Please note that these are the basic, recommended rules. By all means, feel free to modify and vary them according to your preferences. Experiment and have fun. If you are unfamiliar with Cryptic Clues, you may wish to refer to our handy guide at trilobytegames.com/cryptics. For a printable PDF, click here.
Rules
Guests chose which of the six characters to be. Shuffle all the Destination cards and deal the number of cards to each player according to how long a game you wish to play as follows.
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The Grand Tour – 18 Destination Cards.
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The Dime Tour – 10 Destination Cards.
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The Nickle Tour – 5 Destination Cards.
Guests turn the top Destination Card of their deck face up. That will be their first designated Destination.
Roll the Magic Die to determine who goes first. Turns rotate clockwise.
A Guest’s turn consists of rolling the Magic Die and moving their token according to the die roll. The sides are numbered as follows: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11. Guests may not retrace their steps during the move.
Upon arriving at their Destination, the Guest will draw a card from the Puzzler Card deck and the previous player becomes the Reader, reading the question aloud and showing it to all the Guests. The Reader will announce how many Hints, if any, there are. The Playing Guest has as much time to answer the question as is agreeable by consensus. If the Guest chooses the correct answer, they will discard their Destination Card and reveal a new one and their turn continues. If they have used Hints, each roll of the die will be subtracted by the number of Hints used until they reach their next destination. If they cannot guess or answer incorrectly, the correct answer is not revealed, but rather the next Guest in turn is given a chance to Steal (answer the question and discard their current Destination Card) and so on until all the Guests have been given a chance to Steal. If a Guest blurts out the answer before others have had a chance to Steal, the other Guests may discard a Destination Card. Whichever Guest (or team) first answers correctly can discard their Destination Card and reveal a new one. The Playing Guest that initially could not answer correctly stays in the room and draws a new Puzzler Card on their next turn.
(The use of Hints is entirely optional. It is suggested that for a two player game, Hints not be used so that the Reader retains the opportunity to Steal. Or, for a multiplayer game, Players may agree to forego the use of Hints so there is no Reader and, instead, the Playing Guest uses the Magic Decoder to see if their answer is correct. If not correct, they do not reveal the answer but allow the next Guests in turn the opportunity to Steal.)
Navigation
Roll the Magic Die and move the number of spaces along the runner pathways and stairs as indicated. You may not enter a room unless it is your Destination Room unless you enter via a Secret Passageway.
A stairway is considered to be one space. The grand stairway is divided into two spaces, the lower part on the 1st floor and the upper part on the 2nd floor.
Entering a Secret Passage and transporting immediately to the designated room counts as one space.
(If you wish to speed up the game, you can double the roll of the Magic Die.)
The Ghost
Playing with The Ghost is optional. If you do elect to play with it, here are the rules:
If you draw The Ghost card or are tagged by The Ghost, you immediately replace your token with the Lady in White token. You now wander about as The Ghost. Your activities as a player are suspended until you are “unghosted”. There are two ways to become unghosted. One is to land on the same space or room as another player at which point that tagged player becomes The Ghost. The second way is to draw the Mystery Spell Card that sets your spirit free, at which point you replace the Lady in White token with your original token and resume play as usual.
Winning
When a Guest (or team) has discarded their last Destination Card , they are immediately transported to the Little Room at the Top where they must solve the last Puzzler there. If they fail, they lose their turn and remain there until they successfully solve the next Puzzler. When they are successful, they win the game, Stauf grants them their fondest desire and their spirit is set free.
Mystery Spell Cards
The deck of Mystery Spell Cards is shuffled prior to start of game and placed to the side. When a Guest lands on a Mystery Spell space, a card is drawn from the Mystery Spell card deck and the directions followed. The card is then placed face down at the bottom of the Mystery Spell card deck (recycled). Some cards are to be saved for later use at the Guest’s discretion.
There are two of each of the cards listed as follows:
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Take an extra turn.
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Go to your Destination.
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Discard your current Destination Card and reveal a new one.
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Donate a Destination Card to a Guest of your choice.
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Send any other Guest to Start.
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Send any other Guest to a room of your choice.
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Attempt to steal at any time. (Save, recycle after use)
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Magically solve a Puzzler. (Save, recycle after use)
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Roll a seven and go immediately to your destination. (Save, recycle after use)
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Go to Doll Room.
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Go to Start.
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Go to Game Room.
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Lose your next turn.
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Take a Destination Card from a Guest of your choice.
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Create an alliance with any Guest to help solve a Puzzler and share in the rewards. (Save, recycle after use)
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Ward off an evil Mystery Spell. (Save, recycle after use)
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Tag. You are The Ghost!
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If you are The Ghost, your spirit is now set free.