Mysterium
Mysterium Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Overview
Mysterium is a cooperative game—all players win or lose together. They share a common objective: interpret the ghost's visions, and discover what happened and how the ghost was killed. Before starting, players select their role:
- The Ghost (one player) knows the suspect, location, and object assigned to each Psychic, and guides the Psychics using only illustrated Vision Cards.
- The Psychics (all other players) each must find the suspect, location, and object assigned to them, working together to interpret the Vision Cards.
Tips: for a first game, an experienced player should be the Ghost. For immersion, the Ghost may knock on the table (one knock for yes, two for no) rather than speaking.
Components
The Ghost: 1 screen, 18 Character Ghost Cards (1–18), 18 Location Ghost Cards (19–36), 18 Object Ghost Cards (37–54), 84 Vision Cards, 6 Ghost Tokens, 6 Culprit Tokens, 3 Crow Tokens.
The Psychics: 6 Intuition Pawns, 6 Sleeves, 36 Clairvoyancy Tokens (6 per color, incl. 3 agree and 3 disagree, numbered 1–6), 6 Clairvoyancy Level Tokens, 18 Character Psychic Cards (1–18), 18 Location Psychic Cards (19–36), 18 Object Psychic Cards (37–54).
Other: 1 clock board, 1 hourglass, 3 Progress Boards (Character, Location, Object), 1 Clairvoyancy Track and Final Progress Board.
Game Setup
Decide who is the Ghost. They take the Screen and place the Vision Cards and Ghost Tokens behind it, with the Culprit Tokens next to them. The Ghost receives Crow Tokens per the difficulty level.
The Psychics each choose a character color and take the matching Sleeve. They receive Clairvoyancy Tokens by player count: 1–2 Psychics = none; 3–4 = 4 tokens (1–4); 5–6 = 6 tokens (1–6). With more than 3 players, place the Clairvoyancy Track in front of the Screen (proper side for 4–5 or 6–7 players) and all Clairvoyancy Level Tokens on 0. Place the Hourglass near the Ghost and assemble the Clock Board near the Psychics.
Number of Character/Location/Object Psychic Cards drawn depends on difficulty and number of Psychics (ranging from 4 on Easy/1 Psychic up to 9 on Hard/5–6 Psychics). Shuffle the 18 Character Psychic Cards, draw the instructed number, announce their numbers to the Ghost (who takes the matching Character Ghost Cards), place the drawn cards on the table, and place the Character Progress Board.
The Ghost keeps as many Character Ghost Cards as there are Psychics and places them in the top line of their Screen, assigning one character to each Psychic (extra cards secretly discarded). Repeat with Location and Object cards (middle and bottom lines), so each Psychic has one character, one location, and one object arranged in a column of their color. Only the Ghost sees inside the Screen. Place the Intuition Pawns on the Character Progress Board. The Ghost draws 7 Vision Cards as their starting hand.
Phase 1 — Reconstruction of Events
Each Psychic must find their assigned Character, Location, and Object. This phase lasts 7 turns. By the end:
- If all Psychics completed their personal objective, move to Phase 2.
- If any Psychic did not, everybody loses.
Step 1: Interpreting the Visions
The Ghost chooses a Psychic. Based on the position of that Psychic's Intuition Pawn (Character, Location, or Object Progress Track), the Ghost knows which type of card the Psychic must guess (it appears in the Ghost's Screen). The Ghost creates a vision using one or several Vision Cards from their hand so the Psychic can find the correct card among those on the table, gives the chosen card(s) face up to that Psychic, and pushes that Psychic's Ghost Token against the Screen. A Psychic receives only one vision per turn. The Ghost then draws back up to 7 cards (reshuffle discards if the pile runs out), then chooses another Psychic, until all Psychics have received a vision.
Discarding Vision Cards (Crow): The Ghost may place a Crow Token on the Screen to discard up to 7 cards and draw the same number. This can be done any time but only a limited number of times (per difficulty).
Once the last Psychic has received a vision, the Ghost turns the Hourglass (2 minutes). Psychics may look at and show their cards, and discuss freely with each other (but not with the Ghost) to interpret which card they must identify. The Ghost may listen but must not comment, gesture, or hint. When a Psychic thinks they know, they place their Intuition Pawn on that card (their own decision—they may ignore the others). Psychics may change their mind until time runs out; the decision is final at time's end. Several Psychics may place on the same card, but then at least one is wrong (each Psychic has a unique combination).
