Redcliff Bay Mysteries
Redcliff Bay Mysteries Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Material
1 game board (double-sided)
- Front: Redcliff Bay
- Back: Surrounding Area ("Umland")
In the box you will find 4 compartments. Each compartment belongs to one of the 4 cases to be solved. Leave the compartments closed for now.
- Compartment Case 1: 1 intro board, 1 stack of 20 large cards, 1 stack of 27 small cards, 12 action discs
- Compartment Case 2: 1 intro board, 1 stack of 32 large cards, 1 stack of 61 small cards
- Compartment Case 3: 1 intro board, 1 stack of 21 large cards, 1 stack of 70 small cards
- Compartment Case 4: 1 intro board, 1 stack of 32 large cards, 1 stack of 72 small cards
Each stack of large cards consists of the following card types: Person cards, News cards, Help cards, Finale cards, Investigation Report card, with several Stop cards in between; in Case 4 there is also an Epilogue card. Each stack of small cards consists of the following card types: Location cards, Object cards, Event cards, Interrogation cards, with several Stop cards in between.
Setup
Place the game board in the middle of the table with the "Redcliff Bay" side up.
The 4 cases must be played in the correct order. Open the compartment "Case 1: An Entirely Ordinary Robbery" in the box and take out its contents.
- Place the 12 action discs as a supply on the space provided for it on the game board.
- Take the stack of large cards. Under no circumstances change the order of the cards! Count off the 6 Person cards from the top and place them face up on the "Persons" space on the game board. Then count off the 6 News cards and place them face down on the "News" space. A Stop card should now be on top of the remaining stack. Place this stack face down on the "Remaining Cards" space.
- Take the stack of small cards. Under no circumstances change the order of the cards! Now remove the top Stop card and put it back into the box (Case 1 compartment).
- Now separate the different card types from one another and place them face down on the spaces provided for them on the game board: Object cards, Event cards, Interrogation cards, Location cards. (Stop cards may sometimes appear between the Location cards. Do not let this irritate you; simply place the Location cards unchanged, with the Stop cards in between, on the "Locations" space.)
Do not look at the following cards yet. They only come into use at the end of the case. Are you at the end of the case and supposed to solve it now? Then read the back of this card now. (Printed on the Stop card shown in the setup illustration.)
You start with one object - your notebook. Take Object card A and place it face up in front of you. During the course of the game you will receive further cards (objects, locations, events, etc.), which you may then turn over and read. Always lay these next to each other, clearly visible, face up on the table so that all of you can see them and, if necessary, read them again.
Here we go! Read the front of the intro board "Case 1: An Entirely Ordinary Robbery" together.
When you have finished: draw the top News card (8 o'clock) and read it aloud.
Rules
STOP! Read on here only when the game asks you to.
Rule 1: New Locations
Take from the stack of Location cards all "Pricett Mansion" Location cards, without changing their order, and place them as a face-down stack on any space in the district "North Pile" (so the 8 o'clock card is on top). At the bottom of each Location card is always written the district in which the stack is to be placed (sometimes this can also be just a single card). Whenever a new location comes into play, always proceed in exactly the same way.
The "Pricett Mansion" is the first location you visit in this case - at the time 8 o'clock. Now take the top "Pricett Mansion" Location card (8 o'clock), turn it over and read it.
Rule 2: Persons
If a person on a card is highlighted in colour, a Person card exists for them. It gives you further information and can be important for solving the case. Now find the Person cards Anita Sanchez and Tom Frenchman and read them.
Then read the next News card (9 o'clock).
Rule 3: Visiting a Location
You can only be at one location at any given time. So you must now decide: do you take a closer look at the crime scene in the Pricett Mansion, or do you ask around in the Smelly Cat for further suspects?
Now read one of the two 9 o'clock Location cards ("Pricett Mansion" OR "The Smelly Cat").
Then you read the next News card (10 o'clock).
And so it continues from now on: first read the top News card, then read a Location card.
