Scotland Yard Master Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Preparation
• Initial Starting Position
• How to Play
• How Are Moves Made?
• The Moves of Mister X
• The Moves of the Detectives and Bobbies
• Things to Remember During the Game
• Special Moves by Mister X
  • Mister X Surfaces
• Double Move
• Black Tickets
• End of Game
• 2-Player Game
• Playing With the App: Sequence and New Features — A Quick Overview
  • Getting Started
  • Preparation for the App-Based Game
  • Sequence of Play With the App
  • Mister X in the App
  • The Detectives in the App
  • Camera Tips
• Credits

Contents

• 1 game board
• 6 playing pieces
• 29 start cards
• 136 tickets, consisting of:
  • 62 x taxi tickets
  • 49 x bus tickets
  • 25 x underground tickets
  • 5 x black tickets
• 3 double-move tickets
• 5 ticket boards for the detectives
• 1 travel log with paper insert for Mister X
• 1 visor for Mister X
• 2 rings for the Bobbies

Preparation

For 3 to 6 players (Preparations for a 2-player game are on page 8 — see 2-Player Game).

The players agree on who takes on the role of Mister X.

Tip: This job calls for good nerves, so it's best if an experienced player takes on this role.

The other players take on the role of the detectives. Lay the tickets out as a general supply.

Mister X receives:

• 1 white playing piece
• The visor for Mister X (it stops the detectives from seeing any give-away looks from Mister X)
• The travel log with paper insert
• 1 pencil (not included in the game)
• Tickets:
  • 5 x black tickets
  • 2 x double-move tickets

Note: Mister X takes normal tickets from the general supply throughout the whole game.

Each detective receives:

• 1 colored playing piece of his choice and the corresponding ticket board
• Tickets, which he lays on his ticket board:
  • 4 x underground tickets
  • 8 x bus tickets
  • 11 x taxi tickets

If fewer than 4 detectives are playing, Bobbies come to their aid in the form of additional playing pieces:

• With 2 detectives: 2 Bobbies
• With 3 detectives: 1 Bobby

With 2 or 3 detectives, both detective pieces and Bobbies are therefore in play!

Each Bobby is represented by one of the playing pieces not yet assigned. Fit a cardboard ring over the head of each of these pieces. This ring stays there until the end of the game and marks the Bobbies as such for the whole game.

The ring is their free ticket for all means of transport. The Bobbies therefore need no tickets for their moves! The Bobbies are moved during the course of the game by all the detectives together. The players discuss which spaces the Bobbies should move to.

Initial Starting Position

To determine your starting locations, first sort the start cards by their backs (D and X). Shuffle the D cards and the X cards separately from one another and lay them face down on the table.

Each detective now draws a start card with a D on the back and places his playing piece on the corresponding station.

If Bobbies are playing, also draw a start card with a D for each Bobby and place the pieces on the corresponding stations. Now Mister X secretly draws a start card with an X on the back and looks at it, but does not place his playing piece on the board.

Tip: The numbers of the stations on the board are arranged row by row from left to right, so you can find your starting points more quickly.

How to Play

For 3 to 6 players (The sequence for a 2-player game is on page 8 — see 2-Player Game).

Up to 22 rounds are played. A round consists of Mister X taking his move first, followed, in any order, by all the detectives and Bobbies. To do this, Mister X, each detective and each Bobby must change location. For the distance travelled, each detective uses a ticket, which he moves from his ticket board to the general supply. Mister X always takes his tickets from the general supply!

Reminder: Bobbies don't need tickets.

How Are Moves Made?

(Detectives, Bobbies and Mister X)

Every place on the board is a station for 1 to 3 means of transport (taxi, bus, underground). The colors of the stations show which means of transport start and stop there. To be able to use a means of transport, the playing piece must be standing on a station for that means of transport (i.e. the color appears in the circle).

With the taxi (yellow), every place on the board can be reached. However, the distance you can cover is short: you may only move (along a yellow line) to the next place.

The bus (turquoise) only departs from places with a turquoise semicircle; with it you can cover somewhat larger distances along the bus lines.

The underground (red) runs along the red lines and can cover large distances quickly. However, there are only a few underground stations (places with a red inner rectangle) on the board.

The moving player plays a ticket of the corresponding color and moves to the next station. A route that has just been travelled may be travelled back again on the following move.

