EXIT: The Game – The Mysterious Museum
EXIT: The Game – The Mysterious Museum Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Helper App
Download the free bonus app for a game tutorial, an atmospheric soundtrack, and a digital timer. For Android, iOS, and Fire. Check the app stores for details.
Game Materials
- 85 Cards
- 30 Help Cards
- 30 Answer Cards
- 25 Riddle Cards
- 1 Book
- 1 Decoder disk
- 2 Strange items
Additionally Required Materials
In addition, you will need something to write with (ideally ball-point pens, pencils, and an eraser), one or more sheets of paper, and a watch (ideally a stopwatch), to keep track of time. Alternatively, you can use the digital timer with atmospheric soundtrack in the Kosmos Helper App — just press the hourglass. A pair of scissors will make the game easier to play. If you don't have any available, you can still play by just ripping the materials with your hands when necessary.
Game Setup
Get the book and the decoder disk ready on the table.
Pull the strange "tot" item and the string out of the box and place them to the side. You will need these materials later in the game.
Sort the cards into three piles in accordance with what is written on their back sides:
- Riddle Cards (red)
- Answer Cards (blue)
- Help Cards (green)
Be sure not to look at the front sides of any of the cards yet.
Check to make sure that the Riddle Cards and the Answer Cards are arranged in ascending order according to their letters or numbers. Sort the Help Cards according to their symbols, and then place them to the side of the table. Arrange cards with the same symbol, one on top of another, such that the "1st CLUE" card is on top of the "2nd CLUE" card, and the latter is on top of the "SOLUTION" card.
Where Is the Game Board?
This game has no game board! You will have to figure out for yourselves what you have to find in the game and what the setting looks like. At the beginning of the game, you will have only the book and the decoder disk available to you. As the game continues, you will add the Riddle Cards — either to be found in illustrations, or referred to in the text. Whenever this happens, you can pick the corresponding cards from the Riddle Card pile and look at them.
Example: If you find an illustration of Riddle Card A in the book, then you may immediately take the corresponding Riddle Card from the pile and look at it.
You may only look at an Answer Card when you have entered a code on the decoder disk and have been directed to look at the corresponding Answer Card.
Likewise, you can only use the strange items when explicitly told that you have found them. Until then, they have to remain off to the side of the table.
Course of Play
Your goal is to work together to escape from the mysterious museum in as short a time as possible. That would definitely be easier if there weren't so many riddles awaiting you, each of which has to be solved for you to make progress!
IMPORTANT: To solve riddles, you can write on, fold, tear, or cut 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!
You will be solving the riddles in the order in which they appear in the book. You will keep coming across locked doors and objects. Each of these will display a symbol and can only be opened with a three-digit code. If you see a riddle, take a careful look at the corresponding pages in the book and the Riddle Cards. Put your heads together to try to figure out how to solve the riddle so that you can decipher the three-digit code. Then enter that code on the decoder disk.
On the outer ring of the disk, you will see 10 different symbols. Each symbol stands for a code to be cracked. Pay close attention to the symbol that is depicted on the cards and on the objects in the book! Enter the three-digit code under that symbol on the disk — starting at the outside and working your way in. Then, look through the viewing window on the smallest wheel to see a number. This number indicates the number of the Answer Card that you are then allowed to look at.
Example: For the riddle with the given symbol, you have come up with 8 6 1 as the code. You enter this combination under the symbol on the decoder disk. In the little window, you will see the number of the Answer Card that you are then allowed to pull out of the pile and look at — in this case, 3.
Is the Code Incorrect?
If so, the Answer Card will tell you with an X. Check the symbol and the code. If that still doesn't help, take another look at the riddle and try to come up with a different code.
Is the Code Possibly Correct?
If so, you will get an Answer Card showing an overview of objects and cards.
Where Can You See the Code Symbol?
On the Answer Card showing an overview, you will see the doors and objects to be opened shown in the same order as the order in which you encounter the riddles on them. Each locked door or object is marked with a symbol.
