Junior Detective Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• About the Game
• The Decoders
• Setup
• How to Play
  • Sleuth Cards
  • Hiding Tokens
  • Map Overview
• Decoding the Witness Cards
  • Visiting the Witness
  • Mrs. Wise
  • Spy Card
• Using Your Detective Notepad
• End of the Game
  • Catching the Culprit!
  • Winning the Game

Components

20 minutes to solve each case.

• (x1) Neighborhood Gameboard
• (x6) Detective pawns
• (x4) Suspects boards
• (x40) Unique Case Files
• (x24) Sleuth cards
• (x60) Witness cards:
  • Chip Scoops (x10): 13, 19, 23, 28, 33, 40, 55, 64, 75, 89
  • Jackie Russell (x10): 18, 27, 34, 39, 43, 49, 57, 68, 76, 88
  • Mr. Sweeps (x10): 16, 26, 30, 35, 44, 58, 63, 71, 80, 86
  • Peppy Roni (x10): 17, 36, 42, 48, 52, 60, 67, 78, 84, 93
  • Dottie Drip (x10): 11, 22, 37, 46, 54, 61, 65, 70, 81, 91
  • Ferris the Great (x10): 14, 20, 29, 38, 41, 51, 56, 69, 74, 82
• Mrs. Wise (x12) Witness cards: 15, 21, 24, 32, 45, 53, 66, 72, 77, 87, 92, 95
• The Spy (x12) Witness cards: 12, 25, 31, 47, 59, 62, 73, 79, 83, 85, 90, 94

The printed component list heads the six witness decks with "(60) Witness cards"; the Mrs. Wise and The Spy cards are listed on the same page with their own counts.

• (x1) Detective Notepad
• (x1) Mirror (*remove protective film before play)
• (x1) Red Spyglass Decoder
• (x1) Die
• (x1) Solve card
• (x4) Hiding Tokens

Be sure to grab a pencil or pen (not included) to write down your notes during play!

About the Game

There are 40 mysteries to solve, and 3 sets of characters around the town, who are involved in the mysteries.

1. The Detectives. That's you! Choose which detective you want to be for each case and set out gathering clues.

2. The Suspects. There are 12 shady characters shown on the Suspect cards. As a detective, you must find out which suspect is the culprit responsible for the crime and where they are hiding.

3. The Witnesses. These 8 characters all live at the large locations illustrated on the gameboard. Your detectives must visit these locations to question them and gather clues to find out which of the suspects is responsible for the crime and where they are hiding.

The witnesses are:

• Chip Scoops
• Jackie Russell
• Mr. Sweeps
• Peppy Roni
• Dottie Drip
• Ferris the Great

Mrs. Wise: As the town librarian, she keeps tabs on everyone and will tell you if any of the witnesses are lying. Mrs. Wise always tells the truth.

The Spy: She will tell you where the culprit is hiding.

The Decoders

Most of the cards are difficult to read without the use of one of the decoding devices (the Red Spyglass Decoder, the mirror, the Solve card — and the warmth of your own hand!).

Don't try to decode the cards before you start, or you might spoil the game. Different cards are used for every game.

Setup

1. Place the gameboard in the middle of the players.
2. Each player chooses a Detective pawn and places it on the Junior Detective Treehouse Headquarters (HQ) space in the center space of the gameboard.
3. Give each player a Suspect card, a sheet from the Detective Notepad and a pencil (not supplied) to write with. (If there are more than 4 players, players share Suspect cards.)
4. Place the following items by the side of the board: Sleuth cards (shuffled, placed in a face-down draw pile), the Red Spyglass Decoder, the Mirror, and the Solve card.
5. Place the 4 Hiding Tokens on the black outlined spaces directly in front of the locations in each of the 4 corners of the gameboard. It doesn't matter which token goes on which space.
   • Example: In this example, the School Mascot Hiding Token will be placed in front of the Playground.
6. Choose a Case File to play. One player will read the mystery on the inside cover out loud for all detective players to hear.
7. Select the 8 numbered Witness cards listed in the Case File (look for the numbers on the cards). Then place them face-down on their respective locations on the gameboard:
   • Mr. Sweeps on the School
   • Chip Scoops on the Ice Cream Truck
   • Ferris the Great on the Carnival
   • Dottie Drip on the Coffee Shop
   • Jackie Russell on the Pet Store
   • Peppy Roni on the Pizza Place
   • Mrs. Wise on the Library
   • The Spy on the Playground
8. All players roll the die. The player that rolled the highest number starts. During the game, players will take turns moving clockwise around the table.

Now You're Ready to Play! Game setup for 3 players shown.

How to Play

Players take turns moving their detectives around the neighborhood to question witnesses at each of the locations in order to gather clues and solve the mystery.

On your turn, roll the die and move your Detective pawn the number of spaces rolled in any direction. You cannot backtrack on any spaces (moving forward then backward).

