The Lost Code
The Lost Code Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Content
- 4 cardboard logs
- 54 cardboard stones, from 0 to 8, in 6 different symbols (number 8 stones used for variant)
- 7 double-sided guessing wheels of different sizes
- 6 tokens for the "Deadly Shortcut" expansion
- 1 token for the "Curse of the Temple" expansion
- 4 pieces in the 4 players' colors
- 3 colored custom dice
- 4 double-sided player screens, one per player color
- 1 deduction pad
- 1 game board
You will also need one pencil and an eraser per each player (not included in the box).
Overview
In The Lost Code you have a code in front of you, but you can only see those of the opponents, never your own. The goal of the game is indeed to deduct your own code by making progressive guesses. In each round, you have to guess the sum range of three of the numbers of your code, while at the end you'll make your final guess about each single number in your log: the closer the guesses, the more Victory Points (VP) you get.
The winner will be… the player with the most VP at the end, of course.
How to Assemble the Logs
There are 4 logs, each one consisting of:
- 2 bases;
- 1 support floor;
- 1 external shell.
For each log:
- Place the support floor on the two bases, pinning it to the hooks.
- Wrap the external shell fixing it to the two bases.
- You can store the assembled logs as they are in the appropriate spaces of the tray.
When placing a stone in the log, make sure it fits in the hole of the support floor as well. This will ensure it does not lean too much forward or backward.
Setup
Introductory version: For the first few games or if you play with kids, we advice playing with 5 stone symbols only. Put all the bear (red) stones back in the box.
Place a log in front of each player. If there are less than 4 players, place the remaining logs as if all the 4 players were present. Place the game board in the center of the table, easily accessible to everyone. Then each player chooses a color. Place the matching piece of the chosen colors on the starting space (0) of the game board, randomly stacking the players' pieces in a pile. Place a sheet from the deduction pad in front of each player, everyone takes the screen in their color to hide their notes and, finally, give a pencil and an eraser to each player.
Place the guessing wheels, with their side without the white X facing up, on and beside the game board, each in its corresponding space (every wheel goes to the space with the matching frame motif).
Secretly shuffle the stones, keeping the symbols separated, and place the individual stacks face down next to the game board. Without looking at them, return one stone of each symbol back to the box. You will not need these stones anymore during the game. However, you should keep in mind that one of the numbers from 0 to 7 (8 if playing the variant) in each symbol is not in the game. Now, each player takes one stone of each symbol, paying attention not to look at the numbers: place them in your log, with the symbol facing you. It's better if you keep the same symbol sequence of the deduction pad.
Important: You may NEVER look at the numbers depicted on your own stones. You can only see the numbers of other players' stones.
If two or three players are playing, fill the remaining logs with stones (one per symbol) and place them on the table so that everyone can see them clearly.
Note: No matter whether two, three or four players are playing, all logs are always placed in position and filled with stones. For example, in a 2 player game there are two logs that do not belong to anyone, but in which stones have been inserted and that are visible for both players.
Now, in your deduction sheet, blacken the numbers of the other players (and, in a 2 or 3 players game, also the ones on the logs not belonging to players), since there is no way you can have those stones in your log, neither now nor later during the game (if you are not playing the X-Race variant, you can also blacken the entire column of the number 8 and, if you are playing the introductory version, you can blacken the entire bear line as well). Do not let other players see your deduction sheet. Now the game can begin!
Player Aid Reference
On the inner side of your player screen you will find a round summary:
- Throw the dice.
- Choose one wheel to guess the range that covers the sum of your numbers in the drawn symbols.
- a. If your guess was right, move your piece forward on the board as many spaces as the value (VP) of the wheel you used. b. If your guess was wrong, change any one of your stones with another one from the same symbol pile (if there are still stones available).
How to Play
The game is played over a fixed number of rounds depending on the number of players (see End of the game), each round includes 3 phases:
1. Throw the Dice
The player who is last on the scoring track throws the 3 dice. In the event of a tie, the player whose piece is on top of the tied stack throws. The player throwing the dice may now decide whether they accept the roll as it is or not. If not, they may turn one die into a symbol of their choice.
Note: When playing the Introductory version, if one (or more) die roll is a bear (red), the player who threw the dice must turn this die (these dice) into any other symbol(s) of their choice.
