Last Message Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview and Goal
• Contents
• Setup
• Gameplay
  • 1 - The Victim leaves clues
  • 2 - The Criminal covers their tracks
  • 3 - The Detectives choose a suspect
• End of the Game
• Too Easy?
• Credits

Overview and Goal

The Victim has 4 rounds to help the Detectives determine the identity of the Criminal based on their clues. If they find the Criminal, the Detectives and the Victim win the game. But it won't be easy, since the Criminal can erase part of their drawings!

If the Criminal is not identified by the end of the 4th round, the Criminal wins the game.

Contents

• 1 screen
• 12 double-sided sheets representing 6 crime scenes
• 3 folded sheets representing 6 crime scenes
• 4 erasable boards
• 2 dry erase markers
• 1 transparent token
• 1 sand timer

Setup

1. Choose one player to be the Victim and another to be the Criminal. Both of them sit on the same side of the table, behind the screen.
2. All the other players are Detectives and sit on the other side of the table.
3. Choose 1 of the 6 crime scenes in the box and put all 4 of the sheets that make up that illustration in front of the Detectives.

Crime scenes: There are 6 different crime scenes. For each one, there is an illustration folded in half for the Victim and Criminal to share and the same illustration divided into 4 sheets for the Detectives.

4. The Victim takes the 4 erasable boards and one of the markers.
5. The Criminal puts the illustration for the chosen crime scene in front of both themself and the Victim (so that the Detectives cannot see it). They then choose any character and place the transparent token on top of it. This character represents the Criminal that the Detectives need to identify with the Victim's help.
6. The Criminal takes the sand timer and the other marker, and gets ready to foil the investigation!

Gameplay

Last Message plays over 4 rounds. Each round has 3 steps:

1. The Victim leaves clues.
2. The Criminal covers their tracks.
3. The Detectives choose a suspect.

1 - The Victim leaves clues

The Victim looks closely at the crime scene illustration and the elements around the character the Criminal chose. Then, the Criminal flips over the sand timer. The Victim has 30 seconds to draw clues on one of the boards (without going outside of the 9 squares) which will help the Detectives find the Criminal in the crowd.

• Clues can be text and/or drawings.
• The Victim cannot draw or write the same element of the crime scene multiple times in different spaces. But they can draw and write the same element. They can also redraw or rewrite the same element during a future round. Example: The Victim cannot draw the same chimney multiple times, but if there are multiple chimneys in the same area of the scene, they can draw each of these chimneys once.

When time runs out, the Criminal tells the Victim to stop.

Advice: The Victim should draw and/or write on as many different spaces of the board as possible, even placing elements across multiple spaces.

Example: In 30 seconds, the Victim was able to add a wide variety of clues about the Criminal's identity.

Continue to 2 - The Criminal covers their tracks.

2 - The Criminal covers their tracks

The Criminal takes the board from the Victim and erases a number of spaces (anywhere on the board), according to the current round:

• 1st round: the Criminal erases 5 spaces.
• 2nd round: the Criminal erases 4 spaces.
• 3rd round: the Criminal erases 3 spaces.
• 4th round: the Criminal erases 2 spaces.

Example: The Criminal has covered their tracks. In the 2nd round of the game, they can erase up to 4 spaces on the clue board.

Continue to 3 - The Detectives choose a suspect.

3 - The Detectives choose a suspect

The Criminal now gives the partially-erased board to the Detectives. They add this board to any boards they received in previous rounds, then look at them closely. The Victim must also be able to see the boards given to the Detectives, so they know which clues remain and can prepare for the next round.

Working together, the Detectives choose one—and only one—character in the illustration that they suspect the Criminal has chosen.

The Criminal confirms whether or not the Detectives have identified the correct character, but does not provide any other information.

Example: In the 3rd round, the Detectives have 3 clue boards. Will they finally be able to find the right culprit?

If the Detectives did not identify the Criminal, begin a new round, starting with 1 - The Victim leaves clues and a new board. After completing the 4th round or when the Detectives find the Criminal, continue to the End of the Game.

End of the Game

• If the Detectives find the Criminal (at the end of any round), they and the Victim win.
• If the Detectives choose the wrong character during the 4th and final round, the Criminal wins the game.

Too Easy?

If the Detectives find the Criminal too easily, you can complicate their investigations a bit by adding these obstacles in order:

• Level 1: The Victim can no longer use text for clues. Only drawings are allowed.
• Level 2: The Criminal erases one additional space per round.
• Level 3: Find the Weapon – The Criminal chooses an object instead of a character!

Credits

• Designers: Juhwa Lee and Giung Kim
• Illustrators: Stéphane Escapa, Vincent Dutrait, Gus Morais and Nathan Hackett
• Project Manager: Florent Baudry
• Editor: Xavier Taverne
• Proofing: William Niebling and Stephan Brissaud
• Translation: Danni Loe
• Graphic Designer: Cindy Roth
• Game Agency: Forgenext