Sherlock: Das Familiengeheimnis
Sherlock: Das Familiengeheimnis Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
About the Q System
The Q System is a cooperative game system in which you are confronted with a mystery that you can solve either alone or in a group.
You slip into the role of detectives and try to solve a case. After a short introduction, off you go. Following simple rules, you have to analyse clues, discuss theories and prove your deductive abilities in order to unravel the mystery.
In the Sherlock series you will compare your result with the master detective. Are you a match for him, or can you only just keep up with Lestrade?
Each case is unique and you can only play it once. If you like, you can pass it on to friends afterwards and watch them play. That is almost as exciting as solving the case yourself.
Setup
Take card 01, place it face up on the table and shuffle the remaining cards face down. Deal 3 hand cards to each player (only 2 cards with 6 or more players). If you are playing alone, please read the solo rules. Place the remaining cards as a face-down draw pile in the middle of the table.
Sharing Information
To solve the case, it is crucial to share information. However, you may not simply show your hand cards to your fellow players; you may only read aloud the underlined texts or the texts that appear in the image section shown in the rules.
The clues you have played are accessible to everyone and anyone may read them. You may discuss your theories with the others at any time and talk about the cards on the table.
Before you play the first card, you should exchange the information about your hand cards and together choose a starting player.
Playing the Game
Play proceeds clockwise. The players take turns one after another until all cards have been played or discarded.
When it is your turn, you perform exactly one of the following actions:
- a) Play information: Choose a card from your hand and place it face up on the table so that everyone can see all the information on it. It is best to read the text on this card aloud.
- b) Discard information: Choose a card from your hand and place it face down on the discard pile. You may no longer talk about this clue until all cards have been played.
IMPORTANT: If you play a card face up that is irrelevant to the case, you must subtract 1 point from your result at the end of the game. But be careful with the cards you discard: some clues are essential to solving the case!
At the end of the game, however, the discard pile must consist of at least 6 cards. If not, you have failed and the game ends without scoring!
At the end of your turn, you draw the top card of the draw pile – if there is one – and take it into your hand.
Solving the Case
Once all cards have been played or discarded, you review once more all the information lying on the table and together form a theory about what might have happened. In this phase you may also talk about the clues on the cards you discarded – provided you remember them.
When you have together found a solution to the case, open the questionnaire and answer the questions. Then open the solution and check your answers. Each correct answer earns you 2 points. For each irrelevant card you played, you must now subtract 1 point to determine your final result.
The Solo Game
If you play the case alone, the same rules apply to you, with the following changes:
- You have 6 hand cards.
- When you discard information, you must decide whether to place the card on the final or the temporary discard pile.
- When the draw pile is empty and your final discard pile consists of at least 6 cards, shuffle the temporary discard pile and place it as a new draw pile.
- From then on until the end of the game, you may only place cards you discard on the final discard pile.