The Key: Royal Star Casino Burglary Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Material
• Game Setup
• Goal of the Game
• Important Information for Investigation of the Case
• Sources of Information
  • Witness statements
  • Lab cards
• How to Play
  • 1. Investigate
  • Evaluating information
  • 2. Close the Case
  • 3. Generate a Number Code
  • 4. Put the Perpetrators Behind Bars
  • 5. Who is the Top Investigator?
  • Tips for the Next Game
• Solo Variant
• Quick Reference Guide
  • Aim of the Game
  • Game Setup
  • How to Play

Game Material

• 4 briefcases (screens)
• 4 investigation files
• 1 solution board
• 4 elevator markers
• 4 dry-erase markers with erasers
• 9 wooden keys
• 20 poker chips
• 17 template snippets
• 140 cards: 89 witness statement cards and 51 lab cards (18 currency strap cards, 18 elevator cards, 15 code cards)

Game Setup

• Each investigator takes one briefcase, assembles it as pictured, and places it in front of them.
• Each investigator also takes one marker, one investigation file, one elevator marker and 5 poker chips.
• Shuffle all of the cards and spread them around the center of the table with the back facing up (color code visible). The cards may overlap. All players need to be able to reach them easily.
• Leave the solution board in the box initially, and do not look at it. It is not needed until the end of the game.
• Select a key and place it in the center of the table between the cards. The color of the key shows which case variant you will play this game.
• Place all 17 template snippets next to the key in the center. Make sure that the gray side is always facing up.

The remaining game materials are placed back into the box.

Poker chips: These small markers have no fixed use but can help in many ways. Use the different printed sides whenever you want to cover or mark elements. During the solving of this case you will find many ways to use them!

Goal of the Game

Each investigator tries to combine the witness statements and the lab results quickly and correctly to solve the case. The winner is the player who identifies the correct key code using the least amount of clues.

Important Information for Investigation of the Case

Safe numbers: The emptied safes have the following numbers:

• Safe 2
• Safe 5
• Safe 6

Perpetrators: The three burglars are:

• Gilbert O'Sullivan, 56 years old – His friendly smile often makes Gilbert seem like a nice, harmless man. Yet for years, Gilbert has been very active in the political underground, procuring financial injections on a scale that people would rather not ask about.
• Janina Ulla Jah, 47 years old – She has been advising wealthy-looking strangers on the street on happiness, love, and professional success since dropping out of a psychology degree. But even Janina has to land a really big fish from time to time.
• Moritz Lindquist, 25 years old – A life of glitz and glamour has always been Moritz's destiny. His look is on point, his smile is in place, but the big jobs are not forthcoming. Believing that success is imminent, he wants to use creative means to tide him over during the short period of financial hardship.

Codes: These codes unlocked the individual safes:

• 25F
• 18A
• EHK

Time of the crimes: The safes were opened at the following times:

• 21:50
• 22:10
• 22:50

Sources of Information

Despite all this information, we're still completely in the dark! There are a variety of different sources available to you to help you solve the events in the Royal Star Casino. Witnesses were questioned and their witness statements documented on cards that have been categorized. The forensic lab has also brought to light various helpful clues about the perpetrators, and documented them on lab cards. In addition to the currency straps left behind from the bundles of money, the perpetrators' elevator movements could also be determined. Finally, perhaps even ripped-up snippets from the casino's trash cans will shed some light on the matter.

Witness statements

• Card value: Witness statements have 2 or 3 investigative points; lab cards always have 4 investigative points.
• Color code: The individual color code on each card shows which cases the card is useful for. Only cards that show a box matching the color of the key selected at the start of the game can help you! Any other cards will lead to an incorrect investigation result.
• Category icons: Each card shows two icons that indicate which aspects of the case this card has information about. The icons are: Perpetrator; Code; Time of the crime; Case 1, 2, 3, or general information on the cases. The example card has a statement about the perpetrator and the code they entered.

Lab cards

There are 3 types of lab cards:

1. Currency strap cards reveal something about the perpetrator and the case they were involved in (safe number).
2. Elevator cards reveal something about the perpetrator and the time of the crime.
3. Code cards reveal something about the code and the time of the crime.

How to Play

1. Investigate

All players play this game simultaneously. On the command "Start your investigation!" all players pick a card from the center at the same time. You can decide for yourself which card you want to draw and look at. Place evaluated cards behind your briefcase.

Important! You may only draw cards that show the color of the key selected for the current game! The other cards are useless witness statements or incorrect findings that will mislead you. If you notice that you took an incorrect card, you may continue your investigation without using it but at the end of the game it will still count as one of your used cards.

