EXIT: The Game – The Sinister Mansion Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Helper App
• Game Materials
• Game Setup
• Where Is the Game Board?
• Course of Play
  • Is the Code Incorrect?
  • Is the Code Possibly Correct?
  • Where Will You See the Code Symbol?
  • Is the Code Really Correct?
  • Is the Code Actually Incorrect?
• Need Some Help?
• Additional Playing Materials
• When Does the Game End?
• One Final Tip
• The Game Begins
• Certificate of Escape
• Credits

Helper App

Download the free bonus app to enjoy a game tutorial, an atmospheric soundtrack, and a digital timer. For Android, iOS, and Fire. Check the app stores for details.

Game Materials

• 86 Cards
  • 26 Riddle Cards
  • 30 Answer Cards
  • 30 Help Cards
• 3 Strange items
• 1 Sealed poster
• 1 Book
• 1 Decoder disk

In addition, you will need writing implements (ideally a ball point pen, pencils, and eraser), one or more sheets of paper, and a watch (ideally, a stopwatch), for keeping track of time. A pair of scissors will make the game easier to play. If you don't happen to have one available, though, you can still play and just tear things by hand.

Game Setup

Get the book and decoder disk ready on the table. For now, you can leave the "strange items" and the "sealed poster" in the box. 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.

Check to make sure that the Riddle Cards and Answer Cards are arranged in ascending order of their letters or numbers.

Sort the Help Cards according to their symbols, and then place them to the side of the table. Arrange cards with the same symbol, one on top of the other, such that the "1st CLUE" card is on top of the "2nd CLUE" card, and the latter is 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 rooms 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 the Riddle Cards — either to be found in illustrations, or referred to in the text. Whenever this happens, you can take the corresponding cards from the Riddle Card pile and look at them. Likewise, you can only take the "strange items" and "sealed poster" from the box when explicitly told that you have found them. Until then, they have to remain in the box!

Example: When you find an illustration like this, you may immediately pull the corresponding Riddle Card from the pile and look at it.

Course of Play

Your goal is to work together to escape from the mansion as quickly as you can.

That would definitely be easier if every lock in the room were not secured with a riddle. As soon as the game starts, you are allowed to look at all the pages of the book. During the game, you will encounter objects that are locked with a three-digit code. To open them, you have to figure out the matching code and enter it into the decoder disk. On the outer edge of the disk, you will see 10 symbols. Each symbol stands for a code to be solved. But you will have to figure out for yourselves which symbol belongs to which code. Pay close attention to every detail. If you think you are able to crack a code, enter it under the corresponding symbol on the disk. A number will then appear in the viewing window of the smallest wheel.

Example: For the riddle with a given symbol, you have come up with a 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.

This 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.

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 you may simply not yet have the information that you need to solve it. Then you will just have to continue someplace else.

Example Answer Card: "This attempt was just as awful as the mansion — to be precise, awfully wrong! Unfortunately, this 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 paired with a different Answer Card number (22, 5, 30, 26, 16, 11, 2, 1, 14). 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 there.

All of these objects are marked with a symbol. Our example involves the armoire with a given symbol on it.

To continue with this example scenario: Next, take a look at the Answer Card next to the armoire and you will see that you should now retrieve Answer Card 2 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 yet found — just like in an actual escape room.

Is the Code Really Correct?

If so, the second 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 with 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 have to 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: Look at the Help Cards only 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 them, place them on a discard pile.

Additional Playing Materials

In addition to the materials contained in the box, you will need paper and a pencil 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 escaped from the mansion. 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 on the next page 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

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 things that you will need for more than one riddle are the illustrations of the rooms.

The Game Begins

What are you waiting for? Start the stopwatch and get out of the mansion 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.

The authors 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.

Ralph Querfurth is a game editor. Along with Sandra Dochtermann, he had the idea for the EXIT games and asked Inka and Markus in 2015 whether they would like to develop them. The two of them showed no hesitation.

Certificate of Escape

Share your Exit experiences using #exitstrategies

The following players — on ______ in ______ — successfully escaped from the mansion. What an outstanding achievement, and how fortunate that they won't be locked inside the mansion forever!

• To do it, it took the players ______ 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 player who solved this riddle was ______

Credits

• EXIT concept: Kosmos, Ralph Querfurth, Sandra Dochtermann
• Illustration: Martin Hoffmann
• 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

© 2018 Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co. KG. Pfizerstr. 5-7, 70184 Stuttgart, Germany. Phone: +49 711 2191-0; Web: kosmos.de. © 2018 Thames & Kosmos, LLC, Providence, RI, USA. Thames & Kosmos® is a registered trademark of Thames & Kosmos, LLC. All rights reserved. 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.co.uk. Printed in Germany.

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.