EXIT: The Game – The Hunt Through Amsterdam
EXIT: The Game – The Hunt Through Amsterdam Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Start Playing Without Reading the Rules!
Would you like to have the game explained to you without reading the rules? Then download the free Kosmos Helper App.
IMPORTANT! Do not look at any of the game materials before starting the game! Do not open the sheets, and do not look at the fronts of the cards yet. Wait until the instructions tell you that you are allowed to do so.
Game Materials
- 88 Cards
- 28 Riddle cards
- 30 Answer cards
- 30 Help cards
- 1 Decoder disk
- 9 Strange items
- 8 Folded sheets
In addition, you will need writing implements (ideally a ball-point pen, a pencil, and an eraser), one or more sheets of paper, a pair of scissors, and a watch (ideally, a stopwatch). As an alternative, you can use the digital timer with the atmospheric soundtrack. Just select the game in the Kosmos Helper App and click on the hourglass.
Game Setup
Start by getting the strange items and the folded sheets ready at the edge of the table. Sort the cards into three piles in accordance with what is written on their back sides:
- Riddle cards
- Answer cards
- Help cards
Be sure not to look at the fronts of any of the cards yet.
Sort the help cards according to their symbols. Place cards with the same symbol on top of one another, with the "1st Clue" card on top of the "2nd Clue" card, and the latter on top of the "Solution" card. Then place them at the edge of the table.
Every copy of this game is packaged with the greatest care. Unfortunately, mistakes can happen from time to time. Before playing, please check to make sure that all the materials are present. If anything is missing, do not start playing and contact us. See contact info on page 7.
Where Is the Game Board?
This game has no game board! You will have to figure out for yourselves what you need to find in the game and what the locations look like. At the beginning of the game, you will only have the Van Gogh Museum sheet and the decoder disk available to you. As the game continues, you will add riddle cards and other sheets — either to be found in illustrations or referred to in the text. Whenever this happens, you can take the corresponding items and look at them. Likewise, you may not use the strange items until you have been explicitly told that you have found them. Until then, leave them at the edge of the table!
Example: If you see an illustration like this, you may immediately take the corresponding sheet or riddle card (in this case, riddle card T) and look at it.
Course of Play
Your goal is to solve the mystery of the missing Vincent van Gogh painting as quickly as possible.
That would definitely be easier if every lock weren't sealed with a riddle. As soon as the game begins, read the Van Gogh Museum sheet and study it carefully. During the course of the game, you will keep finding objects that are locked with a three-digit code. To open them, you will have to find the correct code and enter it on the decoder disk. On the outer edge of the disk, there are ten different symbols pictured. Each symbol stands for one of the codes to be solved. So pay close attention to every detail. If you think you have cracked one of the codes, enter it under the corresponding symbol on the disk. A number will then appear in the viewing window of the smallest wheel of the disk.
This number indicates the number of the answer card that you are then allowed to look at. If the code is wrong, you will have to keep looking for the solution or switch to another riddle for the time being. If the code is correct, the answer card will tell you how to continue.
Example: You believe the code 091 is the solution to the riddle with the cryptex symbol. Enter this combination of numbers under the cryptex symbol on the decoder disk. In the little window, you will see the number of the answer card that you are then allowed to take from the stack and look at.
Is the Code Incorrect?
If so, the answer card will tell you that. In that case, place the card back in the stack and take another look at the incorrectly solved riddle. Maybe there's something that you overlooked. Sometimes you won't even have all the clues you need to solve the riddle. In that case, you will have to continue someplace else.
Is the Code Possibly Correct?
If so, the answer card will look something like this:
Where Can the Code Symbol Be Seen?
Good question! To answer it, you will have to take a close look at the pictures on the riddle cards or the sheets. There, you will find all sorts of locked objects. All of these objects are marked with a symbol. In our example, you have a cryptex with the given symbol on it.
So look at the answer card next to the cryptex and you will see that you are now supposed to take answer card 21 from the stack. Note: You must see the object with the symbol on a riddle card or a sheet in order to open it. You cannot open what you have not yet found — just like in an actual escape room.
Is the Code Really Correct?
If so, the answer card will tell you how to continue. For example, it will tell you that you are allowed to open a sheet, inside of which you will find additional riddle cards that you may then retrieve from the stack and look at right away.
Is the Code Actually Incorrect?
Well, in that case you must have made a mistake, and you will just have to think again and come up with a different code.
IMPORTANT: Whether wrong or right, return all answer cards to the answer card stack. All codes can be solved logically. You shouldn't just try all possible combinations on the disk.
