EXIT: The Game – Dead Man on the Orient Express
EXIT: The Game – Dead Man on the Orient Express Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Helper App
Download the free bonus app — the Kosmos Helper App — which includes an atmospheric soundtrack and a digital timer. For Android 4, iOS 8, and Fire OS 4 and newer.
Game Materials
- 86 Cards
- 24 Riddle Cards
- 30 Answer Cards
- 32 Help Cards
- 2 Strange items
- 3 Sealed sheets
- 1 Book
- 1 Decoder disk
In addition, you will need something to write with (ideally ball-point pens, pencils, and an eraser), one or more sheets of paper, and a watch (ideally a stopwatch), to keep track of time. A pair of scissors will make the game easier to play. If you don't have any available, you can still play and just rip the materials with your hands.
Game Setup
Get the book and the decoder disk ready on the table. Leave the "strange items" and "sealed sheets" in the box for now. Sort the cards into three piles in accordance with what is written on their back sides:
- Riddle Cards
- Answer Cards
- Help Cards
Be sure not to look at the front sides of any of the cards yet.
Check to be sure that the Riddle Cards and Answer Cards are arranged in ascending order according to their letters or numbers.
Sort the Help Cards according to their symbols, and then place them on the side of the table. Place cards with the same symbol, one on top of another, such that the "1st CLUE" card is on top of the "2nd CLUE" card and the latter is on top of the "SOLUTION" card.
Exception: There are five Help Cards with the cross symbol.
Where Is the Game Board?
This game has no game board! You will have to figure out for yourselves what you have to find in the game and what the setting looks like. At the beginning of the game, you will have only the book and the decoder disk available to you.
As the game continues, you will add the Riddle Cards — either to be found in illustrations, or referred to in the text. Whenever this happens, you can pick the corresponding cards from the Riddle Card pile and look at them.
Likewise, you can only use the "strange items" and the "sealed sheets" in the box when explicitly told that you have found them. Until then, leave them untouched in the box!
Example: If you find an illustration like this, you may immediately pull the corresponding Riddle Card out of the pile and look at it.
Course of Play
Your goal is to solve the murder case together in the shortest possible time.
That would definitely be easier if not for the fact that every lock in the train is secured with a riddle. As soon as the game starts, you may look at all the pages of the book. During the course of the game, you will keep finding objects that are locked with a three-digit key code. To open them, you will have to figure out the matching code and enter it into the decoder disk. At the edge of the disk, you will see 10 different symbols. Each symbol stands for a code to be cracked. But you will have to figure out for yourselves which symbol belongs to which code. You will want to be sure to pay attention to every detail. If you think you can crack a code, enter it under the corresponding symbol on the disk. Then, look through the viewing window on the smallest wheel to see a number.
This number indicates the number of the Answer Card that you are then allowed to look at. If the code is incorrect, you will have to keep searching for a solution or switch to another riddle for the time being. If the code is correct, the Answer Card will tell you how to continue.
Example: For a riddle with a particular symbol, you have come up with a three-digit code. You enter this combination under that symbol on the decoder disk. In the little window, you will see the number of the Answer Card that you are then allowed to pull out of the pile and look at.
Is the Code Incorrect?
If so, the Answer Card will tell you. In that case, simply return the card to the pile and take another look at the riddle that you failed to solve. Maybe there's something that you overlooked. Or it may be that you simply don't yet have the hints that you need to solve it. Then you will just have to continue someplace else.
Example Answer Card: "Monsieur Pussot would be furious about this solution attempt. Unfortunately, the code is not correct! When you are done, place this card back in the stack of Answer Cards!"
Is the Code Possibly Correct?
If so, the Answer Card will look like this:
Example Answer Card: "The code may be right. Where do you see the code symbol?" — showing a grid of pictured objects, each labeled with a different Answer Card number. When you are done, place this card back in the stack of Answer Cards!
Where Will You See the Code Symbol?
Good question! To answer it, you will have to take a close look at the pictures in the book or on the Riddle Cards. All possible locked objects can be found in those places.
All of these objects are marked with a symbol.
Example: Our example involves a door marked with the symbol you just used. To continue with this example scenario: next, you will take a look at the Answer Card pictured next to that door and see which Answer Card you should now retrieve from the pile.
NOTE: You have to see the object with the symbol on a Riddle Card or in the book in order to be able to open it. You cannot open something that you have not found — just like in an actual room.
Is the Code Really Correct?
