Perfect Murder Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Material
• Setup
• The Investigation Sheet
  • Terms
• The Murder
  • 1. Determine which person you are
  • 2. Determine the path
  • 3. Choose a murder weapon
• Course of Play
• The Murderer's Actions
  • Standard actions
    • Remove a clue or trace card from the game
    • Clean a room
  • Bonus action: play an action card
  • Action cards
    • False trace (2x)
    • False clue (1x)
    • Clean any room (2x)
    • Steal 2 cards (1x)
    • Search pile (1x)
• The Detective's Actions
  • Search room (maximum 1x per round)
  • Examine door
  • Request cards
  • Play card
  • Discard 3 cards
• End of the Game
• Adjusting the Difficulty
  • Harder for the detective / easier for the murderer
  • Easier for the detective / harder for the murderer
• Variant: Home and Away

Material

• 1 pad of 100 investigation sheets
• 2 screens with action overview
• 1 clue board (Hinweis-Tableau)
• 1 trace board (Spuren-Tableau)
• 1 round board (consisting of 2 parts with different difficulty levels)
• 7 action cards (for the murderer)
• 10 room cards
• 13 trace cards
• 14 clue cards
• 19 blank markers
• 12 X markers
• 1 round marker
• 3 instruction booklets

Setup

First decide which of you takes the role of the murderer and which plays the detective. In the following, these two roles are called "murderer" and "detective".

1. You each take: 1 investigation sheet and the screen that matches your role. You both also need a pen.
2. Put the two parts of the round board together so that both show side A facing up. Place the round board at the edge of your play area and place the round marker on space 1. For later games you can adjust the difficulty and turn the two parts of the board to a different letter. Make sure you always choose a combination with matching letters (see Adjusting the difficulty below).
3. Place the clue board and the trace board so that you can both reach them easily.
4. Sort all cards by their backs and then shuffle each pile separately.
5. Place the clue cards and the trace cards next to the corresponding boards.
6. Place the room cards and the action cards so that the murderer can reach them easily.
7. The murderer puts all markers behind his screen. The X markers must have the X facing up.

The Investigation Sheet

You each have an investigation sheet. The murderer needs the sheet to plan the murder and, among other things, to keep track of false trails. The detective needs the sheet to note his conclusions.

The sheet shows:

• The 9 possible culprits with the clues they leave behind
• The floor plan of the villa with the murder weapons located in it
• The 12 possible murder weapons
• Space for notes
• The different traces that the weapons leave behind

Terms

Clues (Hinweise): Clues always refer to characteristics that point to the person of the murderer. These characteristics are gender, hair colour, motive, shoe size and time of the crime.

Traces (Spuren): Traces always refer to the murder weapon. Each murder weapon leaves 4 traces, whose combination identifies it unambiguously. There are 13 different traces in total.

The Murder

Before the game can begin, the murderer must first plan the murder. This is done anew for every game.

As the murderer you determine 3 things:

• which person of the 9 suspects you are,
• the path you took through the villa,
• the murder weapon you took with you along this path.

Important! You determine these things secretly behind your screen on your investigation sheet. Be careful to follow all requirements exactly, since otherwise the game does not work and the murder cannot be solved.

1. Determine which person you are

Choose one of the 9 suspects who committed the murder. Circle the person on your investigation sheet.

Then take the clue board behind your screen. Place 1 X marker, X facing down, in each of the fields of the 5 clues that your chosen person leaves behind (gender, hair colour, motive, shoe size, time of the crime). Fill the remaining fields with blank markers. Then put the clue board back in the middle of the table.

Example: You choose the Assistant and circle him on your investigation sheet. You then place an X marker face down in each of the matching clue fields: male, blond, motive revenge, shoe size L and time of the crime 1:00. You fill the remaining fields with blank markers and put the clue board back.

2. Determine the path

On the floor plan of the villa on your investigation sheet, determine through which room you entered the villa and which path you took to the scene of the crime. Mark the path as one continuous line. Begin in one of the outer rooms (light grey background) and end at the scene of the crime. Observe the following rules:

• You may only go through doors, never through walls.
• You may pass through each room only once.
• You may pass through each door only once.

You may go through as many rooms as you like. Note, however, that you leave clues and traces in every room. If the detective finds them, this gives him advantages.

3. Choose a murder weapon

Choose a murder weapon from one of the rooms you passed through on your path. Circle this weapon on your investigation sheet.

Then take the trace board behind your screen and place an X marker, X facing down, in each of the fields of the 4 traces that your chosen murder weapon leaves. Fill the remaining fields with blank markers. Then put the trace board back in the middle of the table.

Example: On your way to the scene of the crime you passed through the bedroom and choose the trophy from the bedroom as your murder weapon. You circle the trophy on your investigation sheet and mark the 4 traces the trophy leaves (gold, chrome, ceramic and metal). To do this you take 4 X markers and place them face down in the corresponding fields of the trace board. Then you fill the other trace fields with blank markers and put the trace board back in the middle of the table.