Need Help?
The game can provide you with assistance if you get stuck. For each code, there are three help cards that can be recognized by the symbol on their back sides.
In addition to giving you an initial useful clue, each "1st Clue" help card also tells you which game materials you must have found in order to be able to solve the corresponding riddle.
The "2nd Clue" help cards will give you more concrete assistance in finding a solution to the corresponding riddle.
The "Solution" help cards will give you the solution to the riddle.
IMPORTANT: Always take the help cards for a specific riddle card or a specific riddle on a sheet. These riddles are usually identified with a symbol (just like on the decoder disk). It won't help you to use help cards if you have not found a riddle with the corresponding symbol.
So have a little patience — some of the riddles can only be solved with the help of several riddle cards. You won't always have all of them available to you right away. Sometimes, you will first have to grapple with other riddles to get new game materials. But don't be shy about using help cards if you get stuck. Once you have used them, place them face up on a discard pile.
Additional Game Materials
In addition to the materials contained in the box, you will need paper and a pen for taking notes, and a pair of scissors. You will also need a watch or stopwatch.
IMPORTANT: You can write on, fold, or tear the materials ... All of this is allowed, and sometimes even required. You can only play the game once — after which you will know all the riddles, and won't need the game materials any longer! This enables the game to contain the most interesting variety of riddles.
When Does the Game End?
The game ends when you have solved the last riddle and found the missing Van Gogh painting. A card will tell you that.
At the beginning of the game, start a stopwatch so that you will know how much time you required to finish the game.
You can look at the table on the next page to see how well you did. When calculating the number of help cards used, of course, count only the ones that gave you new hints or solutions. If a help card gave you information you already knew, do not include it in the calculation.
| Time | No Help Cards | 1–2 Help Cards | 3–5 Help Cards | 6–10 Help Cards | > 10 Help Cards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ≤ 60 Min. | 10 stars | 8 stars | 7 stars | 5 stars | 4 stars |
| ≤ 90 Min. | 9 stars | 7 stars | 6 stars | 4 stars | 3 stars |
| ≤ 120 Min. | 8 stars | 6 stars | 5 stars | 3 stars | 2 stars |
| > 120 Min. | 7 stars | 5 stars | 4 stars | 2 stars | 1 star |
One Final Tip
Any game materials that you successfully used to help solve a riddle should be set aside. That way, you will be able to keep track of the materials more easily and won't get them mixed up.
For several of the riddles, the only things that you will need are the illustrations of the locations.
The Game Begins
What are you waiting for? Start the stopwatch and solve the mystery of the missing painting.
You may now open the Van Gogh Museum sheet, look at it, and start solving riddles. If anything is unclear, don't be shy about looking something up in the rulebook during the game.
The authors and Kosmos thank all the test players and rule reviewers.
The authors: Inka & Markus Brand live with their children Lukas and Emely in Gummersbach, Germany. They have published many children's and family games together and won numerous prizes.
Certificate
The following players
on ______ in ______
successfully found the missing painting by Vincent van Gogh.
What an outstanding achievement, and what good fortune that the painting did not fall into the wrong hands.
- To do it they required ______ minutes and ______ seconds.
- They used a total of ______ help cards.
- This earned them ______ stars in the assessment!
- The coolest riddle was ______
- The best moment during the game was ______
Credits
- EXIT concept: Ralph Querfurth, Sandra Dochtermann
- Cover illustration: Martin Hoffmann
- Illustration: Martin Hoffmann
- Title graphic: Michaela Kienle
- Graphics: Sensit Communication GmbH
- Technical product development: Monika Schall
- Editing: Ralph Querfurth, Alexandra Kunz
- English text editing: Hannah Mintz, Ted McGuire
"Emblem of Amsterdam" image license: grebeshkovmaxim/Shutterstock.com. Creative Commons Zero (CC0) image license for nine van Gogh paintings: Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington. "City map" image license: Kosmos Cartography, Stuttgart.
© 2023 Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co. KG. Pfizerstr. 5–7, 70184 Stuttgart, Germany. Web: kosmos.de. Printed in Germany. © 2023 Thames & Kosmos, LLC, Providence, RI, USA. Thames & Kosmos® is a registered trademark of Thames & Kosmos, LLC. All rights reserved. Distributed in North America by Thames & Kosmos, LLC. Providence, RI 02903. Phone: 800-587-2872. Web: thamesandkosmos.com. Distributed in United Kingdom by Thames & Kosmos UK LP, Cranbrook, Kent TN17 3HE. Phone: 01580 713000. Web: www.thamesandkosmos.co.uk.