How to Play

In short

Everyone at the table had some tie to the victim. Two of you know who killed them, because it was you: the killer and the accomplice. Everyone else is innocent. Every round the table votes one suspect out. The innocents win if they get rid of both the killer and the accomplice. The criminals win if at least one of them lasts to the end, or as soon as there are as many of them as there are innocents.

You can play for the team or for yourself: every card has a personal goal, and it earns points even if your team loses.

Talk out loud, by voice. The site shows the cards, clues, speaking order and votes. The case details stay pinned above the list of players for the whole game. Every player has a seat number on their avatar, so you can call someone by name or by number.

What you get

At the start everyone gets a secret role and a character card:

• Profession and trait. These are what the clues are checked against. Each trait is made of two details, and every case has its own.
• Tie to the victim, motive and alibi. A criminal's alibi may turn out to be false.
• Secret. Worth keeping to the very end.
• Personal goal. Earns points if you pull it off.

The golden rule of the card: you can only reveal one of the two yourself, your trait or your profession. Once your trait is out, you can't reveal your profession, and the other way round. The other one can only come out through the Search and Testimony cards, or when you leave the game.

A round

There are four rounds, and the last one is the finale.

1. Clue. A new clue turns up. It fits two or three players, and there is always an innocent among them.
2. Statements. One by one, everyone reveals one line of their card and talks about themselves. Each round the order starts from a new seat.
3. Discussion. Free talk. This is when cards are played.
4. Accusations. In the same order as the statements, everyone gets a minute to say who they suspect and why.
5. Vote. Anonymous: you only see how many votes each player got. One person leaves the game.

In round one only, you can vote "Vote nobody out". If that option gets the most votes, nobody leaves, but round two has two votes in a row and two players go. If it ties with a player, the runoff is between them and this option, and a second tie also means nobody goes.

If there's a tie, there's a runoff between the leaders. If that's a tie too, the police decide: a roulette spins on everyone's screen, and whoever it stops on is out. Before the roulette, each of the leaders who holds a Lawyer card is offered the chance to play it.

If you don't vote in time, your vote goes against yourself. If you aren't one of the candidates in a runoff or the final vote, it is simply lost.

The card of a player who is out stays closed: all anyone knows is what they managed to reveal. From then on they only watch. If three or fewer players are left at the table, the finale starts straight away.

The finale

The remaining clues are revealed, everyone gives statements, discusses and makes accusations. Then a secret poll picks the three main suspects, each of them makes a speech in their own defence, and the final votes remove up to two more players.

If three players are left, there is no poll: everyone makes a defence speech, and a single deciding vote closes the case. A tie in the final vote is broken by the poll results, and if there was no poll or it's still a tie, the police roulette decides.

Who wins

• The innocents, if both the killer and the accomplice are out.
• The criminals, if at least one of them makes it to the end. They also win early, the moment there are as many of them at the table as there are innocents.

Besides the team result there are personal points: for your team winning, for keeping your secret and for completing your goal. Points go into the season table. Votes earn no points: voting stays anonymous even after the game.

Cards

Everyone gets one card from the deck. Two more can turn up during the game if someone is voted out in one of the first three rounds:

• Forensics goes to an innocent player, or to two of them in a six-player game. In Standard mode it comes after any player is voted out, otherwise it would show who just left. In Light mode it comes only after an innocent is voted out.
• False Trail secretly goes to the remaining criminal once their partner is out.

• Search. Secretly look at one hidden line on a player's card.
• Testimony. Make a player reveal one specific line.
• Face-off. Put two players face to face: both reveal their alibi, tie to the victim or motive to everyone, your choice.
• Lawyer. Cancel one vote against you when you are about to be voted out.
• Planted Clue. Secretly swap the next clue to be found: it will point at the player you choose.
• Forensics. Secretly check one of the clues found so far: genuine or planted.
• False Trail. Works by itself, once: when a Search would have given you away, it shows a clean result instead.