EXIT: The Game – Kidnapped in Fortune City
EXIT: The Game – Kidnapped in Fortune City Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Helper App
Download the free bonus app for a game tutorial, an atmospheric soundtrack, and a digital timer. For Android, iOS, and Fire. Check the app stores for details.
Game Materials
- 85 Cards
- 30 Answer Cards
- 32 Help Cards
- 23 Riddle Cards
- 1 Book
- 8 Strange items
- 6 Folded sheets
- 1 Town map
- 1 Decoder disk
In addition, you will need writing implements (ideally a ball-point pen, a pencil and an eraser), one or more sheets of paper, a pair of scissors, and a watch (ideally, a stopwatch) to keep time. As an alternative, you can use the digital timer with the atmospheric soundtrack. Just select the game in the Kosmos Helper App and click on the hourglass.
Every copy of this game is packaged with the greatest care. Unfortunately, mistakes can happen from time to time. Before playing, please check to make sure that all the materials are present. If anything is missing, do not start playing and contact us. See contact info on page 7.
Game Setup
Start by placing the town map, the folded sheets, and the strange items at the edge of the table. Sort the cards according to what is written on their backs:
- Riddle cards
- Answer cards
- Help cards
Be sure not to look at the fronts of any of the cards yet.
Check to make 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. Then place them at the edge of the table. Place cards with the same symbol one on top of another, with the "1st Clue" card on top of the "2nd Clue" card, and the latter on top of the "Solution" card.
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 spaces look like. At the beginning of the game, you will only have the book and the decoder disk available to you.
As the game continues, you will add riddle cards and folded sheets — either to be found in illustrations, or referred to in written instructions. Whenever this happens, you can take the corresponding items and look at them. You are also only allowed to use the strange items when explicitly instructed that you have found them. Until then, leave them at the edge of the table!
Example: When you see an illustration like this, you may immediately take the corresponding riddle cards (riddle cards O and P, in this case) and look at them.
Course of Play
Your goal is to work together to identify the kidnapper and free the sheriff as quickly as you can.
That would definitely be easier if every lock were not sealed with a riddle. As soon as the game begins, you are allowed to look at the book — without opening it! As the game continues, you will keep finding objects that are locked with a three-digit code. To open them, you will have to find the proper code and enter it on the decoder disk. On the outer edge of the disk, there are 10 different symbols pictured. Each symbol stands for one of the codes to be solved. But which symbol belongs to which code? You will have to figure that out for yourselves. So it's advisable to pay attention to every detail. If you think you have cracked one of the codes, enter it under the corresponding symbol on the decoder disk. A number will then appear in the viewing window in the smallest wheel of the disk.
This will indicate the number of the answer card that you are then allowed to look at. If the code was wrong, you will have to keep looking for the answer or try a different riddle for now. If the code was right, the answer card will tell you how to continue.
Example: You have calculated the code 6-9-1 as the solution to the riddle with the given symbol. Now enter this combination of numbers 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 take from the stack 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 information that you need to solve it. Then you will just have to continue someplace else.
Example Answer Card: "That would make even the sheriff's deputy shake his head … Unfortunately, this code is not correct! When you are done, place this card right back in the stack of answer cards!"
Is the Code Possibly Correct?
If so, the answer card will look something like this:
Example Answer Card: "The code may be right. Where can you see the code symbol?" — showing a grid of pictured objects, each paired with a different Answer Card number (22, 2, 15, 26, 16, 18, 10, 28, 19). When you are done, place this card right back in the stack of answer cards!
Where Can You See the Code Symbol?
Good question! To answer it, you will have to take a close look at the pictures on the riddle cards or the folded sheets. There, you will find all sorts of locked objects.
All of these objects are marked with a symbol. In our example, the card shows a notebook with the given symbol on it. So look at the answer card pictured next to the notebook and you will see that you are now supposed to take answer card 28 from the pile.
Note: You must see the object with the symbol on the answer card or on a folded sheet in order to open it. You cannot open what you have not yet found — just like in an actual escape room.
Is the Code Really Correct?
If so, the answer card will tell you how to continue. You will be allowed to open a folded sheet, for example, or find one or more riddle cards, which you may retrieve from the stack and look at right away.
Is the Code Actually Incorrect?
Well, in that case you must have made a mistake, and you will just have to think again 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 Help?
The game can provide you with assistance if you get stuck. For each code, there are three (or more) 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 game materials you have to have found in order to be able to solve the corresponding riddle.
The "2nd Clue" help cards will give you more concrete assistance in finding a solution to the corresponding riddle.
The "Solution" help cards will give you the solution to the riddle.
IMPORTANT: Always take the help cards for a specific riddle card or a specific riddle on a folded sheet. These riddles are usually identified with a symbol (just like 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 new game materials. But don't be shy about using help cards if you get stuck.
Once you have used them, place them on a discard pile.
Additional Game Materials
In addition to the materials contained in the box, you will need paper and a pen for taking notes.
You will also need a watch/stopwatch.
IMPORTANT: You can write on, fold, or tear the game 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! This enables the game to contain the most interesting variety of riddles.
When Does the Game End?
The game ends when you have solved the last riddle and rescued the sheriff. A card will tell you that.
At the beginning of the game, start a stopwatch so that you will know how much time you needed.
You can look at the table on the next page to see how well you did. When calculating the number of help cards used, of course, only the ones that gave you new hints or solutions should count. If a help card only had something that you already 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 |
One Final Tip
Any game materials that you successfully used to help solve a riddle should be set aside. That way, you will be able to keep track of the materials more easily and won't get them mixed up. The only game materials that you will need to use repeatedly in order to solve more than one riddle are the illustrations of the locations.
The Game Begins
What are you waiting for? Start the stopwatch and find out who the kidnapper is!
Starting now, you are allowed to look at the closed book and begin solving riddles. But do not open the book yet! If anything is unclear, don't be shy about looking something up in the rulebook during the game.
The authors and Kosmos thank all the test players and rule reviewers.
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.
EXIT concept: Kosmos, Ralph Querfurth, Sandra Dochtermann
Certificate
The following players — 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 — on ______ in ______ solved the kidnapping in Fortune City.
What an outstanding achievement, and how fortunate indeed that the sheriff was able to be rescued!
- To do it, they required ______ Minutes and ______ Seconds.
- They used a total of ______ help cards.
- This earned them ______ stars in the assessment!
- The coolest riddle was ______
- The trickiest riddle was ______
- The one who solved this riddle was ______
Credits
- Cover Illustration: Silvia Christoph
- Illustrations: Claus Stephan, Martin Hoffmann, Antje Stephan
- Title Graphics: Michaela Kienle
- Graphic design: Sensit Communication GmbH
- Technical development: Monika Schall
- Editing: Ralph Querfurth
- English Version Editing: Ted McGuire
© 2021 Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co. KG. Pfizerstr. 5-7, D-70184 Stuttgart, Germany. Phone: +49 711 2191-0; Web: kosmos.de. © 2021 Thames & Kosmos, LLC, Providence, RI, USA. Thames & Kosmos® is a registered trademark of Thames & Kosmos, LLC. All rights reserved. Printed in Germany / Imprimé en Allemagne. Distributed in North America by Thames & Kosmos, LLC. Providence, RI 02903. Phone: 800-587-2872. Web: thamesandkosmos.com. Distributed in United Kingdom by Thames & Kosmos UK LP. Cranbrook, Kent TN17 3HE. Phone: 01580 713000. Web: www.thamesandkosmos.com.
This game is recyclable. Separate the plastic from the paper/cardboard. Or, if you completed the game without damaging any of the materials, you can give it to someone who has not already solved it.