Mysterium

2015

In Mysterium, play as gifted mediums deciphering visions to solve an eerie murder mystery. Awaken the amnesiac ghost's memories before time runs out!

42
minutes

2 - 7
player(s)

10+

Medium Light

About the game

Mysterium is a unique cooperative board game that blends elements of mystery, deduction and communication in an engaging manner. Set in the backdrop of a 1920s haunted mansion, the game thrusts players into a world where they must unravel the secrets of a chilling murder.

The game’s theme is a central aspect of its charm. In Mysterium, one player assumes the role of a ghost, while the others take on the roles of mediums. The ghost, who is unable to speak, must communicate with the mediums through ‘visions’ in the form of beautifully illustrated cards. The mediums must interpret these visions to uncover the details of the murder – the perpetrator, location, and weapon used.

Game components Unboxing the fun!

Mysterium is a cooperative board game that involves deduction and teamwork. Here is a list of all the components included in the game, along with a description of what each one does and how it interacts with the game:

1. Game Board:

The game board is where the psychics place their intuition tokens during the game. It also tracks the game’s progress and time limit.

2. Ghost Screen:

This screen is used by the ghost player to hide their cards and actions from the other players. It also contains a handy round summary on the back.

3. Character Cards:

Black & White: These are used by the ghost to keep track of which character each psychic is trying to identify.

Colour: These are used by the psychics to guess the identity of the ghost’s character.

4. Location Cards:

Black & White: These are used by the ghost to keep track of the location each psychic is trying to identify.

Colour: These are used by the psychics to guess the location of the ghost’s murder.

5. Object Cards:

Black & White: These are used by the ghost to keep track of the object each psychic is trying to identify.

Colour: These are used by the psychics to guess the murder weapon used by the ghost’s character.

6. Ghost Tokens:

These are used by the ghost to keep track of which psychic is trying to identify which character, location, and object.

7. Intuition Tokens:

These are used by the psychics to make their guesses about the ghost’s character, location, and object.

8. Clairvoyance Tokens:

These are used by the psychics to vote on whether they agree or disagree with other psychics’ guesses.

9. Clock Board:

This tracks the current game round. Each round represents an hour in the game’s storyline, with a total of 7 hours (rounds).

10. Progress Boards:

These are used to track each psychic’s progress in identifying their specific character, location, and object.

11. Vision Cards:

These are used by the ghost to give clues to the psychics. Each card contains surreal images that the psychics must interpret to make their guesses.

Game setup Lay it out, line it up, let’s go

Mysterium is a cooperative board game where players work together to solve a mystery. The game is played by 2-7 players, one of whom takes on the role of a ghost and the rest are investigators trying to solve the murder. Here are the step-by-step instructions on how to set up the game:

Step 1: Determine Player Roles

Decide who will be the ghost. This player will have a different role than the other players, who will be investigators. The ghost player will sit on one side of the table, while the investigators sit on the other side.

Step 2: Set Up the Game Board

Place the game board in the middle of the table. The side with the clock is facing the investigators. The side with the crow and slots for cards is facing the ghost.

Step 3: Prepare the Ghost’s Materials

The ghost player takes the ghost’s shield and places it in front of them. They also take all the ghost tokens, a crow token, and the culprit token. The ghost will also receive a deck of vision cards.

Step 4: Prepare the Investigator’s Materials

Each investigator player takes a character sleeve, a character token, and a number of clairvoyance tokens. The number of clairvoyance tokens each player gets depends on the number of players.

Step 5: Prepare the Game Cards

Separate the character, location, and object cards into three separate decks. Shuffle each deck and randomly draw as many cards from each deck as there are investigators. Place these cards into the slots on the ghost’s side of the game board.

Step 6: Prepare the Progress Boards

Place the character, location, and object progress boards next to the game board. Place the corresponding cards from step 5 onto these boards. The ghost will also place matching tokens onto the cards behind their shield.

Step 7: Prepare the Clock

Place the clock token on the first hour of the clock on the game board.

Step 8: Random Elements

The ghost player randomly deals one character, one location, and one object card to each investigator. These cards correspond to the person, place, and thing the investigator must guess to solve their part of the mystery. These are kept secret from other players.

Step 9: Start of the Game

The game begins with the ghost player, who will use the vision cards to provide clues to the investigators. The clock token is moved forward each round, adding a sense of urgency to the investigation.

And there you have it! You’re all set to start playing Mysterium. Happy investigating!

Game flow Round and round we go

Mysterium is a cooperative board game for 2-7 players. The game is divided into two main phases: the Reconstruction of Events phase and the Revealing the Culprit phase. A game of Mysterium usually lasts for seven rounds.

