IQ Files: Escape Room – Amnesia Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Symbols on Cards
• Puzzles
• Combinations
• Wounds and Deaths
• Moving On to Another Room
• QR Codes and Hints
• End of the Game
• Scoring

Components

• 96 cards: characters, rooms, puzzles and traps.
• This rulebook.

Setup

Take both stacks of cards and set aside the top "Stop" cards. Without shuffling and without looking at the cards, sort them by their backs:

1. Character cards. Place them in front of you with the coloured side face up. The characters do not belong to any player; you control them all together.
2. Code card. You will use it to solve puzzles. How exactly is explained below.
3. Reminder card. It lists the main rules of the game, so you can quickly check them during play.
4. Letter cards. These are the rooms you must pass through. Place them in a face-down stack, without looking at them and without shuffling.
5. Number cards. These must be left over at the end of the sorting. They contain puzzles, riddles and events that will help you survive and win. Without looking at them and without shuffling, place them on the table in a face-down stack.

(Illustration: the sorted groups: "Character cards", "Code card", "Reminder card", "Letter cards" (rooms) and "Number cards".)

After you have sorted all the cards into stacks:

1. Read the information on the character cards and look at the characters.
2. Turn the "СМ" card face up. This is the first room. In it, the characters with amnesia come to their senses after they have been sentenced.
3. You may take a pen and paper to solve puzzles and record clues.
4. Decide how long you want to play:
   • If you want the tense atmosphere of a dangerous test, set a 90-minute timer on your phone at the start of the game. When the time runs out, the game ends.
   • If you want to prolong the characters' suffering, then first, you are sadists (fine, you probably just want to enjoy the game, right?), and second, you will not need a timer: play until the end. If a card tells you to spend additional time (for example, "lose X minutes" or "start a timer for X minutes"), nothing happens.

Symbols on Cards

The front of a card may have one or several symbols:

1. Card number. Shown on the front of the card in the bottom right corner, and it matches the number on the back of the card. It is not present on character cards.
2. Number in a black circle. It means that you may take from the stack the card with the matching number on its back and turn it face up.
3. Letter or number in a black circle with a red character symbol. It means that you may take from the stack the card with the matching letter or number, but you must assign a character to that card. For what this means for play, see the section "Wounds and Deaths".
4. Number in a yellow circle. It denotes a certain combination. See the section "Combinations".
5. Number in a yellow circle with a red character symbol. It denotes a combination, but once you have made it, you must assign a character to it. For what this means for play, see the section "Wounds and Deaths".
6. Numbers next to the trash can symbol. These are the numbers of cards that you may remove from the game.

Sign. Every room has a sign with a number in a black circle. Sometimes it gives additional hints or a description of the room, so it is useful to read it first.

(Illustration: a room card with its numbered symbols 1 to 6 and its sign, as described above.)

Puzzles

Throughout the game you will solve puzzles:

1. If the answer to a puzzle is a one-, two- or three-digit number, take the card with the matching number from the stack of number cards. Example: if the answer to a puzzle is 839, take card 839.
2. If the answer is a four-digit number (or if you have made a combination), use the code card, as in the case of combinations (see the next section for details).
3. If the answer is a letter, take the matching card from the stack of letter cards. Example: if the answer to a puzzle is К, take the card with the letter К.

If you have taken a card and realise that it has nothing to do with what you are doing or have done, this means that you solved the puzzle incorrectly.

If there is no number or letter either on the code card or in the stacks, this means that you solved the puzzle incorrectly, or that this number or letter must be used for something else.

We have tried to reduce the likelihood of such mistakes as much as possible during the design of the game. However, the course of a game may be unpredictable.

Combinations

The numbers inside yellow circles are used only for combining items (and sometimes characters with items). To make a combination:

1. Choose two numbers in yellow circles on open cards.
2. Arrange them from smallest to largest, so that they form a four-digit number. For example, if one card has a yellow circle with the number 47 and another card has a yellow circle with the number 29, the combination is 2947.
3. Take the code card and, on side A, find this four-digit number. It will give you a code consisting of the letters СМ and two digits (for example, СМ39).
4. Turn the code card over and, on side B, find the code you obtained. It will tell you the number of the card you must take.

Instead of a code on side B, the following may appear:

• ОШ (error): the combination you made is meaningless in the game. Perhaps you made the combination incorrectly, or this was a false trail that we invented to make you lose time (yes, we are the baddies).
• РАН (wound): the character assigned to this combination receives a wound.
• СМЕ (death): the character assigned to this combination dies. See the section on wounds and deaths below.

Example.

Step 1: Anya and Borya combine two items: one has the number 13 in a yellow circle, the other has the number 38 in a yellow circle. In ascending order, this gives the code 1338.