All pieces may only be moved onto free places. If Mister X cannot move to a free place, he has lost. If a detective or Bobby moves onto the place where Mister X is located, Mister X has likewise lost. A detective and a Bobby may never stand on the same place.

The Moves of Mister X

Mister X makes his moves in secret. He secretly chooses a new station that is connected directly to his current location by a line. He writes the number of the new station in the next free field of his travel log. He covers his entry with the ticket he used. The detectives therefore know which means of transport Mister X moved with, but not where to.

When he is next due to move, he moves on from the noted station to the next station of his choice, and so on.

The Moves of the Detectives and Bobbies

Once Mister X has finished his move, the detectives and Bobbies take their turn in any order.

Since the detectives are pursuing a shared goal, the players should discuss their own moves and those of the Bobbies carefully.

Each detective puts the ticket he has just used into the supply and moves his playing piece to the chosen station of the means of transport he has selected.

Reminder: No tickets need to be put into the supply for Bobbies.

Things to Remember During the Game

• The detectives only have a limited supply of tickets. If a detective has no ticket left for a means of transport, he can no longer use that means of transport.
• If a detective has no tickets left at all, or cannot move with the tickets he has, he must pass.
• The detectives may not trade tickets among themselves.
• The detectives' tickets always lie face up, so that Mister X can see which means of transport are still available to his pursuers.

Special Moves by Mister X

Mister X Surfaces

Mister X has to show himself at regular intervals, namely after his 3rd, 8th, 13th, 18th and 24th move. The points at which he must surface are marked on the travel log by circled numbers and a larger writing field.

Tip: When surfacing, Mister X should make sure that no one can reach him on the following move.

Now the detectives have a great chance to box Mister X in or catch him. But there isn't much time, because as early as his next move Mister X takes his playing piece off the board again and disappears!

Tip: Before Mister X surfaces, the detectives should position themselves at a favourable transport junction, so that on the following move they have a better chance of getting close to Mister X.

As with any other move, Mister X makes his entry on the travel log and covers it with his ticket. He then places his playing piece on his current location.

Double Move

If Mister X plays a double-move ticket, he may visit 2 places in this round, using any permitted combination of 2 means of transport. He notes both stations on his travel log (2 fields) and lays the 2 tickets for the means of transport used over them.

The double-move ticket is removed from the game. If the first place is one where Mister X must surface, he shows himself there but disappears again immediately with his second move.

Since the double move is played like 2 normal moves directly one after the other, Mister X may not enter a place occupied by a detective on either the first or the second move. Mister X may only use 1 double-move ticket per round.

Black Tickets

Instead of a normal ticket, Mister X can play a black ticket and thereby use any means of transport. With a black ticket, Mister X (and only Mister X) can also use a ferry (and so travel, for example, from 157 to 115). These connections (black lines) cannot be used with any other ticket.

When Mister X uses a black ticket, the detectives get no clue as to which means of transport Mister X may have used. Black tickets may also be used as part of a double move.

They are placed on the travel log as usual.

End of Game

The detectives win if:

• At any point in the game, a detective or Bobby ends up on the same station as Mister X. In this case, Mister X must reveal himself.

Mister X wins if:

• He manages to travel around London until the end of the 22nd round without being caught by the detectives. The round is only over once the detectives have made their moves again afterwards.
• None of the detectives can move any more.

2-Player Game

(1 detective player)

If only one player takes on the detectives against Mister X, he plays with 4 pieces. Two of these are detectives, for which he receives the normal number of tickets (in total: 22 x taxi, 16 x bus and 8 x underground).

He may use the tickets for either detective piece as he wishes. The remaining 2 pieces are Bobbies, for which no tickets are needed. He may move all the pieces in any order he chooses.

Playing With the App: Sequence and New Features — A Quick Overview

For Scotland Yard Master you need 1 smartphone or tablet. Of course, you can also play this copy of Scotland Yard without a smartphone/tablet, using the base rules above. Below, the word "smartphone" always means "smartphone/tablet."

If you have never played Scotland Yard before, we recommend that you play the base game (without the app) first and then try out the Master version, since Scotland Yard Master is aimed primarily at players who already know the base game Scotland Yard.

Getting Started

• Download and install the free Scotland Yard Master app onto a smartphone.
• Check that the device has enough battery capacity, then start the app.
• If you would like the game explained to you, choose the App Instructions button under Instructions. The app instructions familiarize you step by step with all the functions of the app.
• The Board Game Instructions button takes you to the written instructions for the base game.