Rule 4: Action Discs
Now put the 9 o'clock Location card that you did not read back into the box without looking at it. You missed this information.
During the game you will receive action discs, which you can use to read several Location cards at one time. You can do this as often as you like on your turn: for each action disc you hand in, you may read exactly one further Location card of the current time.
We will do this now too: first read any 10 o'clock Location card, then hand in 1 action disc and put it back on the supply space on the game board. Then read the other 10 o'clock Location card ("Pricett Mansion" AND "The Smelly Cat").
Then, as usual, read the next News card (11 o'clock).
Rule 5: Interrogations
During the game you can interrogate persons in order to learn more about certain topics. Persons sometimes remain at a location for several hours, so under some circumstances you can still interrogate them later. Often you must decide which person it is best to question and when.
Let's try this out: decide on one of the two interrogations on the Location card you just drew.
Rule 6: End of the Case
Time has run out. Were you able to gather enough clues to convict the guilty person? Go through the information once more and/or listen to your gut feeling ...
Now turn over the large Stop card and read its back.
Example:
- Place the Person card on the left.
- Follow the path through the labyrinth.
- Read the corresponding Finale card (in Case 1, purple or green).
Lay out all the large cards of the "Remaining Cards" stack face down next to each other in front of you and then turn the wide intro board (Case 1) over to its back.
On the 3 Help cards laid out, you see 1 star each. This is your current score. If you convict the right person, further stars are added. But if you accuse the wrong person, 1 star is deducted from you!
If you think you have exposed the guilty person, place the corresponding Person card on the left side of the intro board and follow the path through the labyrinth. Instructions for this can also be found on the intro board above the labyrinth. Then place the matching Finale card on the right and read its back.
If you are not sure, you can also ask Frenchman for help. Then turn over the corresponding Help card and read it. For each Help you use, you lose 1 star.
(Back of the Stop card:) Read this text only at the end of the case. If you have not yet reached the end of the case, turn this card back to the other side.
Place the Person card of the person you suspect of having committed the robbery on the left side so that it fits, and then follow the path. At a crossing node you take the branch with the letter that is in the filled field of the Person card. Then read the Finale card that matches your "exit" (purple or green).
(On the Help card:) Read the back only if you placed this card when solving the case.
Notes
- The 12 action discs are found in compartment "Case 1". You need these 12 action discs for all cases.
- You may only use action discs to visit a further location. You cannot use them to additionally choose the other option in an OR decision.
- You need Person cards both for the current case and for future cases. (Example: you also need the 6 persons from Case 1 for Cases 2 to 4.) At the start of a new case, simply place them with the other Person cards on the "Persons" discard space on the game board.
- Sometimes it can happen that you are told to take a card that you already have. This can happen because some cards can be reached in different ways. Then simply ignore that you are supposed to take a certain card again.
- On some Location cards, a span of several hours is given as the time. This means that this one card is available not only at one particular hour but for several hours. Only when the time shown on the right of the card has expired and you have not visited the location must you put this card back into the box without looking at it. Example: this Location card ("8 to 10", Pricett Mansion, 10) can be read at 8 o'clock, 9 o'clock or 10 o'clock.
- On the back of the game board, "Surrounding Area", you will find some locations that do not appear in the cases of this game (Isle of Stone, Snow Lands, Hamshire, Redcliff Bay). These locations are included because they may appear in a future expansion of the game.
Further Cases and End of the Game
The further cases work in principle exactly like Case 1, both as regards setup and rules. The game ends when you have played through all 4 cases. Then you have successfully uncovered the mysteries of Redcliff Bay. Of course you do not have to play the 4 cases in one go.
The game can be played through again by another group.
Resetting the Game
After you have played through all 4 cases, you can reset the complete game. To do so, sort the large and small cards by the 4 cases. Bring the cards of each stack into the correct order. On the back of all cards you will find a numbering and a colour code for the 4 cases. The letter "A" stands for the large cards, "B" for the small cards. Example: card 1-B18 is the 18th small card of Case 1.
Then place the card stacks in the corresponding compartments in the box.