A Recipe for Death
A Recipe for Death Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Rules
You all gather in the wake of the crime and attempt to piece together your memories, with the aim of identifying the perpetrator. In each round, you recall more and more about the circumstances of the crime, as each round deals with a different period of time from the evening the crime was committed. This means the crime cannot be fully reconstructed until Round 3. You are of course free to flick back through your game booklet at any time. You decide as a group if the discussion is starting to go around in circles, and when you want to move on to the next round. A rough estimate is 30 – 60 minutes per round.
Your game booklet is intended for your eyes only. Only the sections on Game Rules, Structure of the Game and Background are the same for every player. You are allowed to withhold information about your character, but you must not lie! If you are directly asked about a specific piece of information, you must tell the truth. The perpetrator is the only person who is allowed to lie and mislead other players. What you can do, however, is present the truth in such a way that it casts you in the best possible light. You can decide for yourself what information you wish to share. But be careful: If you fail to share enough information with the group, you may not be able to solve the crime. You can only succeed by working together! If you share too much too soon, you may come under suspicion from the other players. If you accidentally lied and you are not the perpetrator, simply try to correct your mistake as soon as you can.
You will find out whether you are the perpetrator in the following section, which contains information on your character. The perpetrator will never be one of the absent characters. They are always presumed innocent.
The rules of the game and the section on the structure of the game can be found in every game booklet.
Structure of the Game
Each Culinario Mortale game consists of three rounds with a clear game structure. We have listed the individual phases of the game for you.
We intentionally omitted the topic of food from the structure of the game. Depending on your personal preferences and number of courses, there are several ways to integrate your dinner menu into the game. You can either leave longer breaks between rounds, allowing you time to eat, or you can eat during the game itself.
Start of the Game
The host should read aloud the sections Game Rules, Structure of the Game (this text) and Background. Each player introduces themself in a couple of sentences. Following this, Paul Hopkins reads the Prologue from the incident booklet.
Round 1
After being prompted by the host, all players read Round 1 in silence. You should then discuss the first period of time from the evening of the crime.
Round 2
All players read Round 2 in silence. The host reads Incident A from the incident booklet. Everyone discusses the second period.
Round 3
All players read Round 3 in silence. The host reads Incident B from the incident booklet. Everyone discusses the final period.
Accusation and Defense
Each player makes an accusation against one other player. All accused suspects have the chance to defend themselves. Following this, the group votes on who they want to accuse of the crime.
Solution
The Solution is read aloud. Did you manage to identify the perpetrator or did they go undetected?
Organizer's Guide
Translated from the French organizer's booklet "Règles du jeu". The booklet is addressed to the organizer, the guest who hosts the evening, and it adds the following detail to the publisher's English text above.
The Organizer's Role
The organizer is also a participant. They are subject to the same rules as the other players, and they receive a game booklet like everyone else. The organizer may choose one of the roles that remain available. If they wish, they can suggest that guests dress up according to their role.
Assigning Roles
The game is designed for five to seven players, including the organizer. Open the panel that matches the number of players in order to see which roles to hand out. The role panels are on perforated sheets, and they are not part of this text. Male roles can be played by women and vice versa. The culprit cannot be one of the absent characters, because they are presumed innocent.
Players should read the first part of their game booklet, ideally two to three days before the evening. That part contains the game rules and information specific to each character. If the organizer wishes, they can use the support code to download the first part of each game booklet from the publisher's website and email it to the guests. Ask the guests not to read the sealed sections on Rounds 1 to 3. Each guest needs their own game booklet to play.
Preparing the Evening
Before the evening, the organizer should:
- Agree on a date to play.
- Assign the roles to the guests.
- Send the game booklets a few days in advance.
- Advise the guests to open and read the first sealed part of their game booklet.
- Encourage the guests to take on their roles and to dress up if they wish.
- Plan food and drink, because the game can last several hours. Recipe ideas are on the publisher's website at www.culinario-mortale.fr/recettes.
On the day of the game, the organizer may decorate the room (this is optional). Place the name badges (seven "marque-places", one per character) on the table before the guests arrive, so that each guest knows where to sit. The organizer needs only their own game booklet and the Incident Booklet (the "Livret des événements"), which they should place at their seat.
Ask the guests to be punctual. The game can only begin when everyone is present. Ideally, the players should not discuss their roles or the events among themselves before starting.
If any material is lost, the support code in the game box lets you download and print up to two items from the publisher's website, at www.culinario-mortale.fr/support.
Start of the Game
Before starting, read the game rules, the game's structure and the background aloud, so that the players are reminded of them. These parts are the same in every game booklet. Even if the guests have already read them, it is important to read them again.
Each player then introduces themself in one or two sentences. The organizer then reads the Prologue aloud from the Incident Booklet. It is a short speech.
Round 1
After the Prologue is read, the first round can begin. Ask the guests to open their game booklets and read Round 1 silently. Each round covers a specific moment of the evening, so in Round 1 the players do not yet have all the information about the night of the crime. They only learn what happened during the period covered by that round. For this reason, the crime cannot yet be solved during Round 1.
When the reading is finished, discuss together what happened up to the time indicated. The organizer starts the conversation by asking the player of their choice what they remember. Make sure that no one simply reads their booklet aloud. The discussion should arise naturally between the people seated at the table.
Round 1 lasts about one hour on average. The later rounds are a little shorter, which keeps the pace up throughout the evening. Decide together when to move to the next round. If the discussion seems to stall, it probably means that all the clues have been given. If in doubt, ask whether anyone wants to bring new information forward. If not, move on to the next round. It is recommended to take a short break between rounds, about ten minutes, so that everyone can relax for a moment.
Round 2
Players read Round 2 silently. The organizer then reads Incident A from the Incident Booklet aloud and starts the conversation. Discuss the second part of the evening in light of this new information. The round lasts about 45 minutes on average.
Round 3
Players read Round 3 silently. The organizer then reads Incident B from the Incident Booklet aloud. With these new revelations, the group revisits the course of the evening one last time. The round lasts about 30 minutes on average. At the end of this round, you have all the information you need to identify the culprit.
Accusation and Defense
Players take turns voicing their suspicions about who the culprit is and about the motive for the crime. Every suspected person may defend themself immediately. This stage should not last more than 30 minutes.
Vote
At the end, a vote is held to determine who committed the crime. Each player has one vote. If there is a tie, a second vote is held between the suspects who received the most votes, to break the tie. As a group, you can only win if you name the true culprit by majority vote. Otherwise, the person who committed the crime is the only winner.
Resolution
At the end of the game, the organizer reads the Resolution from the Incident Booklet aloud. Did you manage to unmask the culprit? Who achieved their goals? And what really happened during the New Year's Eve celebration?