Escape from the Asylum
Escape from the Asylum Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
The game components for Part 1 and Part 2 are kept separately in two boxes. Do not mix components from different boxes!
- 2 main decks (130 cards in Part 1, 163 cards in Part 2). Do not shuffle this deck or look at the face of the cards.
- 2 supplementary decks (6 cards in Part 1, 15 cards in Part 2). Do not shuffle or look through this deck either.
- 29 envelopes. Each contains objects to be found in a location. Do not examine the envelopes nor open them unless instructed. Do not tear the stickers off the envelopes.
- 2 floor plans
- 6 hint & solution booklets
- 6 time sheets
- Game rules
- 2 component lists
Set-Up
- Put away your gadgets: the asylum is very old and doesn't have wi-fi, so you are going to have to rely solely on your wits to escape.
- To solve some of the puzzles you will need to write things down, so prepare lots of pens and paper. Do not write on the envelopes and their contents!
- Make sure that the floor plan is visible to all players.
- Take the main deck. On the back of each card there is a 4-digit number. For your convenience, the cards are arranged in numerical order with the lowest number on top and the highest number at the bottom of the deck. Put the deck facedown on the table.
- Take the supplementary deck (cards with a red bookmark). On the back of each card there is a 4-digit number, just like on the cards from the main deck. The cards are arranged in numerical order with the lowest number on top and the highest number at the bottom of the deck, just like in the main deck. Put the deck facedown on the table. Do not look at the face of the cards!
- Keep the Hint & Solution booklets nearby.
- Take a time sheet and mark down the current time.
Playing the Game
Take the card with the number of the story you are playing from the main deck (take card 0001 for the first story). Read that card and follow the printed directions. Put the cards you have read into the discard pile – you may look through them at any moment.
The stories are to be played in order, starting with the first story. When playing stories 1-5, use the components from the Part 1 box. When playing stories 6-10, use the components from the Part 2 box.
Envelopes
Most of the rooms in the asylum match an envelope with the same number. When instructed to open an envelope, remove all components from the envelope and examine them. When leaving a room, put all the contents, except for the portable items, back in the envelope (portable items are marked with the hand symbol, keep them on the table in front of you).
Some of the rooms are locked: you need to solve a puzzle and find a 4-digit code to access them. When instructed to take an envelope and not open it, examine the front of the envelope – it may contain a clue to the puzzle.
Puzzles
Keep taking and reading cards until you reach a card that does not contain instructions to take the next card. This means you have to solve a puzzle! The answer to each puzzle is a 4-digit code that matches a card from the main deck. Once you have the code, take the corresponding card and read it.
You may look through the contents of previously opened envelopes. Note that some components from the envelope may be intended for a different puzzle, while some may have no use at all.
Hints and Solutions
If you are stuck, you can always ask for some help. There are three Hint & Solution booklets in each part: HINT 1, HINT 2 and SOLUTION. To look up a hint or a solution, select the booklet and find the number of the card that contains the puzzle. Hints in the booklet are arranged in ascending order. Always start with HINT 1, and, if you still need help, try HINT 2. Use the Solution booklet only as a last resort. Don't look at other hints!
Don't hesitate to use hints if you are stuck. If the first hint doesn't help you find the solution, the second might.
Penalties
Each time you look at a HINT or a SOLUTION, tick a corresponding box on the time sheet. Please note that you can't skip HINTS – even if you decide to go for the SOLUTION right away, you still have to tick two hints on the time sheet. At the end of the game each HINT 1 will cost you 1 minute, each HINT 2 will cost you 2 minutes, and each SOLUTION will cost you 3 minutes (add them to your total play time).
If a code you found doesn't match any of the cards, you have made a mistake; mark an error on the time sheet and try again. Note that most cards have a symbol in the upper left corner corresponding to the character you are playing. If the symbol on the card you have taken does not match the symbol on the first card of the story you are playing, that means you have made a mistake. At the end of the game, each mistake will cost you 1 minute.
Choices
During the game, apart from solving puzzles, you will also be facing various choices – some of them will be minor, but others may later prove to be critical, so take them all seriously... When instructed to replace a card N with card N from the supplementary deck, find card N in the supplementary deck and take it, without looking at its face. Then find card N in the main deck, put the card from the supplementary deck in its place, and put card N from the main deck back in the box (once again, without looking).
We recommend putting all replaced cards in a separate plastic bag. Some choices might be fatal. If you fail your mission, retrace your steps back to the place where you made the wrong choice and try again.
The Story Comes to an End
Once you have reached the card stating "The End" or "To be continued", you have finished the story – mark the end time, and then subtract the start time from it to find the difference. To obtain the final score, add 1 minute for each error you made, 1 minute for every HINT 1, 2 minutes for every HINT 2, and 3 minutes for every SOLUTION you used. If your total time is under 60 minutes, your performance was excellent! If it is over 60 minutes – well, you still did it and we hope you'll be faster in the following stories.
After completing a story, put all cards from the discard pile in an enclosed plastic bag and put the bag back in the box (you won't need these cards anymore). Put the remaining main deck and supplement deck in two separate plastic bags. Do not return the portable components back to their original envelopes (put them in the box).
And a New Story Begins
To start the next story, take the corresponding card from the main deck (take card 0002 for the second story, card 0003 for the third story and so on). After finishing story 5, put all the components back in box 1 and open box 2 to continue playing by setting up the game and taking card 0006 from the main deck. Never transfer any components from Part 1 to Part 2 and vice versa!
Resetting the Game
You may reset the game (say, if you are willing to lend it to your friends). To do so, put all components back in their original envelopes according to the component list, put all the black-numbered cards into the main deck and the red-numbered cards into the supplementary deck, and then sort each deck in the ascending order. Conduct these steps separately for both boxes; do not mix components from different boxes!