During investigations you should also pay attention to the category icons on the cards. In which category are you still missing clues? For example, are you still unsure about when each perpetrator opened a safe? Then look for cards with the symbols of a perpetrator and a time.

Have you taken a card, evaluated it, and kept it? You can immediately take the next card from the center of the table. You may not put cards you have evaluated back. It's entirely possible that you will receive information that you already know. Any investigator can suffer this kind of misfortune.

All cards that you have drawn are placed behind your personal briefcase without showing them to the others. You can look at them as many times as you want.

Track the results of your personal investigation in your briefcase using the marker. Use the lower part of the screen for this. Results that you can rule out are marked with an X. You can also circle any findings that you are certain are part of the solution. For example, have you irrefutably identified a perpetrator for safe 5? Then you can rule this person out for the other two safes and cross them out.

In this way, the witness statements and lab results let you rule out more and more options until all three burglaries have been clearly solved. In the end there will be only one combination of perpetrator, code, and time of the crime for each safe number.

Evaluating information

If you have taken a card with a witness statement, you can try to use the statement it contains directly on your investigation board. Sometimes, however, the card only becomes useful later, and you first need to gather other clues in order to rule something out.

Example of a witness statement: Gilbert O'Sullivan cannot have opened safe 5 because he is 56 years old. He can be crossed out and therefore must have opened either safe 2 or safe 6.

There are some witness statements that relate to the perpetrators' activities (page 1 of file) on the day of the crime. You can recognize these by the yellow paper on a witness statement card. Sometimes, the layout of the casino floor (page 2 of file) must also be factored in here.

On the card shown, you learn that the perpetrator who opened a safe at 21:50 was playing a card game at 11:45. A look at the different movement logs will help here. Depending on the symbol at the top, the cards provide information about the perpetrators or the times of the crime.

If you have selected a card with a lab result, take it into your hand and try to analyze the clue carefully with your investigation file.

1. Currency strap cards: Each of the perpetrators tore off the currency strap around the bundle of cash they stole to check the bills. You've been able to secure small shreds of the torn straps. Look closely and compare the fingerprints of the perpetrators (page 1 of file) and the torn edges (page 3 of file) of the currency straps. This is how you establish a connection between the perpetrator and the safe number.

2. Elevator cards: The casino staircase is only accessible in emergencies, so the elevator was used each time a perpetrator moved between floors. The routes travelled (e.g. 2 floors up) and the input times (e.g. 22:10) can be read off from the room chip. However, it is not known at what time each input was made.

   Important: A burglary always begins and ends in the room on floor IV. But at what time was the perpetrator on floor VII with the safes (page 2 of the file)?

   In most cases, there were also statements from eyewitnesses who could see certain floors. One symbol means: the perpetrator was seen here; they were here at some point during the entire time period. The other symbol means: the perpetrator was not seen here; they did not enter this floor for the entire time period.

   Tip: Use your elevator marker to always mark the current floor.

3. Code cards: The casino safes feature state-of-the-art encryption technology: the code to be entered is changed frequently. To crack this system, each perpetrator used a template showing the buttons to be pressed at a very specific time. After using the templates, the perpetrators tore them into 4 small pieces and threw them in the trash. Correctly put together (the bright red snippet is already aligned correctly!) only the entered code is visible next to the "OK" button (page 3 of file).

2. Close the Case

If you've circled 3 different results in each of the 3 columns, you can close the case. If you're the fastest investigator and have finished first, grab the key in the center of the table. Now the other players can continue drawing cards to try and solve the case. After all, it's not necessarily the fastest investigator who wins the game but the most efficient one ...

3. Generate a Number Code

The order (from left to right) of the identified perpetrators yields a solution number that can be seen on the left side of the briefcase.

Example: Moritz, Janina, Gilbert = 4. Enter this number in the first space of the combination lock on your briefcase. Do the same for the code and time of the crime. This will create a number code consisting of 3 digits.

4. Put the Perpetrators Behind Bars

As soon as all players have placed their marker in the center, check the results of the investigation:

Take the solution board out of the box and place it on the table so that the side with the gray combination locks is facing up.

The fastest investigator, the one who grabbed the key, may now look for a lock on the solution board with a number that matches the number code they discovered.

Is there a lock that shows the number code you determined?