The murder is now committed and the game can begin.

Course of Play

You play 8 rounds, in which you take turns. In these 8 rounds it is the detective's task to find out the following 3 things:

• the murderer
• the murder weapon
• the room in which the murderer's path starts.

If he can name these 3 things correctly after the end of the 8th round, he has won. If he is wrong on at least one of them, the murderer has won.

For every round:

• The murderer begins the round and performs 1 standard action.
• The detective then performs 3 actions.
• At the end of the round the murderer moves the round marker one step forward.

For rounds that begin on a black space, the following also applies: In addition to his standard action, the murderer may play one of his action cards as a bonus action.

After the 6th round: At the end of the 6th round the murderer must decide whether he stays or flees. If he stays, play continues as before and murderer and detective continue to perform actions. If he flees, he moves the round marker to the 7th round, which has a yellow background. In rounds with a yellow background the murderer can no longer perform any actions (after all, he has fled). In return, the detective has only 2 instead of 3 actions available in the 8th round. The murderer thus gives up his last two turns in order to take an action away from the detective.

The Murderer's Actions

Standard actions

Choose one of these two actions each round:

• Remove a clue or trace card from the game
• Clean a room

Remove a clue or trace card from the game

Decide on the clue card pile or the trace card pile and draw the top 3 cards. Choose 1 of them, which you remove for the rest of the game. Keep this card face down behind your screen. Put the other two cards back face down on the pile in any order. If the chosen pile has fewer than 3 cards, you draw correspondingly fewer cards, look at all of them and still take exactly 1 card out of the game.

What does this action do? If you remove a clue or trace card, the detective cannot get this card for the entire game, and it becomes harder for him to find out whether this clue/this trace is present or not.

Example: You choose the trace card pile and draw the top 3 cards (Gold, Metal, Powder). You want to remove the trace card Gold, so you place it face down behind your screen. You put the other two face down back on the pile.

Clean a room

Reveal the top 3 cards of the room card pile and lay them out so that you can both see them well. On each room card 2 rooms are given. Choose any one of the 3 cards and place it face up next to the round board. Then secretly cross out one of the two given rooms behind your screen on your investigation sheet. You have now cleaned this room, and when investigating this room the detective will no longer find any traces or clues.

You may clean any room, even a room you never went through.

Put the two room cards you did not choose back under the room card pile.

What does this action do? If you clean a room, the detective finds nothing and thus also receives no clue and/or trace cards. He also cannot be sure whether your path went through this room.

Example: You reveal the top 3 cards of the room card pile and choose the card Golf Room/Bedroom. You place the card next to the round board and the other two back under the pile. You may now cross out the Golf Room or the Bedroom. You choose the Bedroom.

Bonus action: play an action card

If at the beginning of a round the round marker is on a black space, then before or after your standard action you choose any one of your action cards and place it on the space of the round board belonging to the current round. Then you perform the corresponding action.

Important: A certain symbol on the round board means that you place the card face down. The detective thus does not learn which action you are performing. In this case take the clue board and the trace board behind your screen, regardless of whether it is necessary for the card's action, so for example also when you perform the action Clean a room. This way the detective receives no indication of which card you played.

Action cards

False trace (2x)

Take the trace board behind your screen and secretly mark any trace by placing an X marker face down on the corresponding trace field. Put the blank marker that lay there before back behind your screen. Then put the trace board back in the middle of the table. You have thus laid a false trace that could lead the detective to a wrong murder weapon.

Card text: Mark another trace on the trace board by replacing a blank marker with an X marker (X face down).

False clue (1x)

Take the clue board behind your screen and secretly mark any clue by placing an X marker face down on the corresponding clue field. Put the blank marker that lay there before back behind your screen. Then put the clue board back in the middle of the table. You have thus given a false clue that could lead the detective to a wrong culprit.

Card text: Mark another clue on the clue board by replacing a blank marker with an X marker (X face down).

Clean any room (2x)

Choose any room (except the scene of the crime) and cross it out on your investigation sheet.

Card text: Clean any room and cross it out on your investigation sheet.

Steal 2 cards (1x)

This card must always be played face up, even if the round board specifies a face-down card. The detective must give you all his hand cards. Choose 2 of them, which you remove for the rest of the game. Place these two cards behind your screen and give the remaining cards back to the detective.

Card text: Must be played face up! Look at the detective's hand cards and remove 2 cards.

Search pile (1x)

This card must always be played face up, even if the round board specifies a face-down card. Choose the clue card pile or the trace card pile and secretly search it for any card, which you remove for the rest of the game. Keep this card face down behind your screen. Then shuffle the searched pile.

Card text: Must be played face up! Remove any card from the clue card pile or the trace card pile. Then shuffle the pile.

The Detective's Actions

Each round choose 3 actions, which you perform one after another. You have 5 different actions to choose from and can combine them as you like, so you may also perform the same action several times. The only exception: the action Search room may only be performed once per round.

