5-Minute Mystery

My precious MacGuffin has been stolen and my museum is covered in strange symbols. Please, catch the culprit and bring back my MacGuffin!

Sincerely,
S. McBubbly
Curator, The Museum of Everything

1. Find the case file card for your first case: The Case of the Grand Opening. Read the case file card to understand any special instructions for the case.
   NOTE: In later games, you’ll solve multiple cases, not just one. See “Choosing Cases” for more information.
2. Shuffle the scene cards and put them in the middle of the table, image side up, to form a deck.
   • MASTERMIND EDITION ONLY: Suspects/culprits with purple backgrounds are only used in games with 5 or 6 players. When playing with 1 to 4 players, remove them from the culprit and suspect decks.
   • For your first game, remove the four Red Herring clue tiles and return them to the box. See “Red Herring Clues” for more information on how to use these later.
3. Divide the clue tiles into four decks by color and shuffle each deck. Place the decks so the question marks are face up.
4. Mix up the culprit tiles, then deal out the number indicated by the case file card. Your first case only requires one. Place the culprit(s) in the middle of the table, so the color bars are visible.
5. Shuffle the suspect cards and deal them out evenly to all players. Players may look at their suspect cards.
6. Reset the codex so that all the blank faces are at the top. Choose a player to operate the codex first.
7. Give each player a reference card. These cards are a helpful guide to the clue types and symbol variations.
8. Get a timer ready. Any digital timer will work, but we recommend using our custom timer app. It’s free and available for iOS and Android devices! (Go to 5minutemysterygame.com for download links and more info!)

To catch the crook, your team will need to work together to find symbols, earn clues, and eliminate suspects, all while the clock is ticking!

Set the Timer

Most cases have a 5-minute time limit, but not all do. For example, The Case of the Grand Opening has a 9-minute time limit.

The case file cards indicate the time limit you should use for each case. When you’re ready to begin solving the case, start the timer.

Hunt for Symbols

Every scene has five hidden symbols. There is always one of each of these five basic shapes:

However, each shape has five variations, which are shown on the reference card.

Your team must describe which variation they found for each shape so the player with the codex can turn the dial to select it.

The codex operator is allowed to look at the scene card if necessary. However, while all players may look at the codex, only the operator should use it.

Check the Solution

Once you have selected all five symbols on the codex, flip the scene card over to check that they are all correct.

• If one or more symbols are wrong, you’ll need to start over with a new scene.
• But if you got them all right, you earn a clue!

Pick A Clue Color

When you earn a clue, you must decide as a team which color you want to take.

TIP: At first, it doesn’t matter much which color you choose, but on later clues, you’ll want to think about which color is most likely to eliminate the greatest number of suspects.

Take a clue of your chosen color and flip it over. It will either show an item, such as a pocketwatch, or a feature, such as fur or feathers.

See If the Clue Matches

The clue also has a color barcode. Line it up with the bar of the same color on the culprit tile, as shown below.

• If the bars match: then the culprit has the item shown on the clue. Leave the clue next to the culprit tile to remind you that you don’t need any more clues of that color.
• If the bars don’t match: set the clue aside, but keep it where you can see it. It’s still valuable to know that the culprit doesn’t have a particular item!

Rule Out Suspects

Your new clue should allow you to eliminate some of the suspects in your hand. For example, if you learned that your culprit has a monocle, you can eliminate any suspects that don’t have monocles.

Each player should go through their own hand of suspects and remove any that are eliminated by the new clue.

Feel free to discuss or show your remaining suspects to the team. You can even lay down your hand for all players to see, if you like.

Pass the Codex

Once you’re ready to move on to the next scene, pass the codex clockwise to the next player. Keep solving scenes and earning clues until you’re ready to make an arrest!

When you’re confident that you’ve deduced the identity of the thief, stop the timer and flip over the culprit tile.

• If your suspect matches the culprit: congratulations! Your team has solved the crime and saved the day.
• However, if your chosen suspect doesn’t match the culprit: you’ve just made a false arrest! That means that you lose, and you’ll have to start the case over from the beginning. So don’t be too hasty!

NOTE: If the case file you are solving requires you to catch multiple culprits, you can only pause the timer when arresting the last one!

When time runs out, you must immediately stop your investigation. No more checking clues or ruling out suspects!

All is not lost, however. You get one last chance to nab the culprit. Pick one of your remaining suspects to arrest, and if you guess right, you still solve the case and win!

Once you’ve learned the ropes by solving The Case of the Grand Opening, you’re ready to play a longer game with more challenging cases!

Here’s what we recommend for a fun game session:

At the beginning of the game, shuffle the case files and choose a deck of five at random from various difficulty levels as shown in the table below.

For example, if you feel your team is at the “Rookie” level, choose 3 Easy (green) cases and 2 Medium (yellow) cases.

Feel free to change up the mix to suit your team’s skill level, or to add or remove cases to change the total play time.

*Mastermind Cases are only available in the Mastermind Edition.

Case files add variety to the game by changing the rules for the case you are solving. For example, many case files change the time allowed to solve the case.

Case files can require you to:

• Find specific clues: For example, if the case file says to “Find the hat clue”, you need to make sure you earn the hat clue as part of solving the case, on top of any other requirements (such as catching a culprit).
• Take free clues: Some cases, such as The Case of the Feathered Fiend, tell you to take a specific clue after starting the timer. Find and set aside those clues before starting the case, then process them once you start the timer. You don’t have to solve scenes to earn free clues.
• Catch multiple culprits: If you need to catch two or more culprits, deal out the stated number of culprit tiles when setting up, instead of just one. Keep in mind that you’ll have to check clues against each culprit separately, and keep track of which clues match (or don’t match) each individual culprit.
• Catch specific culprits: These cases tell you in advance which culprits you need to catch, so you can just put out the tiles for those culprits, rather than dealing random ones. You’ll only need the suspect cards for the culprits named by the case. The rest can be set aside. To solve these cases, you must find all four matching clues for each culprit you’re after.

MASTERMIND EDITION ONLY

Looking for an additional challenge? Try adding in the Red Herring Clues.

These four clue tiles, one from each color, represent false leads. They look like regular clues on the back, but when flipped over, they have no barcodes for matching to the culprit tile… just a picture of a fish.

If you draw a red herring clue, tough luck! The scene you solved didn’t yield any useful clues. You’ll need to start over on a new scene… and hopefully the next one will pay off!

The purple clues describe whether a culprit has fur, feathers, scales, or skin. Usually, it’s obvious which one a suspect has, but for some characters, it can be a little tricky… which is why we’ve incorporated helpful background patterns that match those found on the purple clue tiles.

So if you’re ever not sure if a suspect has skin or scales, just look at the background!

Want to try cracking a few cases on your own? You can, with just a few minor tweaks to the rules:

• You’ll have to find symbols and mark them on the codex yourself, instead of calling them out to a separate player.
• When in solo mode, you only need to match 4 of the 5 symbols on each scene card to earn a clue.
• One case file, The Case of the Sleepy Walrus, does not work when playing solo and should be skipped.

Wondering about something not covered by the rules?
5minutemysterygame.com/FAQ

• Game design and art direction: Connor Reid
• Additional design, rules and testing: Peter Nesbitt
• Produced by: Don Reid
• Artwork: Cam Kendell
• Additional Scene Art: Alex Diochon (Aquarium, Workshop, Garden, Statuary, Entrance, Hallway, Boiler & Egyptian Rooms)

Five Minute Mystery is a trademark of Wiggles 3D Incorporated.
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