To continue with this example scenario: Let's say you want to open the wooden box with the given symbol. So look for the box with the same symbol on the Answer Card. It will then point you to another Answer Card. In this example, it points you to Card 18. Pull this card out of the pile. You will not learn whether the code is really correct until you see this Answer Card.
Is the Code Really Correct?
If so, the second Answer Card will tell you how to continue. You will find one or more new Riddle Cards which you will be allowed to take from the pile of Riddle Cards and look at right away.
Is the Code Actually Incorrect?
Well, in that case you will land on an Answer Card with an X. Check the sequence of numbers in the code, and compare the symbol on the decoder disk against the symbol on the Riddle Cards. If the code is nevertheless wrong, take another closer look at the riddle and try to come up with a different code.
IMPORTANT: You have to solve the riddles in the proper order! In other words, you are only permitted to continue with the next riddle or turn to the next page of the book if you have solved the previous code and the instructions tell you that you may do so!
Don't Forget!
- The Answer Cards with overviews show the locked doors and objects in sequence — first from top to bottom in the left column, then in the right one.
- Whether wrong or right — return all Answer Cards immediately to the Answer Card pile if the card tells you to do this.
- All codes can be solved logically. You shouldn't just try all possible combinations on the disk.
Need Some Help?
If you get stuck, the game can provide you with some help. 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 what you need in order to be able to solve the corresponding riddle.
The "2nd CLUE" Help Cards will give you somewhat more concrete assistance in finding a solution to the corresponding riddle.
The "SOLUTION" Help Cards provide the approach to solving the riddle and tell you the correct code.
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.
When Does the Game End?
The game ends when you have solved the last riddle and escaped from the museum. A card will tell you this.
Assessment
It is a major victory to solve all the riddles. You can look at the table below to see how well you did. When calculating the number of Help Cards used, only the ones that gave you new hints or solutions should count!
| Time | No Help Cards | 1–2 Help Cards | 3–5 Help Cards | 6–10 Help Cards | > 10 Help Cards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| < 60 Min. | 10 stars | 9 stars | 8 stars | 6 stars | 5 stars |
| < 90 Min. | 9 stars | 8 stars | 7 stars | 5 stars | 4 stars |
| < 120 Min. | 8 stars | 7 stars | 6 stars | 4 stars | 3 stars |
| > 120 Min. | 7 stars | 6 stars | 5 stars | 3 stars | 2 stars |
The Game Begins
What are you waiting for? Start the stopwatch or timer! Now you are allowed to open the book and start the game on page 2. We hope you have fun with EXIT: The Mysterious Museum!
The authors and Kosmos thank all the test players and rule readers.
Certificate of Escape
Share your Exit experiences using #exitstrategies
The following players successfully escaped from the mysterious museum, on ______ in ______.
What an outstanding achievement, and how lucky that they are not lost forever in ancient times!
- To do it, it took the players ______ Minutes and ______ Seconds.
- They used a total of ______ Help Cards.
- This earned them ______ stars in the assessment!
- The coolest riddle was ______
- The trickiest riddle was ______
Credits
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.
Ralph Querfurth is a game editor. Along with Sandra Dochtermann, he had the idea for the EXIT games and asked Inka and Markus in 2015 whether they would like to develop them. The two of them showed no hesitation.
- EXIT concept: Kosmos, Ralph Querfurth, Sandra Dochtermann
- Illustration: Michael Menzel
- Cover illustration: Silvia Christoph
- Title graphics: Michaela Kienle
- Graphics: Sensit Communication GmbH
- Editing: Katja Ermitsch
- Technical development: Monika Schall
- Translation: David Gamon
- English edition editing: Camille Duhamel, Ted McGuire
This game is recyclable. Separate the plastic from the paper/cardboard. Or, if you completed the game without damaging any of the materials, you can give it to someone who has not already solved it.
© 2018 Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co. KG, Pfizerstr. 5-7, 70184 Stuttgart, Germany. Phone: +49 711 2191-0; Web: kosmos.de. © 2018 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. Printed in Germany.