The Light in the Mist
The Light in the Mist Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
How to Play: The Tarot Deck
The tarot deck consists of 78 cards, 22 of which are called the Major Arcana. They are marked with the numbers 0–XXI (0–21). At the top, in the middle, each of them shows one single symbol. Set these cards aside.
The remaining 56 cards are the Minor Arcana. Like ordinary playing cards, the Minor Arcana are divided into 4 suits: wands, cups, swords and pentacles. Each suit contains 10 numbered cards (I–X) plus the page, knight, queen and king cards.
Each Major Arcana card contains a puzzle, which as a rule is solved with the help of the Minor Arcana. A Minor Arcana card may hold clues to several puzzles at once, but a Major Arcana card is used only when solving its own unique riddle.
Solving Puzzles
- Choose the Major Arcana card whose puzzle you want to solve. Take all the Minor Arcana cards needed to solve it, if there are any. Each Major Arcana card is decorated at the top with an ornament showing fruit. The number of fruits indicates how many Minor Arcana cards are required to solve that puzzle. The symbols at the top of the Minor Arcana cards show which puzzles they are used for. You can also consult the CARD LIST on the last page of this booklet to find out how many cards, and of which suit, are required to solve a given puzzle.
- Read the hint for solving the puzzle in the WORDS OF WISDOM section of this booklet.
- Solve the puzzle. As a result you will obtain a keyword.
- Find the word you obtained in the ANSWERS section of this booklet.
- Read the corresponding passage from the VISIONS section.
- Track your progress using the JOURNAL. Write down the passage number, the keyword, or simply tick off the number of the card whose puzzle you solved (in the box you will find a spare copy of the JOURNAL for a second play-through).
- Put every item you find into the BACKPACK (write them on the reverse side of the JOURNAL) and follow any instructions printed in bold type.
Course of Play
- The game requires no knowledge of tarot and no additional components. Only free space on the table, a pencil and paper to make notes.
- The puzzles differ from one another in difficulty. Some of them are quite simple, others will take serious thought, but every riddle can be solved by logic, so do not try to guess the right answer. Rearranging letters will only be necessary when you are told so directly, and that happens just once in the whole game.
- If you cannot solve a puzzle, first try re-reading the corresponding passage in the WORDS OF WISDOM section. If that does not help, try solving a different puzzle and come back later to the one giving you trouble. You can also find hints by following the link www.gaga-games.com/tarothints or by scanning the QR code alongside. There you will also find the correct answers (spoiler-free) to all the puzzles, so you can check yourself without looking into the ANSWERS section.
- Some puzzles have several solutions, tied to different pieces of the story. You decide for yourself whether to stop at one answer for each such riddle or to try to find them all. In the second case you will get to know Sam's story better.
- With the exception of the first and last puzzles (0 and XXI), you may solve them in any order. The CARD LIST section contains a full list of all available puzzles and of the cards required to solve them.
- Note that the BACKPACK is a sealed envelope. Do not open it until you are instructed to do so.
- The game contains a narrative based on real-life situations (age restrictions for such material are described below). You can simply solve the puzzles and ignore the story, that is, not read the text in the VISIONS section, except for the passages set in bold type. However, you will still have to make notes in the BACKPACK about all the things you find. You can also skip solving the puzzles and simply read the passages of the VISIONS section one after another to learn the whole story.
- Don't forget to take breaks — your adventure will take more than one evening.
Begin play by reading passage 0 in the WORDS OF WISDOM section.
Age Rating
The Light in the Mist is intended for players aged 14 and over. It is a coming-of-age story that touches on the themes of depression, tragic loss and alcoholism. The game rests on its creators' conviction that art shapes a better understanding of other people's problems, and a proper attitude towards them.
Tarot Reading
Most tarot decks usually come with a so-called "little white book" — a small brochure containing either card interpretations for beginners or the authors' reimagining of the traditional meanings. In The Light in the Mist, as you have already guessed, the deck used is not an ordinary tarot deck. And the book you are holding is not so little, and not white at all. And whereas traditional tarot is used mainly for divination, self-knowledge, decision-making, seeking inspiration and so on, we suggest you use these cards for other purposes.
The Light in the Mist consists of three self-contained parts — Sam's story, the puzzles, and the tarot deck. Each element can exist independently of the others, but nonetheless we are convinced that the work we have done can only be appreciated in full by joining all three elements into a single whole. We recommend that you engage with the game's elements in their interrelation: solve the puzzles, read the corresponding passages, and follow the story to the end. Just as Sam used the tarot to tie her memories to the cards, so you, by interacting with the cards, will create a special bond. We hope that those already familiar with tarot will understand how the puzzles and the pieces of the narrative connect to the meanings of the cards, and that newcomers will discover that connection for themselves on the basis of the answers they find. We want the experience you gain to be a spur to a more serious study of the meanings of the tarot cards. If you feel ready for that, there are many ways to begin.