Using the Clairvoyancy Tokens (3–6 Psychics): Use agree/disagree tokens to express whether you agree or disagree with another Psychic's placement (place the token pointing to their Intuition Pawn). You cannot place a token on your own pawn, nor several tokens on the same pawn. You may use, move, and withdraw tokens until time runs out, using as many as you like (or none). Discard used tokens on the Clock Board; all tokens are recovered at the start of the fourth turn. Agreeing with correct intuitions and disagreeing with wrong ones advances you on the Clairvoyancy Track (useful in Phase 2).
Step 2: Spectral Manifestation
The Ghost chooses a Psychic and tells them whether they chose the correct card (comparing to the hidden card behind the Screen), without commenting further.
- If correct: each Psychic who placed an agree token next to that pawn advances their Clairvoyancy Level Token one space (disagree tokens do nothing); all used tokens are discarded; the correct Psychic moves their Intuition Pawn to the next Progress Board (always Character → Location → Object), slides the identified card into their Sleeve (the Ghost flips the matching Ghost Card), discards all their Vision Cards, and the Ghost moves their Ghost Token back.
- If wrong: each Psychic who placed a disagree token next to that pawn advances one space (agree tokens do nothing); all used tokens are discarded; the Intuition Pawn goes back to the board it started the turn on; the Psychic keeps their Vision Cards (the Ghost will add new ones next turn); the Ghost moves their Ghost Token back.
Personal Objective: A Psychic who finds their Object (after Character and Location) completes their personal objective: move the Intuition Pawn to the final Progress Board, and advance their Clairvoyancy Level Token as many spaces as there are turns remaining. On future turns they may help others and place Clairvoyancy Tokens but receive no more visions; the Ghost sets aside their Ghost Token.
After all Psychics are addressed, the turn ends. If any Psychic hasn't completed their objective, a new turn begins (move the clock hand one hour forward; if it was the 7th turn, everyone loses). If all have, move to Phase 2. (Recover all Clairvoyancy Tokens at the start of the fourth turn.)
Phase 2 — Revealing the Culprit
Only occurs if all Psychics completed their objectives before the end of the 7th turn. Each Psychic's objective is a possible scenario; the Ghost sends one last vision so the group can identify the true culprit, location, and object. They have only one chance.
Step 1: Suspect Line-Up
- Set aside the Progress Boards and any unassigned Psychic Cards.
- Each Psychic forms a group of their three cards (Character, Location, Object).
- Each Psychic places a Ghost Token by their group, numbered side up.
- The Ghost takes as many numbered Culprit Tokens as there are groups.
- The Ghost flips all Ghost Cards in the Screen face up.
- The Psychics recover all Clairvoyancy Tokens.
Step 2: Shared Vision
The Ghost secretly chooses a numbered group (the culprit's), takes the matching Culprit Token, and places it face down on the Clairvoyancy Track. The Ghost creates a vision with 3 Vision Cards—one hinting at the group's Character, one its Location, one its Object—shuffles them, and places them face down before the Psychics (who cannot know which refers to which). The Ghost may still use a Crow to replace their hand.
Step 3: Straw Poll
Psychics vote for the group they believe is the culprit's, without communicating; each vote is secret. Voting is subdivided by Clairvoyancy Level—the further along the track, the more Vision Cards a Psychic sees before voting:
- Reveal the first card; low-level Psychics vote by placing the numbered Clairvoyancy Token of their chosen group in their Sleeve and giving it to the highest-level Psychic. A vote cannot be changed.
- Reveal a second card; intermediate-level Psychics vote.
- Reveal the last card; high-level Psychics vote.
Once all have voted, the game is over.
End of the Game
The highest-level Psychic opens all Sleeves and places each Clairvoyancy Token on the group with the matching number. The group with the most tokens is the suspected culprit's group (ties broken by the highest-level Psychic's vote, or eldest on a tie). Reveal the Culprit Token: if the Psychics chose the correct group, everyone wins and the culprit is exposed; otherwise everyone loses.
Rules for 2 or 3 Players
Phase 1: The Clairvoyancy Track, Level Tokens, and Clairvoyancy Tokens are not used. Each player (except the Ghost) plays two Psychics.
Phase 2: In Step 2, the Ghost places the 3 Vision Cards face up. With 2 players, in Step 1 create 2 extra groups from discarded Psychic Cards (4 groups total); the Psychic player chooses one group with their Intuition Pawn. With 3 players, Psychics vote openly and may discuss, placing an Intuition Pawn on the group they agree on.