. Until then, under no circumstances look at the fronts of the NPCs!
If you are instructed to place a checkmark or X token on a location, you cover the corresponding number with it so that it can no longer be seen. That location is then no longer available to you and you can no longer combine anything with it. If you are instead to place a checkmark next to a location, you simply place it directly next to the stated three-digit number. It thus remains visible and you can continue to interact with it. If you are to place a checkmark on a location card, take care that you do not cover any entries. It is best to place it directly below or next to the letter on the location card. Its purpose will become clear in the course of the game.
If you are told to place an NPC, take him or her out of the punchboard frame. If the game tells you to put the NPC back into the supply, place him or her somewhat off to the side of the play area. The NPC may come into play again. If an entry says that an NPC is to be moved from one location card to another, you can talk to him or her again. At the new location there is also something new to learn!
Adventure Book
The adventure book contains the entire story of the game and consists of many individual entries made up of letters, numbers or a combination of both. Almost everything you do in the course of the game will prompt you to read one or more entries in the adventure book aloud. If you would rather have the texts read aloud to you, select this game in the KOSMOS explainer app and then "Adventure Book". Enter the corresponding entry there and the app will read it to you. Be sure that you only read the entry you are supposed to read!
Many entries in the adventure book contain, besides the story, instructions relating to the game mechanics. You can recognize these easily, because the instructions are in blue type. Make sure you carry them out in order, and for safety check the entry again to see that you have not forgotten anything. When an entry continues on the next page, we always mark this with an arrow symbol.
Saving the Game
To save, take a photo with a mobile phone of the current game setup and of the adventure cards you have found so far. Alternatively you can do this with pen and paper. Note where your figure stands, which locations you have not yet been to, where you suspect loose ends, where and what you still want to try, etc. Be sure to use the question marks for this too! Then put all open location cards and your received adventure cards into a zip bag. Location cards and adventure cards that are still face down go into the other zip bag. All adventure cards and location cards that are in the box stay there. Do you want to continue the game? Then place all location cards and open adventure cards according to your photo or notes and put your figure back on its previous position.
Notes
Note down here or on a sheet of paper your current game state: the location cards you have already discovered, your adventure cards, where your investigation marker stands, etc.
Start of the Game
With that the game begins. Now read entry 100!