Spreads
Laying out tarot cards comes down to shuffling the deck, drawing cards, and laying them out in front of you in a particular way. A beginner's spread may consist of just three cards. A one-card spread is a good way to set your plans for the day or to get an answer to a simple question ("yes" or "no"). A three-card spread can be read as "past, present and future", "them, me and us", or "beginning, middle and end". In any case, however, you can only set about reading tarot once you are able to formulate a question or set a theme that will give the context for the interpretation. For example: "Should I go into the misty forest?"
Learning
Learning to read tarot is like learning to meditate: that is, constant practice is required. The more often you turn to the cards and the longer you study them, the easier it will be for you to interpret their meanings in different contexts.
Those who read tarot usually keep a journal in which they write down which cards were drawn, what position they took in the spread, and how they were interpreted in the context of the question asked. In the process of reading the cards you always rely on intuition, but you will also need a proper understanding of the symbolism inherent in the tarot cards. The booklet then gives the basic interpretations for each card in the game.
Card List
The last page of the booklet lists every Major Arcana puzzle together with the Minor Arcana cards it needs. The number in brackets is the total count of additional cards required; the suits are shown by icons for cups, wands, swords and pentacles. A separate icon marks the easier puzzles.
| Card | Additional cards | Easier puzzle |
|---|---|---|
| The Fool | (0) | yes |
| The Magician | (6) Cups IV–VI; Wands IV–VI | yes |
| The High Priestess | (14) Pentacles I–King | |
| The Empress | (3) Cups I–III | |
| The Emperor | (4) Pentacles King; Cups King; Wands King; Swords King | |
| The Hierophant | (3) Wands VIII–X | |
| The Lovers | (2) Cups Knight and Queen | |
| The Chariot | (14) Swords I–King | |
| Strength | (13) Swords I–Queen | |
| The Hermit | (0) | yes |
| Wheel of Fortune | (8) Cups IV–VI; Swords I–III, VII, VIII | |
| Justice | (3) Cups VII–IX | |
| The Hanged Man | (5) Pentacles X–King | yes |
| Death | (4) Cups Page–King | |
| Temperance | (6) Wands I–III, VII, Page, Queen | yes |
| The Devil | (7) Pentacles I, Knight, Queen; Cups X; Wands Page, Knight, Queen | |
| The Tower | (9) Pentacles I–IX | |
| The Star | (2) Cups X, Page | yes |
| The Moon | (8) Wands VII–King | yes |
| The Sun | (8) Wands I–VII, Knight | |
| Judgement | (4) Pentacles II, IV, VI, VIII | yes |
| The World | (14) Pentacles X, Page; Cups I–III, VII–IX; Wands VII–X; Swords X–Knight |
Notes on this table as printed in the booklet: the easier-puzzle icon beside The Fool is printed solid rather than as an outline like the others, but the legend lists only the one icon. For The World the printed total is (14) while the cards listed alongside it add up to fifteen; both are reproduced here exactly as printed.
Booklet Structure and What This Transcription Omits
The booklet's own table of contents runs: INTRODUCTION (p. 3), HOW TO PLAY (p. 5), WORDS OF WISDOM (p. 7), VISIONS (p. 14), TAROT READING (p. 52), ANSWERS (p. 64), CARD LIST (p. 66). It also carries this disclaimer: "This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and events are fictitious. Any resemblance to real people, living or dead, or to real events is coincidental."
Four parts of the booklet are deliberately not reproduced here, because they are puzzle and story content rather than rules:
- WORDS OF WISDOM (pp. 7–13) — the per-puzzle clue passage for each of the 22 Major Arcana, read at step 2 of Solving Puzzles.
- VISIONS (pp. 14–51) — the numbered story passages unlocked by solved puzzles.
- The individual card interpretations that follow the Tarot Reading introduction (pp. 53–63) — a short divinatory meaning for each of the 78 cards.
- ANSWERS (pp. 64–65) — the alphabetical index of solution keywords and the passage number each one leads to.
Everything else in the booklet — the introduction, the whole of HOW TO PLAY, the age rating, the Tarot Reading introduction with its Spreads and Learning advice, and the CARD LIST — is transcribed above.
Credits
Puzzle design: Rita Orlov. Artist: Jack Fallows. Story text: Rita Orlov and Jack Fallows. Graphic design: Rita Orlov and Jack Fallows.
Russian-language edition prepared by GaGa Games. Translator: Evgenia Orlova. Proofreader: Irina Kotova. Editors: Ksenia Khatskaleva, Daniil Moloshnikov. Layout designer and artist: Ksenia Esina. Project manager: Artem Savelyev. Head of editorial: Valeria Gorbacheva. General management: Anton Skovorodin.