Safari Witness
Safari Witness Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 75 Mugshots (Clue Mugshots)
- 7 Player Aid Cards
- 8 Case Cards
Set Up
- Shuffle Mugshots into a face-down deck, assemble the game box into a dealer shoe (see Assembly Tutorial).
- Deal 4 Mugshots from the deck and place them face down in the Unidentified Area; all information remains hidden.
- Give each player a double-sided Player Aid Card.
The player who has most recently watched a crime-themed TV program becomes the starting player and takes the first turn.
Play Area
The play area consists of three zones: the Unidentified Area, the Clue Area, and each player's Archive Area.
Clue Area
- The Clue Area is a temporary area where players add cards to initiate Identification.
Unidentified Area
- The Unidentified Area is a shared space where players take turns to perform Identification or Challenge.
- If players make a Successful Identification/Challenge, they take away the Mugshot(s) from the Unidentified Area. If players fail to make an Identification/Challenge, they return the Clue Mugshot(s) from their Clue Area to the Unidentified Area. Players can independently decide the location of the Mugshots when returning revealed Mugshots back to the Unidentified Area.
- The Unidentified Area has at least 4 Mugshots, and they should be placed in the center of the table. Note that you should immediately replenish Mugshots from the deck if the Unidentified Area has less than 4.
- At any time, the face-down Mugshots on the table cannot overlap each other. Unrevealed Mugshots cannot be moved.
Archive Area
- Each player has their own Archive Area to store the obtained Mugshots as their final scores. Spread out the Mugshots in the order they were obtained, leaving the abbreviation visible.
- Players could decide the order when multiple Mugshots enter the Archive Area at the same time. Newly archived Mugshots should be placed on top of the Archive Area. The Mugshot on top of the Archive Area may grant them a special ability in Advanced Mode.
Clue Types
Four Clue Types, except the name, each has five different Elements.
- Animal: Elephant, Owl, Bear, Goat, Pig
- Texture: Brick, Wood, Circular Tile, Diamond Tile, Wavy
- Color: Teal, Yellow, Orange, Pink, Violet
- Name: TAM, TOM, SAM, KIM, KRIS, ALAN, ALEX
Gameplay
From the starting player, each player takes a turn in clockwise order. Each turn, the player reveals 1 Mugshot from the deck as a Clue Mugshot and puts it into the Clue Area, then chooses ONE option:
- Perform Identification directly, or
- Reveal another Mugshot from the deck, then perform Identification, or
- Perform Challenge.
There are 5 Mugshots with partially obscured names (e.g. ??M, AL??), which are considered as matching with multiple names.
Identification
Choose one Mugshot from the Clue Area; declare ONE Clue Type out of the 4 (Animal, Texture, Color, Name); choose and reveal ONE Mugshot from the Unidentified Area.
If the declared Clue Type is the same as both chosen Mugshots, this Identification instance is a Success.
If no Clue Mugshots remain in the Clue Area, archive all revealed Mugshots to complete your Identification. Then the next player can start their turn. If there are other Mugshots remaining in the Clue Area, repeat the Identification Process by choosing another Clue Mugshot in the Clue Area.
If the declared Clue Type is NOT the same as both chosen Mugshots, this Identification is Failed: your turn ends immediately. Return all revealed Mugshots to the Unidentified Area FACE UP. The previous player can turn those cards face down any time after, and then the next player can start their turn.
Note: If a player has 2 or more Clue Mugshots, they must perform the Identification respectively. Your Identification must end immediately after a failed attempt.
Challenge
Player reveals at least 4 Mugshots in the Unidentified Area that do not match ANY Elements on the Challenged Mugshot.
Reveal Mugshots in the Unidentified Area, one by one. If none of the Elements match the Challenged Mugshot, proceed to reveal the next Mugshot. When the player manages to successfully reveal at least 4 Mugshots, they can finish their Challenge attempt and put all revealed Mugshots into their Archive Area; or continue revealing more Mugshots to score higher, but with the risk of failing the entire Challenge attempt.
If ANY Element matches, the Challenge is Failed, and your turn ends immediately. Return all revealed Mugshots to the Unidentified Area FACE UP. The previous player can turn those cards face down any time after, and then the next player can start their turn.
In a two-player game, if a player performs a Failed Identification, Mugshots should be returned face-up to the Unidentified Area by the current player, who then counts to three before flipping it face-down.
Game End & Score
The game ends immediately when a player obtains 10 Mugshots or the deck runs out, and whoever has the highest score wins the game. Each Mugshot in the player's Archive Area scores 1 point.
