EXIT: The Game – Theft on the Mississippi
EXIT: The Game – Theft on the Mississippi 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. Download the free Kosmos Helper App!
Game Materials
85 Cards
- 8 Suspect Cards
- 17 Riddle Cards
- 30 Answer Cards
- 30 Help Cards
3 Strange items
1 Poster
1 Book
1 Decoder disk
8 Suspect tokens
Additionally Required Materials
In addition, you will need writing implements (ideally a ball-point pen, pencils, and an eraser), one or more sheets of paper, a pair of scissors, and a watch — ideally, a stopwatch. As an alternative, you can use the digital timer. Just select the game in the Kosmos Helper App and click on the hourglass.
Game Setup
Open the poster and spread it out in the middle of the table. Place the four Suspect Cards (gray side up — do not look at the yellow sides yet!) marked with the letter A and the four matching suspect tokens there as well. Get the book and the decoder disk ready. For the moment, you can leave the remaining Suspect Cards and suspect tokens and the "strange items" in the box.
Sort the remaining cards into three piles according to what is written on their backs:
- Riddle Cards
- Answer Cards
- Help Cards
Be sure not to look at the fronts 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.
Separate the Help Cards according to their symbols, and then place them at the edge of the table. Place each group of three 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.
The Game Board
On the poster, you will see the main hall of the paddle wheeler. You can use that to reconstruct what happened at the time of the crime. For the eight suspects, there are seats where they may have sat.
You will also see the robbery victim — Mr. Nagelmackers. To his right is the seat where the perpetrator must have sat.
At the beginning of the game, you will only have the poster, the four Suspect Cards (A), the four suspect tokens, 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 deck and look at them. Likewise, you may not use the "strange items" or the four remaining suspects that are in the box until you have been explicitly told that you have found them.
Example: If you see an illustration like this, you may immediately take the corresponding Riddle Card from the deck and look at it.
Course of Play
Your goal is to work together to solve the theft as quickly as you can. That would be easier if each suspect didn't present you with a riddle that you have to solve before getting any more information.
As soon as the game starts, you may look through all the pages of the book. To solve the riddles, you must figure out a three-digit number or color 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 you are looking for. You will have to figure out, however, which symbol belongs to which code. Pay attention to every detail. Enter the codes under the corresponding symbol on the decoder disk. A number will then appear in the viewing window in the smallest wheel on the decoder disk.
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 looking for a solution or leave that riddle for now and try another. If the code is correct, the Answer Card will tell you how to continue.
Example: You have deduced that the code 2 4 8 is the solution to the riddle with a given symbol. Now enter this combination of numbers under that symbol on the decoder disk. In the little window, there appears the number of the Answer Card that you are then allowed to look for in the deck and look at.
Is the Code Incorrect?
If so, the Answer Card will tell you that. Simply replace the card back into the deck and take another look at the riddle. Maybe there's something you overlooked. Sometimes, you will be missing clues that you need in order to solve the riddle. In that case, you will have to continue someplace else.
Is the Code Possibly Correct?
If so, the Answer Card will show an overview.
Where Will You See the Code Symbol?
Good question! To answer it, you will have to take a look at the Suspect Cards. All of these are marked with a symbol.
Example: Our example involves a suspect marked with a given symbol. So take a look at the Answer Card next to that suspect's illustration and you will see that you are now supposed to take a specific numbered Answer Card from the deck.
Note: You must have the Suspect Card of the person in front of you in order to solve that person's riddle. At first, you will only have the four suspects marked with the letter A.
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 take from the deck and look at right away.
Is the Code Actually Incorrect?
Well, in that case you must have made a mistake, and you will have to think things through again to try to come up with a different code.
IMPORTANT: Whether wrong or right — return all Answer Cards to the Answer Card deck. All codes can be solved logically. You should not 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 Help Cards that can be recognized by the symbol on their back sides.
Each "1st CLUE" Help Card gives you an initial useful clue and tells you what you will need in order to be able to solve the riddle.
The "2nd CLUE" Help Cards will give you somewhat more concrete assistance in finding a solution to the riddle.
The "SOLUTION" Help Cards will tell you the approach to take in solving the riddle and what the correct code is.
IMPORTANT: Only take the appropriate Help Cards for a specific suspect or riddle. The riddles are identified with a symbol (matching a symbol on the decoder disk). It won't help to use Help Cards if you have not yet 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 face up 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 theft. To do that, you will have to compare the statements of the eight suspects and figure out which person has lied about where they were at the time of the crime. You can tell this if no other person can confirm their claim. You can place the suspect tokens on the seats on the poster in order to indicate who was where according to your deductions. A card will tell you when the game is over.
You can look at the table below to see how well you did. When counting 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 knew anyway, do not include it in the assessment.
| 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.
Only the illustrations of the rooms are used for more than one riddle.
The Game Begins
What are you waiting for? Start the stopwatch and solve the case before it's too late! Starting now, you are allowed to look at all the pages of the book and start solving riddles. If anything is unclear, don't be shy about looking something up in the rulebook during the game.
The authors and Kosmos would like to thank all the play testers and rule reviewers.
Certificate
Share your Exit experiences using #exitstrategies
The following players — on ______ in ______ — successfully solved the Theft on the Mississippi!
- 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 player who solved this riddle was ______
Credits
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 designer and editor. Together with Sandra Dochtermann, he had the idea for the EXIT games and asked Inka & Markus in 2015 whether they would like to develop games of that type.
- EXIT concept: Kosmos (Ralph Querfurth, Sandra Dochtermann)
- Illustration: Claus Stephan
- Cover illustration: Silvia Christoph
- Title graphic: Michaela Kienle
- Graphics: Sensit Communication GmbH
- Editing: Ralph Querfurth
- English edition editing: Ed Gartin and Ted McGuire
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