On their deduction sheet, each player takes note of the roll marking the symbols in the corresponding line (1st line, 1st guess and so on); if they get two (three) dice in the same symbol, they mark that symbol twice (three times).
2. Make Your Guess
Note: You can already exclude some numbers, because you can see the other players' stones. The notes on your deduction sheet will help you!
Each turn you take a look at the symbols on the thrown dice and try to guess the sum of the corresponding numbers in your log. (Example: the dice are bear-jaguar-human, you guess the sum of your red, yellow and pink numbers.) If a symbol appears more than once, the number in that symbol is counted that number of times.
Now let's see how to make guesses: Players make their guesses one at a time, starting from the last one on the scoring track (the one who rolled the dice), then the second to last and so on until the first, who will be the last to score. In case of a tie, the player considered behind is always the one whose piece is on the top of the tied pile. The guessing wheels are all different and the first player to guess is also the first to choose the guessing wheel they think more suitable for themselves, gaining an advantage over the others. Your goal is not to guess a precise number but a range which includes the sum of your numbers (in the rolled symbols). Even though the 7 wheels have ranges in different sizes, some are worth the same amount of VP! In general, the wider the range is, the fewer the VP are. So you choose one wheel between those still available and rotate it until it reaches the range that you believe will most probably include your sum.
Important: A guessing wheel can never show less numbers than its maximum range! Adjust it so that does not show any empty space.
Example: Yvonne has thrown jaguar (yellow), bird (blue) and bear (red). She has not collected much information about her stones in these symbols yet, so she decides to use a guessing wheel that covers a relatively large number range. She assumes that the sum of her numbers in those symbols lies between 9 and 15. She takes the wheel that shows 7 numbers and sets it on the numbers 9 to 15. The other players also reflect on what the sum of their own jaguar, bird and bear numbers could be. Then, following the reverse order they stand on the score track, they each choose a guessing wheel (the next one to go is the second to last, then the third to last, and then the first on the scoring track) and set it with their chosen range showing.
3. Carry Out the Scoring Phase
Now, in turn order, beginning with the player who threw the dice, each player learns if their guesses were correct. You are not allowed to look at your own stones: the other players will calculate and tell you whether your guess was right or wrong.
Attention: Count up exactly before you pass on the information, so that no mistakes are made. If you make only one mistake, a player's deductions have no more use to them!
If the wheel is set in the right position:
If you were right (i.e. the sum of the numbers is within the chosen range) note down the number range in the rightmost column of your sheet in the corresponding line, get as many VP as the number value written on your wheel and move your piece correspondingly on the scoring track. If your piece lands in an occupied space, place it atop the pile.
Example: Jim has estimated a range from 1 to 5. The other players tell him that he's right. So he moves his piece 2 spaces forward and writes the range on his deduction sheet.
If the wheel is NOT set in the right position:
If you were wrong (i.e. the sum of the numbers is NOT within the chosen range) the opponents have to specify if your real number was higher or lower than the range… and they always have to tell the truth!
Exception: If you have chosen the smallest guessing wheel (which results in the most VP), the other players may not tell you whether your guess was too high or too low, they just say if you are right or not.
Registering Information
The information you obtain during the game may be noted on your deduction sheet as it will help you deducing the values of your stones.
Each player's deduction sheet is divided into 3 sections.
Note: In the right column of the deduction sheet, you will use one line per round/guess. You can see when the game ends according to the number of players.
In the first one, on the top left, you can mark the spaces that match the stones you see or you deduce you don't have.
In the second one, to the right, you can take notes of the symbols drawn by the dice in each round (one row per round) marking a cross in the matching columns. In the blank space on the right, you can write the range of values determined by the results of your guesses. If you are right, write down the range you have chosen on your wheel. If you guess wrong, write the number range below or above your guess instead, accordingly to what other players told you.
The third section, on the bottom left, will be used for the final guesses.
Example: Diana has estimated a range from 20 to 21. The other players tell her that the sum of her numbers is lower. Therefore, she knows that the sum of her numbers is between 0 and 19, and writes this on her deduction sheet. She gets no VP.