Case Module & Advanced Mode
In this game, we include the Case Module and Advanced Mode. They can be added separately or mixed-and-matched into the game mechanics.
Case Module
This module adds individual player objectives, so players can prioritize remembering certain Clue Types to solve their case for extra scores. Note that only players themselves can check their face-down Case Card.
- Change During Set Up: After step 2 of Set Up, randomly distribute 1 Case Card to each player.
- Change During Scoring: Case Card scoring: score points based on the description on your Case Card. All players show their Case Cards and score points according to the descriptions on their respective Case Cards. If there's a tie, the player with more Mugshots wins. If there is still a tie, they share the victory.
Advanced Mode
The 7 names can provide special abilities to players. A player declares the name as the Clue Type during the Identification process, then a successful Identification can activate the ability immediately after archiving. Note that abilities can choose to trigger or not.
ALEX ability can be activated as long as it is on top of the Archive Area during Identification, making it the only passive ability that doesn't require declaring names to activate. It aims to help players who tend to forget the Elements. Please at least don't forget to activate this ability.
Regardless of how the AL?? Mugshot ends up at the top of the Archive Area, it can always activate the ALEX ability.
Ability List
| Name | Ability (Advanced Mode) |
|---|---|
| TAM | Swap any 2 Mugshots' locations, including those in the Archive Area. |
| TOM | Privately examine an unidentified Mugshot and then put it back afterward. |
| SAM | Choose 2 Mugshots from the Unidentified Area, shuffle them blindly and put them back afterward. |
| KIM | Choose 1 archived Mugshot, return it face down to the Unidentified Area. |
| KRIS | Choose a specific type of element, then reveal 1 Mugshot from the Unidentified Area; archive it if it matches, otherwise return it face down to the Unidentified Area. |
| ALAN | Put any number of your archived Mugshots into the Clue Area, then perform an extra Identification. |
| ALEX | When this Mugshot is on top of your Archive Area, you can declare 2 Clue Types instead of 1 during your Identification. |
FAQ
Can I place the archived Mugshots in any order at any time?
Only the Mugshots that enter the Archive Area at the same time can be arranged in any order, while previously archived Mugshots must maintain their order.
Can blind shuffling (SAM ability) be done in an area hidden from everyone's view (e.g., under the table)?
YES. Shuffling blindly under the play area is technically accepted.
During a failed extra Identification, does the archived Mugshot go back to the Archive Area?
NO. If the extra Identification failed, return the archived Mugshot to the Unidentified Area face up.
Can the name ability (re)activate when I successfully identified a Mugshot in an extra Identification by declaring the name?
If an extra Identification succeeded by declaring the name, the corresponding ability can be activated again.
During Case Card Scoring, how to score Ink Mugshots in the game?
As per the rules, in this case, one Ink Mugshot can be considered as matching with any one possible name. E.g., you already archived 5 different Mugshots names plus one Ink Mugshot (??M), which can be deemed as having 6 different names and this earns you 3 pts. However, once you have archived all 7 Mugshot names, the Ink Mugshot cannot be considered as an extra name.
When declaring a name during an identification, what is the procedure if both chosen Mugshots' names happen to be covered by ink?
If their partially clear names can combine into a corresponding name, it is considered a successful identification (activate the corresponding ability if in Advanced Mode). Otherwise, this Identification is failed.
Appendix
Case Card objectives:
- Choose one texture, score 1pt for every 2 Mugshots with such texture in your Archive Area.
- Choose one color, score 1pt for every 2 Mugshots with such color in your Archive Area.
- Choose one animal, score 1pt for every 2 Mugshots with such animal in your Archive Area.
- Choose one name, score 1pt for every 2 Mugshots with such name in your Archive Area.
- Score 2pts for one set of 5 different textures of Mugshots; or 5 pts total if you have two sets.
- Score 2pts for one set of 5 different colors of Mugshots; or 5 pts total if you have two sets.
- Score 2pts for one set of 5 different animals of Mugshots; or 5 pts total if you have two sets.
- Score 2/3/4 pts if you have 5/6/7 different names of Mugshot.
Assembly Tutorial
We have designed the game box in three different modes to meet your needs in various scenarios! Follow these steps to assemble it:
- Showcase Display Mode.
- Take out the inner box.
- Rotate and tilt the box 180°.
- Dealer Shoe Mode.
- Flip the inner box face-down.
- Complete Camera Mode.