Witness: On the Trail of the Chameleon
Witness: On the Trail of the Chameleon Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
72 cards, 1 marker. You'll also need 4 sheets of paper and 4 pens.
Note: If you've already played one of the games in our Witness series, you can skip these rules as they are identical. Choose either side of a Whisper card, read the card "On the Trail of the Chameleon" with the introduction to the story, and then start with the first case, "The Charity Ball."
You can get detailed information about your characters and IQ in the Deep Print Games app, available for free on the App Store and on Google Play.
Setup
First, decide who will play which of the 4 characters and sit in this order, clockwise: Annabella, Hari, Norio, Erin.
Place all the cards into a deck in the middle of the table without changing their order. Turn the top card over and place it next to the deck. It is a quick guide.
Now, take the top 2 cards of the deck. These are Whisper cards, with a total of four different sides. Determine one of these four sides at random and place it clearly visible in the middle of the table. For the 4 Whisper rounds, it tells you who starts whispering and in which direction you whisper. Put the marker on image 1 of this Whisper card. Set the other Whisper card aside, you won't need it for this case.
The card "On the Trail of the Chameleon" is now at the top of the deck. Take it and read the introduction to the adventure that is on it.
On the back of the card, you will find an overview of the 8 cases of the adventure, as well as how hard they are on a scale from 1 (easy) to 4 (very difficult).
Gameplay
Select the case you would like to play. The cases build on each other as a campaign, so you should play them in numbered order. The first case of this adventure is "The Charity Event," whose cards are on top of the deck. (If you'd like to play a different case, place its cards on top without changing their order. The large number in the bottom left on the back of each card shows which case it belongs to.)
Now turn over the case's prologue and read it. (This can be one or more cards.)
Next, you will receive your personal information, the clues. You will find these on the next 4 cards. Take the top clue card in a clockwise order; Annabella first, followed by Hari, Norio, and Erin, according to your seating order. (This is always one card per person.)
Your clues are personal and secret. Therefore, keep them hidden. You are not allowed to talk about the clues until you've revealed the solutions at the end of the case.
Now look closely at your clues, read them carefully and memorize their contents well. Bold passages and images are especially important. (Ignore the illustrations on the backs, these don't contain any clues.)
There will now be 4 Whisper rounds, in which two of you whisper while the other two listen. The Whisper card shows who is whispering in whose ear during each Whisper round.
When you whisper, you are passing on your personal clues. From the second Whisper round on, you also pass on all the clues you've received from the other characters so far. You are only allowed to pass on clues, not your conclusions.
Important: Make sure to also pass which clues come from which character! This might be needed to solve the case!
Always whisper quietly enough that the other two characters can't hear you. Feel free to take a few steps away, or even briefly go into another room, if needed.
When you are listening, you are not allowed to ask questions, other than to request the whisperer to repeat all the statements. You are also not allowed to pass on any of your personal clues – clues may only pass in the direction of the arrow on the Whisper card!
Attention: You are only allowed to take notes after the 4th Whisper round – never before! You can, however, reread your personal clues and the prologue between Whisper rounds.
After each Whisper round, move the marker on the Whisper card to the next image in numbered order.
After the 4th Whisper round, move it to image 5. Now (and not before) you may take as many notes as you like, but you must keep them hidden from the others. You are still not allowed to talk about the clues, your notes, or your conclusions!
Once you've all finished taking notes, reveal the case's questions. (This can be one or more cards.) Each of you then secretly writes down your own answers to the three questions on a piece of paper. You are still not allowed to talk to each other!
When everyone has written down their answers, reveal the solutions. (This can be one or more cards.) Each character gets 1 point for each correct answer. (Answers are considered correct if they contain the bold parts of the solutions.) Add up everyone's points to get your score:
- 12 points: Perfect! Couldn't be better.
- 10–11 points: Very well done.
- 7–9 points: Pretty good, but you can do better.
- 0–6 points: Much room for improvement.
Now, you can talk about everything, and if you like, look at all the clues together.
Finally, read the case's epilogue. (This can be one or more cards.)
Example of Whisper Rounds
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In the 1st Whisper round, it's Annabella and Norio's turn to whisper. Annabella whispers her personal clues to Erin. At the same time, Norio whispers his to Hari. Then, the marker is moved to image 2.
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Erin now whispers all the clues she knows to Norio – both her personal clues and those that Annabella whispered to her in the previous round. At the same time, Hari whispers everything he knows to Annabella – his personal clues and the clues he just got from Norio. Then, the marker is moved to image 3.
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Once again, Annabella whispers everything she knows to Erin. She repeats her own clues, along with everything she heard from Hari. Meanwhile, Norio passes on everything he now knows to Hari. The marker is moved to image 4.
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Now Erin whispers everything she knows to Norio, while Hari does the same to Annabella. All characters should now have heard all the clues at least once. The marker is moved to image 5.
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Now you are all free to take as many notes as you like, but you may not discuss the clues.
Preparing the Next Case
If you like, you can play the next case straight away. In this case, determine a Whisper card side again.
Otherwise, simply put the 2 Whisper cards and the card with the quick guide back on top of the deck. Place the cards from the cases that have already been played on the bottom of the deck. Then put the deck and the marker in the box. You can start the next case whenever you like by selecting a Whisper card side and reading the prologue. If required, you can read the procedure for a case again in the quick guide.