Holiday Hijinks #12: The Krampus Caper
Holiday Hijinks #12: The Krampus Caper Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
The Krampus Caper is an escape room-style game in just 18 cards, for 1 to 2 players. As a group, you will solve a series of puzzles to unravel a mystery. Puzzles may test your perception, wordplay, and lateral thinking. English language fluency is required.
This entry in the series takes about an hour to solve, and is rated 2 out of 3 in difficulty.
The system is non-destructible: some groups may choose to write on cards, but this is not required. A group cannot re-play the game, but can pass it on to another group for their use.
Components
- 18 numbered cards.
- Access to the companion website, on a smartphone or computer (one device is enough for the whole group).
Setup
- Stack the 18 cards in numerical order, face down, with card 1 on top.
- Open the companion website on a phone or computer and keep the device within easy reach of the whole group.
- Read the instructions on the website, then flip over card 1 to begin.
How to Play
Work together as a group to examine the current card or cards and solve the puzzle they present. When you have solved a puzzle on the cards, you will enter the answer into the companion website and it will check whether you are correct:
- If the answer is correct, the website tells you which card or cards to take next.
- If the answer is incorrect, the website responds that the answer could not be verified — it may be wrong, misspelled, or entered at the wrong time. Incorrect answers may affect your final score, so guessing at random is discouraged.
Play continues, card by card, until the group enters the answer that solves the mystery and wins the game.
The Companion Website
The companion website is compatible with all smartphones and computers, and is divided into panels for entering answers, checking the graduated hint system, and reviewing the game's history:
- Enter Answer — type an answer into the text box and submit it to check whether it is correct.
- Hints — a graduated hint system: if you get stuck, you can request just a small hint about the current puzzle to get moving again without giving too much away. Each hint you take may cost points off your final score (see Scoring, below).
- Game History — a running log of every answer entered and every hint taken during the session, each with its result or response.
A running game clock is shown at the top of the screen and can be paused and resumed. Progress autosaves, so you can close and reopen the website mid-game and resume the game in progress.
Scoring
Solving the game earns a rating of up to five stars, shown in half-star increments and made up of three parts:
- Story points: full marks unless the group has taken certain wrong turns along the way, each of which docks a fixed amount from this portion of the score.
- Time points: full marks for finishing within the game's expected ("par") time; points are lost for each extra minute taken beyond that, down to a minimum of zero.
- Hint points: full marks for taking no hints; each hint taken has a point cost that is deducted from this portion of the score, down to a minimum of zero.
The three parts are added together and rounded to the nearest half star for the final rating, shown alongside your total elapsed time and the number of hints taken.
End of Game
Entering the answer that solves the mystery ends the game immediately: the clock stops, and the final score is calculated and displayed.