• No? Oh no! Your code isn't right. If the next player in a clockwise direction came up with a different number code, they may now look for their code.
• Yes? Carefully insert the key into the corresponding lock on the board. Now flip the board over. Does the color of the key match the lock on the back?
  • No? What a pity! You've made a mistake somewhere in your investigations and are now out of the running. If the next player in a clockwise direction came up with a different number code, they may now check their solution.
  • Yes? Fantastic! You solved the case correctly and the perpetrators are finally behind bars. But were you the most efficient investigator?

Does no one have the correct code? Check that you only used cards showing the color code that matches the key you selected. You may need to draw new witness statements and lab results. Maybe you can work together to discover the solution.

5. Who is the Top Investigator?

All the players who discovered the correct number code check to see who was the most efficient investigator among them. Each player adds up the investigative points on the back of the cards they collected throughout the game.

Note: Did the player with the key come up with the correct number code? As a reward, they may discard one of their cards with the lowest investigative value. This card is not added to their total.

The player with the lowest total number of investigative points wins the game. Congratulations – a promotion awaits!

The other investigators who contributed to the arrest also receive high praise, because they helped justice prevail in the end.

In case of a tie, the investigator who used the least lab cards wins. If there is still a tie, these players win together.

If you want to, you can also check your individual performance in the assessment table for the solo variant.

Example: This player has a total of 20 investigative points. A 2-point witness statement that they used is not counted because they were the fastest investigator (they grabbed the key) and can therefore discard the card.

Tips for the Next Game

After each game, wipe your briefcases off with the erasers on your markers so that the marks do not stain over time. Then you can play again right away! Shuffle the cards and spread them out in the center of the table with the color code side facing up. Now you can select a different key and play a new case variant.

Important: The game isn't "used up" after playing all 9 case variants. Each game is about combining the individual clues that you draw, so all case variants can be played as often as you like. The riddle and finding the solution are the real challenges – the identified number combination is only the result.

Solo Variant

In the solo variant, you play alone for the honor of being the best investigator. There is naturally no time pressure to find the solution fastest or scramble to draw the best cards. Instead you need to cleverly select cards. The solo variant is also good for getting to know the game components and becoming familiar with the investigation method.

The game setup and play are the same as the multi-player variant. First solve the case and then check your solution code as usual, using the solution board.

Then calculate how efficient your investigation was. The fewer investigative points shown on the cards you used the better. Unlike in the multi-player variant, you may not discard a card.

Points	Result
> 33	Unfortunately you failed the investigator's test. Why don't you try again?
30 - 33	Whew, that was a close call! Next time you should consider which cards you investigate more carefully.
27 - 29	Not bad, but you can probably do better.
24 - 26	You're a good investigator.
21 - 23	Very good, you're a clever sleuth!
18 - 20	Wow, you're a real master investigator!
16 - 17	Fantastic! Your boss is impressed, and all the villains fear your investigative skills.
14 - 15	You're one of the best investigators around. Nobody can fool you.
< 13	Wow, you're one of the top investigators in the world! Even Sherlock Holmes could have learned something from you!

Quick Reference Guide

Aim of the Game

Try to solve the burglaries at the Royal Star Casino by cleverly combining clues and witness statements. To do this, you must find out which perpetrator opened which safe with which code at which time. The winner is the investigator who works the most efficiently to find the correct solution code and puts the perpetrators behind bars.

Game Setup

• Each player takes one briefcase, one marker, one investigation file, one elevator marker, and 5 poker chips.
• Shuffle all the cards and spread them out with the color code side facing up in the center of the table.
• Leave the solution board in the box and don't look at it.
• Select a key and place it in the center of the table. Place the 17 template snippets next to it.
• Return any extra game components that are not needed back to the box.

How to Play

1. Investigate:
   • All players draw a card from the center at the same time. Note: The color code must show a box in the color of the selected key!
   • Place the drawn cards behind the briefcase.
   • Evaluate and combine clues and statements on the cards, with the help of the investigation file if needed.
   • Mark your findings on your briefcase.
2. Close the case:
   • When there is only one combination of perpetrator, safe number, code, and time of the crime left: you can grab the key.
   • The other players continue their investigations until they solve the case as well.
3. Generate a number code:
   • Read the number on the left of the briefcase that corresponds with the determined order of perpetrators, codes, and times of the crime.
   • Enter the numbers in the combination lock of the briefcase.
4. Put the perpetrators behind bars:
   • The fastest investigator looks for their number code on the solution board and puts the key in the corresponding lock.
   • Turn over the solution board. Do the colors of the lock and the key match? The perpetrators have successfully been put behind bars.
   • Is there no lock with the number code, the color on the back doesn't match, or the key doesn't fit in a lock? Wrong number code. The other players can take turns in a clockwise direction to check their solutions.