Important: When you later draw conclusions about your stones, it is important to be able to differentiate between the numbers that you cannot have because you have seen them and the numbers you believe you don't have based on deduction. We advice to completely blacken the boxes with numbers that you have seen, and only cross out those boxes with numbers that you exclude purely on the grounds of deduction. It can happen that you must exchange stones from your log. In that case, simply rub out all crosses linked to those stones and leave the black boxes as they are.
Exchanging Stones
After all players' guessing wheels have been checked, those that did not guess correctly must replace one stone from their log, starting from the last player on the scoring track (the last one first, then the second to last, etc.). Discard a stone of your choice from your log and place it face up next to you, so that all players (including you) can see it. Then draw one new stone, face down, from the stack of the same symbol and insert it into your log, without looking at it.
Attention! Discard one of your stones of which symbol at least one other stone is available! If there are no more stones available, in any symbol, ignore the exchange phase. You can not skip this phase if stones are available in any pile.
Do not forget to completely blacken the box with the number of the discarded stone on your deduction sheet! Also, write this number in the corresponding dice column of the current round. Thus, you can draw more exact conclusions regarding other symbols that were previously thrown together with the symbol you discarded during the game. The other players also get additional information, since they can see your new stone (you do not).
Once you have checked the number ranges of all players, place all the guessing wheels back on their spaces on the board and the next turn begins.
Note: By discarding a stone, all the deductions already made should be re-evaluated, because one number in your log changed and all the guesses involving this symbol now could be different. So if you think a deduction is no longer correct, you better erase it.
Example: Jim discards his chameleon (purple) stone. It is a 2. He blackens the box with the purple 2 on his deduction sheet. Then he rubs out the crosses on 5, 6 and 7. He had marked these during the game, since in the previous rounds he had deduced that it was not possible for him to have a chameleon (purple) 5, 6 or 7. Now that he has discarded the 2, these numbers are possible again.
Furthermore, for the current round he also writes a 2 in the chameleon (purple) die space. That way, he knows in which round he discarded the 2. Following that, he can make more exact conclusions concerning the other symbols thrown together with the 2. He also writes a 4 in the dice column above, since in the previous round chameleon (purple) was thrown twice (2 + 2). Since his guess for that round was correct, his numbers were between 1 and 5, he now knows that in any case his jaguar (yellow) stone is a 1.
End of the Game
The game is over after:
- 8 rounds in a 4 players game;
- 9 rounds in a 3 players game;
- 10 rounds in a 2 players game.
At the end, you may place guesses on the stones you have on your log. For your final guess use the section on the bottom left of your deduction sheet.
For each symbol, you can place one, two or three guesses (one number per box). However, even if you guess correctly, the more guesses you make, the less VP you score.
Once every player has placed his guesses, starting with the last player on the scoring track, you can finally check whether you were right or wrong and move the players' pieces accordingly. For each stone you correctly guess, you gain the following:
- 5 VP, if you placed one guess (1x?);
- 2 VP, if you placed two guesses (2x?);
- 1 VP, if you placed three guesses (3x?).
For every stone you did not guess (or did not place any guess), you lose 2 VP.
Sum the total amount of VP you scored and move your piece forward (or backward) on the board as many spaces as the VP you scored.
Note: If the sum of your VP is a negative number, move your piece backward on the board as many spaces as that negative number.
At the end, the player standing foremost on the game board wins the game. In the event of a tie, the player standing at the bottom of the tied players stack wins.
Example of scoring: These are Diana's deduction sheet and log. She was uncertain about the bird (blue), the chameleon (purple) and the snake (green) stones and placed respectively 2, 2 and 3 guesses (gaining 2 + 2 + 1 VP) but she was sure about the jaguar (yellow) and the human (pink) stones (5 + 5 VP) hence she took the risk of guessing the bear (red) number with one attempt, unfortunately missing it (-2 VP). She scored a total of 13 VP (2 + 5 + 2 + 1 + 5 - 2) and moves her piece 13 spaces forward on the game board.
Variant and Expansions
The game comes with 1 variant and 2 expansions that you can also combine and use all in the same game.
1. X-Race Variant
If you want a more challenging experience, use this variant.
- During the setup, add also the 8 numbered stones (marked by an X);
- Flip the wheels on the X side (they change values according to the addition of the 8s);
- All other rules are the same! (Don't blacken the column of the 8s on your deduction sheet.)