Preparation for the App-Based Game

• Agree on who will play Mister X.
• Spread out the Scotland Yard Master board so that all parts of the board are well lit and the board "reflects" as little as possible. The light should therefore come from above rather than from the side. Indirect, diffuse light — for example from a ceiling uplighter — is better than a spotlight that creates a single point of light.
• The detectives then distribute their pieces on the starting points named by the app after it starts. If fewer than 4 detectives are playing, up to 2 detective pieces become Bobbies and get a colored cardboard ring (Bobbies are moved together and need no tickets).
• The remaining materials are distributed as in the base game (11 x taxi, 8 x bus and 4 x underground per detective, plus the corresponding ticket board).
• At the start, Mister X is asked by the app to choose and confirm a personal password. From then on, whenever the password screen appears, Mister X receives the smartphone from his fellow players.

Sequence of Play With the App

First, Mister X makes his move with the help of the smartphone. Once he has finished his move, he passes the smartphone to the detectives. The detectives can use the smartphone to employ their new special actions, then move their pieces (as in the base game), and finally hand the smartphone back to Mister X.

Mister X in the App

In Scotland Yard Master, the app replaces Mister X's ticket board. He enters his moves into the smartphone. On the left side of the display, Mister X sees the tickets available to him (and how many of each he has).

By selecting a ticket, he is shown the possible destination stations he can reach with that type of ticket.

On his screen, Mister X is gradually shown meeting points that he must visit. If he does not reach any of these meeting points during the whole game, he loses the game. If Mister X reaches one of the meeting points and is not discovered by the end of the game, he wins. Mister X wins immediately if he manages to reach two meeting points!

The Detectives in the App

The detectives move as in the base game and, as usual, discard tickets for this. However, they often also have, per round, a further shared investigative option to help them get on Mister X's trail.

The following special actions are available to choose from:

Analysis — shows all possible locations of Mister X on the board with pins. The positions of the detectives are not taken into account here. Depending on the game situation, this function can show a very small but also a very large number of possible positions, and so is sometimes more, sometimes less, helpful.

Tip: It's best to use this 2–3 moves after Mister X has surfaced.

Locate — shows the distance from Mister X (near, medium, far) to the 4 radio masts on the board. These are located in the North (13), South (184), West (94) and East (108) of the board. If a radio mast lights up green, this means that Mister X is near that mast. Yellow means he is at a medium distance from the mast, and red that he is far from that mast.

Tip: If you currently have no clue at all as to where Mister X is, Locate helps the most.

Scan — gives the exact distance to Mister X, in taxi moves, from one of the 4 radio masts. Which one it is, is not revealed…

Tip: This action is especially helpful once you have narrowed down Mister X's location to 2–3 possible stations.

Interrogation — gives you clues as to whether Mister X is near a landmark (a black text box on the board). Whenever witnesses have seen something (i.e. when Mister X is there or was recently there), a question mark appears. If several question marks light up, you choose one of them and receive the witnesses' statement.

Tip: The absence of a question mark over a landmark can also be very valuable information.

The detectives also get, via the Info button, information on how many special tickets (double-move, black ticket and helicopter) Mister X still has.

Everything else is explained in the app instructions or with info texts during the game. Just start playing!

Camera Tips

In general, the camera recognizes the board from any side. Hold the smartphone in front of you as though you were reading a book. Normally, you can comfortably remain seated.

If your smartphone's camera/app does not recognize the board correctly (you don't see a green dot appear on the right side of the screen), you can try a few things:

• Very slowly change the distance and angle to the board (more from above), keeping the device as steady as possible. Try to find the focus, for example in the middle of the board, and move slowly outward from there.
• If this doesn't help, cover the camera lens with a hand for a second. It will then refocus and recognize the board again.
• If the problem occurs frequently, try to improve the lighting conditions. Reflections, which you can see especially well through the camera, disturb the app's recognition.

Further information and FAQ about Scotland Yard Master can be found at www.ravensburger.de/scotlandyardmaster.

Credits

Author: Projekt Team III, Michael Schacht Design: Felix Harnickell, KniffDesign, DE Ravensburger Illustration: Franz Vohwinkel, Torsten Wolber

© 2013 Ravensburger Spieleverlag GmbH