Indiana Jones: Cryptic – A Puzzles and Pathways Adventure Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Puzzles
  • Finding the Answer
  • Getting a Hint
  • Wrong Answers and Moving On
• Pathways
  • Setting Up the Pathway
  • Drawing Your Path
  • Interacting with Goals
  • Using Action Tools
  • Checking the Key
• Ending the Adventure

Puzzles

As you read the journal, you'll encounter puzzles to solve. You must find the right answer to the puzzle before you can continue the adventure. First, set aside the number of coins shown next to the coin symbol in the journal—this is the puzzle's coin pool.

Then make sure you have all the components you need for that puzzle, as shown in the journal. Puzzles don't require any outside knowledge, but you may find it helpful to take notes. You can use the clear pathway screen and dry-erase markers in the game or grab some scrap paper and a pencil.

Finding the Answer

Each puzzle has a single answer that's one or two words long. Some puzzles show a few possible answers for you to choose from, written in the journal in red.

Other puzzles show red boxes that indicate how many letters are in the answer. As you solve the puzzle, you'll determine letters to fill the boxes.

Example: In the journal, there are four red boxes. While solving the puzzle, the player forms the word WHIP, which is four letters long.

When you think you know the answer, look it up in the Hint and Answer Index in the back of the journal, which is arranged alphabetically. If you're correct, you'll be instructed to gain the coins in the puzzle's pool. Place the coins you gain in the adventure's envelope, adding them to any coins gained from previous puzzles and pathways. You can exchange the coins for larger ones and make change at any time.

Getting a Hint

Each puzzle has a HINT word in red at the bottom of the page. If you'd like a hint on how to solve the puzzle, look up that word in the Hint and Answer Index in the back of the journal. But be warned—hints make you lose coins!

Note: You can't lose more coins than there are in that puzzle's pool. Don't lose coins from the envelope that you gained in previous puzzles or pathways.

Wrong Answers and Moving On

If there are multiple possible answers and you look up the wrong one, you'll be instructed to lose coins from the puzzle's pool and try again. If you are solving a puzzle with red boxes and you try to look up an answer that isn't in the Hint and Answer Index, lose all the coins in the puzzle's pool.

Each puzzle has an ANSWER word in red at the bottom of the page. If you get stuck or want the answer so you can move on, look up that word in the Hint and Answer Index. You'll get the correct answer and continue the adventure, but you'll lose all the coins in the puzzle's pool.

Example of Hint and Answer Words in the Journal: "HINT: LEVER ANSWER: TRAPPED"

Pathways

As you continue your adventure, you'll encounter pathways to navigate. Each pathway represents an action-packed moment of recovering an artifact, fighting enemies, or a death-defying escape. First, set aside the number of coins shown next to the coin symbol in the journal—this is the pathway's coin pool.

Then take the clear pathway screen, the dry-erase markers, and the pathway card shown in the journal. Don't look at the back of the pathway card!

Setting Up the Pathway

1. Place the pathway card on the table with the front face up and place the clear screen on top of it so they are perfectly aligned.
2. Find the white start dot on the card and draw a dot on the clear screen in the same spot. This is where you'll start drawing your path.
3. Remove the clear screen and place it at least one dry-erase marker's length away from the card.

Now you're ready to draw!

Drawing Your Path

Using the black dry-erase marker, draw a single, continuous path from the start dot on the clear screen. Try to avoid where the hazards and boundaries are, and try to interact with the goals listed in the journal. Never draw directly on a pathway card—only on the clear screen. And don't flip the card over yet!

Drawing your path can be tricky, but just use your best judgment! You can erase and redraw parts of your path, or erase everything but the start dot and try again, as long as you haven't checked the key yet.

Interacting with Goals

Goals on the card have a dotted white line around them. To interact with a goal, draw an X along your path where you think the goal is. It doesn't matter if the goal is an object you're trying to pick up, an exit you're trying to reach, or something else. When you check the key, if the center of the X is in the green goal area, you successfully interacted with that goal.

Using Action Tools

On some pathways, you'll need to use an action tool, as noted in the journal. Each time you use a tool, you must trace the entire red edge using the red dry-erase marker. If the tool has two red edges, you may use either one or switch between them. You can use the tool as many times as you want, up to the maximum listed in the journal.

How you use the tool depends on the journal's instructions:

• JUMP: Use the action tool to draw sections of your path so you can cross specific areas shown on the pathway card.
• DRAW: Use only the action tool to draw your whole path, repeating an entire red edge end to end.
• HIT: Use the action tool to draw branches off your path to hit specific targets, as if you were throwing something at them.

Checking the Key

When you've completed your path, flip over the pathway card to show the back and place the clear screen (with your drawn path) on top of it so they are perfectly aligned. Then check the key in the back of the journal—the page number is noted at the bottom of the pathway card and in the journal.

Depending on which areas your path hit or missed, you may lose coins from the pathway's pool. If your path hit the same color multiple times, only suffer the penalty once. You can't lose more coins than there are in that pathway's pool.

Then read the conclusion, gain any coins remaining in the pathway's pool, and erase the pathway screen before continuing. Place the coins you gain in the adventure's envelope, adding them to any coins gained from previous puzzles and pathways. You can exchange the coins for larger ones and make change at any time.

Example of Checking the Key: the pathway card's back shows areas labeled Boundaries, Hazard, Start Dot and Goal; the drawn path and X are compared against them.

Ending the Adventure

At the end of each adventure, count all the coins in the adventure's envelope and compare the total to the rankings shown in the journal. How did you do?

You can continue right away to the next adventure, or you can put away the game and continue later. The coins you've gained don't carry over—remove them all from the adventure's envelope and return the adventure's items to the envelope before starting the next adventure.

Now open Indy's journal and start reading page 1 to begin your first adventure! If you have more than one player, read the journal aloud.