If so, the Answer Card will tell you how to continue. You will find one or more new Riddle Cards which you will be allowed to pull from the pile and look at immediately.
Is the Code Actually Incorrect?
Well, in that case you must have made a mistake. You will just have to think about it some more and come up with a different code.
IMPORTANT: Whether wrong or right — return all Answer Cards to the Answer Card pile. All codes can be solved logically. You shouldn't just try all possible combinations on the disk.
Need Some Help?
Of course, the game can provide you assistance if you get stuck. For each code, there are three Help Cards that can be recognized by the symbol on their back sides.
In addition to giving you an initial useful clue, each "1st CLUE" Help Card also tells you which Riddle Cards you must have found in order to be able to solve the corresponding riddle.
The "2nd CLUE" Help Cards will give you somewhat more concrete assistance in finding a solution to the corresponding riddle.
The "SOLUTION" Help Cards provide the solution to the riddle.
IMPORTANT: Always take the Help Cards for a specific Riddle Card or riddle in the book. These riddles are usually identified with a symbol (matching a symbol on the decoder disk). It won't help you to use Help Cards if you have not found a riddle with the corresponding symbol.
So have a little patience — some of the riddles can only be solved with the help of several Riddle Cards. You won't always have all of them available to you right away. Sometimes, you will first have to grapple with other riddles to get more cards. But don't be shy about using Help Cards if you get stuck.
Once you have used a Help Card, place it on a discard pile.
Additional Game Materials
In addition to the materials contained in the box, you will need a pencil and paper for taking notes. You will also need a watch/stopwatch.
IMPORTANT: You can write on, fold, or tear the materials ... All of this is allowed, and sometimes even required. You can only play the game once — after which you will know all the riddles, and won't need the game materials any longer! If you like, you can also use scissors to cut the materials rather than tearing them.
When Does the Game End?
The game ends when you have solved the last riddle and solved the murder. A card will tell you that. Start a stopwatch at the beginning of the game so you know how long you needed.
You can look at the table below to see how well you did. When calculating the number of Help Cards used, only the ones that gave you new hints or solutions should be counted. If a Help Card only had something that you knew anyway, do not include it in the calculation.
| Time | No Help Cards | 1–2 Help Cards | 3–5 Help Cards | 6–10 Help Cards | > 10 Help Cards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| < 60 Min. | 10 stars | 8 stars | 7 stars | 5 stars | 4 stars |
| < 90 Min. | 9 stars | 7 stars | 6 stars | 4 stars | 3 stars |
| < 120 Min. | 8 stars | 6 stars | 5 stars | 3 stars | 2 stars |
| > 120 Min. | 7 stars | 5 stars | 4 stars | 2 stars | 1 star |
In addition, you receive +2 stars if you succeeded in solving the murder case correctly.
One Final Tip
Any game materials that you successfully used to help solve a riddle should be set aside, but not put away. This way, you will be able to keep track of the materials more easily and won't get them mixed up. The only things that you will need for more than one riddle are the illustrations of the rooms (e.g., train cars and compartments).
The Game Begins
What are you waiting for? Start the stopwatch and solve the murder case before it's too late. Now you are allowed to look at all the pages of the book and begin solving riddles. If anything is unclear, don't be shy about looking something up in the rulebook during the game.
Record Sheet
The back of the rulebook provides a space to record your result: the names of the players who rode the Orient Express (up to 6 lines), the date and place of play, whether they succeeded in solving the murder case correctly (Yes, +2 stars / No), how many minutes and seconds it took, the total number of Help Cards used, the resulting number of stars in the assessment, the coolest riddle, the trickiest riddle, and the player who solved it.
Share your EXIT experiences using #exitstrategies.
Credits
Inka & Markus Brand and Kosmos thank all the test players and rule readers.
The Authors: Inka & Markus Brand live with their children Lukas and Emely in Gummersbach, Germany. They have published many children's and family games together and won numerous prizes. Of course, they are avid riddle and escape game fans.
EXIT concept: Kosmos (Ralph Querfurth, Sandra Dochtermann). Illustration: Claus Stephan. Cover illustration: Silvia Christoph. Title graphics: Michaela Kienle. Graphics: Sensit Communication GmbH. Editing: Ralph Querfurth. Translation: David Gamon. English edition editing: Camille Duhamel, Ted McGuire.
© 2017 Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co. KG, Stuttgart, Germany. © 2018 Thames & Kosmos, LLC, Providence, RI, USA.