2. Deadly Shortcut
You will need the 6 tokens showing each a different symbol. When starting a new game, place them next to the board, so that every player can easily reach them.
After rolling the dice, when 2 or 3 dice show the same symbol, the player furthest back (the one who rolled the dice) can decide to take the corresponding token or leave it to another player (always in score order, starting with the last one up to the first, everyone choose to take or refuse the token).
When you take the token, you must immediately fill in the space of the same symbol of that token that would normally be filled in at the end of the game, writing 1, 2 or 3 numbers as in the basic rules. Keep the token behind your screen (it cannot be used again during this game), and the game continues normally.
At the end of the game, if these deductions prove to be correct, you get double the VP you would normally score:
- 10 VP for guessing with one number;
- 4 VP with two;
- 2 VP with three.
If your deduction proves to be wrong, you double your penalty and score -4 VP.
Important:
- It is possible to take the token only before changing the face of a die. This means whoever throws the dice, has to ensure no one wants the token. Once the token has been taken by one player, or refused by every player, who threw the dice can change one of the 3 results.
- The tokens cannot be used during the last 3 rounds of the game: remove all of the unused tokens from the game at the end of the 7th/6th/5th round in a 2/3/4 players game.
Example: During the 6th turn of a 3 players game, the dice rolled by Jim show two chameleons (purple) and a bird (blue). He has the choice to take the chameleon token but he doesn't, passing the choice to Diana, second to last on the scoring track. Diana chooses to take the token and fills in the chameleon (purple) column displayed in the lower left section of her deduction sheet. She decides to write down two numbers: 1 and 2.
On the 7th turn, the dice show two jaguars (yellow) and a bear (red) but no one can use the jaguar token because the 6th round is over and they are playing a 3 players game.
During the final guesses phase, Diana finds out that she has a purple 1 and therefore earns 4 VP for her chameleon stone (2 guesses are worth 2 VP, doubled due to the token she has previously taken).
3. The Curse of the Temple
You will need the token that shows a skull. When starting a new game, place it on the space number 7 of the score track (space is marked with the skull).
During the scoring phase, the first player to reach or overcome the space occupied by the token, has to take it, thus becoming cursed.
When you are cursed, if you correctly guess your range, score just as usual. Furthermore, you will get 1 VP every time someone else guesses incorrectly.
When you are cursed, if you fail your guess, you lose the amount of VP depicted on the wheel you have chosen and move backward on the scoring track. Exchange one stone as usual.
At the end of the scoring phase, before the next round begins, check if at least one player has reached the space number 13 on the scoring track:
- if so, the cursed token is removed from the game.
- If nobody reached that space yet, the token goes to the player farthest on the scoring track (in case of a tie, to the player whose piece is on the bottom of the tied pile) and you keep playing using the cursed token.
Important:
- The token is removed from the game before the beginning of the last round even if no one could reach space number 13 on the scoring track. Remove it at the end of the 9th/8th/7th round in a 2/3/4 players game.
- Cursed player gets 1 VP for each player that guesses incorrectly during the scoring phase.
- Later, in the rare event that all players have less than 7 VP again (because the cursed player may lose VP accordingly to the value of the chosen wheel, so they can move backward below 7), the token remains in play and is only removed when the space number 13 is reached or before the start of the last round of play.
Example: During the scoring phase, Diana earns 4 VP and her piece lands on space number 9 of the scoring track. By the end of the scoring phase she is the player with the most VP and, since she also surpassed the number 7 space, she has to take the cursed token. During the next turn she takes the wheel with the ten numbers range. When checking the guesses (during the scoring phase), Yvonne and Jim guesses proved to be wrong, thus making Diana score 2 VP (1 per opponent). Even Diana herself guesses incorrectly though, and being cursed she scores -1 VP and moves backward on the score track of 1 space. At the end of this scoring phase, since Christopher scored 4 VP, he became the new leader on the track and will be the cursed player for the next round. At the end of the next scoring phase, Christopher stops on the space number 14, finally removing the cursed token from the game.
Credits
Designer: Leo Colovini
Illustrator: Miguel Coimbra
Publisher: Mojito Studios