echoes: Die Titanic-Affäre
echoes: Die Titanic-Affäre Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
What Is It About?
In echoes you take on the role of investigators* with a special ability. You can hear mysterious sounds and voices that cling to objects, so-called echoes of the past. Using this ability you try to coax the objects' enigmatic story out of them and bring the events into the correct order. Can you find out what happened?
* For better readability only, the generic masculine is used; it is meant to be gender-neutral in all cases.
Contents
- 6 object tablets (chapter markers)
- 18 object cards
Preparation
- First download the free Ravensburger echoes app onto your smartphone or tablet. You need the app to play.
- Take all the game material out of the box.
- Spread out the 6 tablets (with glowing frames) in front of you.
- Choose a difficulty level and lay out object cards accordingly:
Difficulty: Professional Investigators (Profi-Ermittler) Lay out all 18 object cards (with black frames) face up in front of you.
Difficulty: Hobby Detectives (Hobby-Detektive) Turn the 18 object cards (with black frames) face down and find the cards marked with a symbol on the back. Set these 9 marked cards aside face down. At first, play only with the 9 cards without the marking, which you lay out face up in front of you. With these you can already solve parts of the story. Only once you have managed that do you take the cards set aside (with the marking) to solve the rest.
- Start the app and select Die Titanic-Affäre. As soon as you click "Start Game" (Spiel Starten), the prologue begins and you dive into the story.
Gameplay
Your task is to put the 24 parts of the story into the correct order together. Each part is represented by an object (tablet or card) and its associated echo. From the conversations and sounds in the echo you try to find out how the individual pieces fit together. The illustrations also provide clues now and then, so leave no detail unconsidered.
With the help of the app you can scan the cards and tablets and so hear the sounds connected with them. Does your device not support image recognition, or is an object not recognised? Then you can enter the codes on the backs into the app.
Use the Listen mode (Lauschen-Modus) in the app to play the sounds:
1. Listening (Lauschen)
Both the 18 object cards and the 6 object tablets each have their own echo. Together these make up the 24 parts of the story. Scan any object with the camera to listen to its associated echo.
Tips:
- You can listen to all echoes and repeat them as often as you like.
- Time jumps are possible in the story. The echoes therefore do not always flow smoothly into one another.
Do you want to hear the prologue of the story again? Then enter the following code in the app in Listen mode: PRL
Once you have found some objects while listening whose echoes you think belong together, you can try at any time to solve parts of the story with the help of the app:
2. Solving (Lösen)
The story is divided into 6 chapters. Each chapter begins with a chapter marker, one of the 6 object tablets. It is always followed by 3 object cards. When solving, you therefore always check objects of one chapter for their order.
To do so, switch the app to Solve mode (Lösen-Modus). Then first scan a tablet and afterwards 3 cards in the order in which you believe they belong in the chapter of this tablet. The app then tells you whether you have solved the sequence of these cards correctly.
Are you wrong? Then the app gives you one of the following hints:
- 0 None of the 3 cards you scanned belongs in this chapter. Perhaps they fit together in a different one?
- 1 Only 1 of the 3 scanned cards belongs in this chapter. Whether it is already in the correct position is uncertain, however.
- 2 Exactly 2 of the 3 cards belong in this chapter. The positions of the cards are still uncertain.
- 3 All 3 scanned cards belong in this chapter. However, the order of the cards is not yet correct.
If you have set the difficulty in the app to "Easy" or click on "Hint" (Hinweis), you receive additional help. By the colours and symbols you can then recognise which cards do not belong in the chapter (A: red X), are still in the wrong position (B: blue arrow) or are already correct (C: green check mark).
Are you right? Then you immediately have the chance to listen to the entire chapter once more in one go. It is worthwhile, because new, additional clues can be heard in it. To listen to the solved chapter again later, scan the corresponding tablet in Listen mode.
Difficulty: Hobby Detectives Have you solved three complete chapters with the 9 object cards laid out at the start of the game? Then take the marked cards that you had set aside earlier. With these you can now solve the remaining chapters in the same way.
End of the Game
After you have solved all 6 chapters, one last challenge remains: put the chapters into the correct order so that the whole story makes sense. Only then have you solved the riddle and won the game. To do this, scan the 6 object tablets one after another in the app's Solve mode, in the order you believe is correct. If it is correct, you have solved the case together! In the epilogue that follows you learn how the story ends.
In the app's main menu you have the option of listening to the entire story again.
Incidentally: even though we name real places, all events and actions are entirely fictional.
Tips for Scanning with the App
If the app has difficulty recognising the game material, try the following:
- Make sure the scanned card or tablet is clearly recognisable to the app and that no other game material is in the picture.
- Ensure good lighting of the material. If, for example, you are sitting between the playing surface and your lamp, move slightly to the side so that you do not cast shadows on the cards.
- Hold the cards and tablets in your hand for scanning, or hold your device very close above them. This can help the camera find the right focus.
- You can find further tips and information in the FAQ at ravensburger-echoes.de