Step 2: They find the code 1338 on side A of the code card. This leads them to the code СМ14.

Step 3: On side B of the same card, the code СМ14 corresponds to the number 806. So Anya and Borya may take card 806 from the stack and use it in the game.

Wounds and Deaths

During the game, characters may receive wounds and die.

• When a character receives a wound, turn the character card over to its black-and-white side. As soon as a character receives a second wound, they die immediately.
• When a character dies, remove them from the game. You may read the information on their card, but you may not assign that character to cards or combinations, and you may not combine that character with items.

Characters may receive a wound or die if:

1. You assigned a character to a card with a red character symbol. Some such cards wound or kill the character, and sometimes the harm can be avoided in advance with certain items or actions. If the black circle with a number has no character symbol, that item or card is safe.
2. You made an incorrect combination, and the code card gave you РАН (wound) or СМЕ (death). For example, you combined a character card with a container of acid (horror, what an idea!).
3. You scanned a QR code on the back of a card and received a hint with the word "РАНА" (wound) or "СМЕРТЬ" (death). QR codes are explained in more detail below.
4. Other special circumstances occurred. Some events lead to a wound or death, but the card will warn you about the consequences in advance. For example, it may offer you a choice of three cards, two of which can wound characters, while the third is safe.

The two example icons on the rules page are explained as follows:

• Black circle "25" with no character symbol: "No need to assign a character. No one will certainly be harmed."
• Black circle "911" with a red character symbol: "You must assign a character to this card. There is a risk of receiving a wound or dying."

Your characters wear collars with a red light. Let us show you why they are needed, using the notorious criminal Zhora as an example. If Zhora does something wrong or solves a puzzle incorrectly, he receives an electric shock (thank you, World Government, for your advanced technology). The same happens if Zhora asks us for a hint. And if he dares to ask for a ready-made answer, the electric shock may prove fatal for him. Pity Zhora: solve the puzzles correctly and without hints!

(Illustration: the character Zhora wearing a collar with a red light.)

Moving On to Another Room

You may take a letter card and move to another room if:

1. Solving a puzzle, you obtained a letter as the answer. However, if you see a letter separately from a puzzle (for example, written on a wall), you must not take a letter card.
2. You saw a letter in a black circle (the same kind of circle that shows the numbers that let you take a card from the stack of number cards).

QR Codes and Hints

Each card's back has two QR codes: hints for the puzzles and ready-made answers. You may scan them at any time. (If your phone's camera cannot scan QR codes, install any QR code reading application.)

• The QR code at the top of a card is always a hint.
• The QR code at the bottom of a card is always an answer.

(Illustration: a card with the QR code at the top labelled "This is a hint" and the QR code at the bottom labelled "This is an answer".)

If you cannot scan the codes, you can download a file with hints and solutions at this link: clck.ru/dWaar. However, this option may somewhat spoil the impression of the game, since while reading one hint you may accidentally see another.

If you cannot solve a puzzle, you may read the walkthrough (which also contains a description of the solution) for your room at: clck.ru/dWadF. We advise doing this only when you have done everything possible to solve the puzzle and are close to despair.

Important to know:

• Not all QR codes give a hint or an answer. Some simply report that there is no hint or answer for the card. These are false codes, so that the quest is not too simple (yes, we are definitely terrible people).
• There are hints and answers that are dangerous for the characters (as a rule, they are linked to fairly complex puzzles). If after scanning a code you see the words "WOUND" ("РАНА") or "DEATH" ("СМЕРТЬ"), choose the character who will receive a wound or die. But not all codes are dangerous: some honestly show a hint or answer without any consequences.
• If you want to make the game simpler, ignore the words "WOUND" ("РАНА") and "DEATH" ("СМЕРТЬ") in hints and answers.

End of the Game

The game ends immediately if:

• A. All characters have died. You lose, and you may start again or continue playing without counting points.
• B. Your time has run out (if you set a timer). All characters who are still alive die (the World Government kills them with an electric shock through their collars). You may start again or continue playing without counting points.
• C. The surviving characters leave the last room through an exit card, which says that the game is over. Then proceed to scoring.

Scoring

1. Score 2 points for each living character without wounds.
2. Score 1 point for each living character with a wound.

Dead characters score no points.

Find your result:

• 10 points: what a brain! The world has lost a genius, but when you get out of prison, great deeds await you. If, of course, you do not stumble again.
• 7–9 points: very good. You have the potential, after prison, to integrate into society and do something useful.
• 4–6 points: well... At least you will be safe for the next few years.
• 1–3 points: you were hanging by a thread. The last thread of a balding old man.
• 0 points: we do not even know what to say. Anyway, what is the point of talking to the dead?

And stop reading the fine print. Let's play!