When moving your detective:

• Spaces or locations may be shared by 2 or more Detectives at any time.
• The Detective Treehouse space at the center of the gameboard and each location counts as 1 space or location.
• At a crossroads, you may change direction, but you may not go back, or backtrack, on any space.
• If you reach a location, you may stop to question the Witness, or you may continue moving if you have more spaces to move from your roll.
• You may not pass a Hiding Token. If you reach a Hiding Token, then you must stop on that space with the token.
• If you land on a space with a fingerprint icon, you must take a Sleuth card.
• If you land on a space with a bicycle, you immediately move to any space or location on the gameboard of your choice.

Sleuth Cards

Each time you land on a space with a fingerprint icon, take the top Sleuth card, read it out loud and do whatever it tells you, then place it face-up next to the draw pile on a discard pile.

You may not take more than 1 card per turn.

After a Sleuth card is read, place it face-up in a discard pile next to the draw pile. If the draw pile runs out of cards, shuffle the discard pile, and place it face-down to form the new draw pile.

Hiding Tokens

These tokens move around the gameboard and are ideal hiding places for a culprit! They may be disguised as the school mascot, or the clown, behind the pizza boxes, or behind the library cart.

Each token is an obstacle that Detectives may not pass on the path.

For example, when a Sleuth card tells you to "move one Hiding Token," you must move any one of the Hiding Tokens to any other red circle space on the gameboard. You may choose a space that will block another player's path to a location to force them to find a new way to that location.

However, you must not place a Hiding Token on a red space that will completely block off any location or player.

In this example, a Hiding Token may not be placed on the indicated path because all three paths to the location are completely blocked off.

Hiding Tokens may not be placed on locations or the Treehouse HQ.

Map Overview

• Treehouse HQ is in the center of the map. All players start there.
• There are 4 bike locations near the center of the map. If you end your movement on them, you can move to any location.
• There are fingerprints located on the sidewalk spaces. If you land on them, draw a Sleuth card.

Decoding the Witness Cards

Visiting the Witness

As a detective you will be visiting the various locations to question the Witnesses. When you arrive at a location, you may question the witness by picking up the Witness card and reading it.

To read a Witness card, place the Red Spyglass Decoder flat against it to reveal their hidden clue. The Witness will say things such as: "The culprit had a hat" or "The culprit did not have freckles" or "I did not see the culprit."

Mrs. Wise

To read the Mrs. Wise card, hold the mirror upright on the table in front of you and put the card flat on the table with the arrow against the mirror. This will reveal her clue.

Mrs. Wise always tells the truth. If Mrs. Wise tells you that one of the witnesses is not telling the truth, you should assume that the opposite of what the witness told you is actually true.

For example, if Jackie Russell says: "The culprit had a hat" and Mrs. Wise says, "Jackie Russell is not telling you the truth," you now know that the culprit DID NOT have a hat. Mrs. Wise always tells the truth.

Spy Card

To read The Spy card, hold it between the palms of your hands and rub your hands together. The warmth of your hands will activate the magic ink and a secret message will be revealed.

The Spy will always reveal that the culprit is hiding inside one of the 4 Hiding Tokens and will tell you which one.

Important: After you have read a Witness card, return it to its location and place it face-down. Do not allow the other Detectives to see it!

Using Your Detective Notepad

Each time you read a Witness card, secretly record your findings on your notepad. Once you have consulted with Mrs. Wise to see if anyone is lying, you can begin to eliminate possible suspects. The numbers in the boxes of the notepad correspond to the numbers on the Suspect card.

So, if you find out, for example, that the culprit does not have glasses, you can cross off the suspects with glasses.

When only one number is left, you have found the culprit and it's time to catch them!

Example: This detective collected a clue from Mr. Sweeps: "The suspect does not have glasses." Since Mrs. Wise said that all witnesses are telling the truth, suspects 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10 and 11 may all be crossed out, since they are wearing glasses.

End of the Game

Catching the Culprit!

If you feel you've cracked the case (or want to risk a guess!) and think you know WHO the culprit is AND where they are hiding, then it's time to make your accusation. Choose wisely — you only get to make one accusation per game.

To make your accusation, you must move your Detective pawn to the Hiding Token where you think the culprit is hiding. (You do not have to arrive at the token with an exact number roll.)

When you land on that token, you now make your accusation by announcing to the other detectives who you think the culprit is by saying their name and number, AS WELL AS where they are hiding (the token).

For example, you may say "I accuse David, suspect number 3, and he is hiding as the school mascot!"

To find out if you're right, take the Solve card and place it carefully over the space in the Case File for the correct solution. Be sure to line up the edges of the card to the edges of the solution space.

In two of the Solve card holes, a number and icon of a Hiding Token will appear to identify the culprit and where they are hiding.

Winning the Game

If you have identified the culprit correctly, you win the game!

If you have accused the wrong person, or the wrong Hiding Token, don't reveal the answer. You are out of the game, but the other players may continue in their race to apprehend the culprit.

Don't write down the answers to the mysteries. Once you have solved all 40 of them, you'll find you've forgotten whodunnit and can solve them all over again!

And finally… be secretive! Do not tell the other players where you are going, or why, or what you've found unless a Sleuth card instructs you to share some information.