The 5 actions are:

• Search room: You learn from the murderer whether you find something in this room. If so, you receive 3 cards with which you can examine clues/traces.
• Examine door: You learn from the murderer whether he went through a certain door.
• Request cards: You receive cards with which you can examine clues/traces.
• Play card: You play a card to examine the clue/trace shown on it and learn whether it could be part of the crime.
• Discard 3 cards: You discard 3 cards in order to examine any clue/trace.

Search room (maximum 1x per round)

The forensics team has limited resources, so you can perform this action only once per round. Choose any room (except the scene of the crime) and tell the murderer that you want to search this room. The murderer then looks at his investigation sheet and tells you either:

"You find something." This means the murderer went through this room and did not clean it. You now draw 3 cards, distributed as you like between the trace card pile and the clue card pile. You need these cards to search for specific traces and clues with the action Play card. The murderer then crosses out the room on his investigation sheet. If you search this room again, you will find nothing more.

OR "You find nothing." This means the murderer's path does not lead through this room, or it is crossed out on his investigation sheet (the murderer cleaned the room or you have already searched it).

Tip: The murderer's answer can give you information about the path taken. If you find nothing, consider: could the murderer have cleaned this room, or did he never walk through it?

Examples:

• You search the bedroom. This room was already crossed out by the murderer (= cleaned). The murderer therefore says: "You find nothing."
• You search the living room. This room was never entered by the murderer. The murderer therefore says: "You find nothing."
• You search the dining room. This room was entered by the murderer and is not crossed out. The murderer therefore says: "You find something." You draw a total of 3 cards, 1 from the clue card pile and 2 from the trace card pile. The murderer then crosses out the room. No further clues and traces can be found here now.

Examine door

Choose a door between two rooms and ask the murderer whether his path leads through this door. The murderer must answer truthfully.

Note: Unlike rooms, doors cannot be cleaned by the murderer. With this action you therefore always learn the truth.

Request cards

Choose the trace card pile or the clue card pile. The murderer draws the top 3 cards of this pile and secretly chooses 2 of them to give to you. He puts the remaining card back under the pile. If the chosen pile has fewer than 3 cards, the murderer draws all the cards, looks at them and passes all of them on to you.

When the card piles are used up, you can no longer perform this action.

Example: You request trace cards. The murderer draws these 3 cards (Powder, Metal, Glass). The murderer secretly chooses 2 cards to give you. He puts the 3rd card back under the trace card pile.

Play card

Choose one of your received clue or trace cards and place it face up. If you play further cards in the course of the game, place them on the card already played, forming a discard pile.

You now examine the clue or trace shown on the played card. Look under the marker of the corresponding clue/trace.

• If it is an X marker, put it back in its field with the X side facing up. It stays lying there open for the rest of the game. You have just discovered a clue/a trace! Consider whether this is a real clue/a real trace or whether the murderer may have laid a false clue or a false trace. Try to draw the right conclusions from your find. It is best to make notes and mark the trace/clue on your investigation sheet.
• If it is a blank marker, take it off the board and set it aside. You can rule out this trace/clue immediately. Every weapon that contains this trace, or every suspect to whom this clue points, cannot be the murder weapon/the murderer. Since the murderer can only add traces/clues but cannot remove any, a missing trace/clue is always true and you can safely rule it out.

Note: The murderer can play action cards in his bonus action with which he can lay false clues/traces. He can then mark a clue/trace with an X marker even though the clue/trace is not part of the murder.

Example: You play the clue card Motive: Jealousy. You look under the corresponding marker Jealousy. It is not an X marker. So you have found no clue to the motive Jealousy and can therefore rule out all suspects with this motive. Cross them out on your investigation sheet.

Discard 3 cards

You may put any 3 of your hand cards on the discard pile and in return look under any marker of your choice on one of the two boards. You proceed as described under Play card. The 3 cards you give up can be clue cards or trace cards, or both kinds mixed.

End of the Game

The game ends after the 8th round. The detective must now name the murderer, the murder weapon and the room through which the murderer entered the house. The detective does not have to know the murderer's entire path! If all 3 statements are correct, the detective wins. If at least one statement is wrong, the murderer wins.

The detective may also solve the murder before the end of the 8th round, but loses immediately if the solution is not completely correct. Solving the murder does not count as an action, so it can be done in addition.

Adjusting the Difficulty

Harder for the detective / easier for the murderer

Turn the parts of the round board so that both parts show B, C or D for an increasingly difficult game. For an even greater challenge you can also play so that the murderer lays all action cards face down.

Easier for the detective / harder for the murderer

Play all murderer action cards face up, regardless of the indication on the round board. For an even easier game you can deal the detective one clue card and one trace card at the start of the game.

Variant: Home and Away

Play a total of 2 games, in which each of you takes the role of the detective once and the role of the murderer once. If the detectives win both games, the person who needed fewer actions wins. To keep better track of the number of actions, note, when the detective wins, in which round he solved the murder and whether and how many actions he still had left in that round.

If the murderers win both games, the game ends in a draw.