The Reconstruction of Events Phase

During this phase, one player takes on the role of the Ghost, while the others play as Psychics. The Ghost’s role is to guide the Psychics towards the correct combination of Person, Place, and Object cards by providing them with Vision cards. This phase is further divided into several stages:

Setup: The Ghost chooses a set of Person, Place, and Object cards for each Psychic, placing them on the corresponding numbered spaces on the game board.
Distribution of Vision Cards: The Ghost draws seven Vision cards and then provides one or more to each Psychic to help them guess their Person, Place, or Object.
Psychics’ Interpretation: Each Psychic must decipher the Vision cards they received and make a guess about their Person, Place, or Object.
Evaluation of Psychics’ Guesses: The Ghost indicates whether each Psychic’s guess is correct or not. Correct guesses move on to the next category, while incorrect ones must guess the same category again next round.
End of Round: The Ghost refills their hand to seven Vision cards, and a new round begins. The game moves to the next phase if all Psychics have correctly guessed their Person, Place, and Object, or if seven rounds have passed.

The Revealing the Culprit Phase

During this phase, the Psychics must work together to determine which Person, Place, and Object combination represents the true culprit of the crime. This phase also has several stages:

Setup: The Ghost selects three sets of Person, Place, and Object cards from those correctly guessed by the Psychics and places them on the Epilogue board.
Distribution of Vision Cards: The Ghost gives three Vision cards, each corresponding to a Person, Place, and Object from the true culprit’s set.
Psychics’ Deliberation: The Psychics must discuss and decide which set of cards they believe to be the true culprit’s.
Final Reveal: The Ghost reveals whether the Psychics’ guess is correct. If it is, all players win the game. If not, they lose.

End of the game All good games must come to an end

The game of ‘Mysterium’ concludes in two possible scenarios. The first scenario is when the Mediums (players) successfully identify the correct set of clues, which includes the Murderer, Location, and Weapon before the end of the 7th hour (round). The second scenario is when the 7th hour ends before the Mediums have successfully identified all elements of the crime.

Victory Conditions:

Scenario 1: If all Mediums have successfully identified their respective set of clues before the end of the 7th hour, they proceed to the Final Guess phase. In this phase, the Ghost will choose one group of cards (Murderer, Location, Weapon) that represents the true culprit. The Ghost then provides additional Vision Cards as clues to help the Mediums guess the true culprit. If the majority of the Mediums correctly guess the true culprit, all players (including the Ghost) win the game.
Scenario 2: If any Medium fails to identify their set of cards by the end of the 7th hour, all players lose the game. The game ends immediately without proceeding to the Final Guess phase.

Actions Before Final Scoring:

Before final scoring, if the Mediums have moved to the Final Guess phase, they must discuss and vote on who they believe is the true culprit based on the final Vision Cards provided by the Ghost. They place their voting tokens on the culprit card they believe is correct. It is important to note that final voting is done secretly. Mediums must hide their voting token in their hand and reveal it simultaneously.
The Ghost should not participate in the discussion and must remain silent while the Mediums debate their final decision.

Scoring Did you outsmart your rivals?

Mysterium is a cooperative mystery-solving board game. Players work together to solve a murder case under the guidance of a ‘ghost’. The scoring system in Mysterium is unique and comprises several stages, each with their own point allocations.

First Stage: Intuition Cards

Each player, or ‘psychic’, uses their intuition to interpret the ghost’s clues. The ghost, in turn, uses abstract image cards to guide the psychics towards the correct suspect, location, and weapon cards.
For each correct guess, the psychic moves their intuition token forward on the track. The number of spaces moved corresponds to the current round number (i.e., one space in the first round, two spaces in the second round, etc.).
Points are accumulated based on the position of the psychics’ intuition tokens on the track at the end of the seventh round.

Second Stage: Group Guess

In the final phase of the game, the ghost selects one group of suspect, location, and weapon cards – without revealing which group they have selected.
The psychics then collectively vote on which group they believe the ghost has chosen, using the number of clairvoyancy points they have accumulated throughout the game to influence the final decision.
If the majority of psychics correctly identify the chosen group, all players win the game. If not, the game results in a loss for all players.

Tie-Breaking Rules

In the event of a tie during the group guess stage, the player with the most clairvoyancy points breaks the tie.
If there’s still a tie, the tied player who is furthest along the track is the tie-breaker.
Should a tie persist, the oldest player breaks the tie.

Thus, the scoring system in Mysterium is not just about individual success, but also about how well the players can work together to interpret the ghost’s clues and solve the murder mystery.

Particular Cases and Exceptions Wait… is that legal?

‘Mysterium’ is a cooperative game of deduction and imagination. While the rules are straightforward, there are some special rules and exceptions that players should be aware of:

1. Ghost’s Limited Communication

In ‘Mysterium’, one player takes on the role of the ghost, and they are not allowed to communicate with the mediums (other players) except through the vision cards. They cannot gesture, comment, or give any other form of hints.

2. Timer Usage

There is an optional rule that adds a two-minute timer to each round. If the timer runs out before a medium has selected a card, they miss their turn. This rule is designed to add more challenge and is often used in repeated plays.

3. Using Clairvoyance Tokens

Clairvoyance tokens are used by mediums to vote on whether they agree or disagree with other mediums’ guesses. However, mediums cannot vote on their own guesses. Additionally, these tokens are limited and once used, they can’t be regained until the next round.

4. The Shared Vision in Final Guess

During the final guess, the ghost provides a shared vision to the mediums who must then collectively decide on the correct suspect, location, and object. The ghost cannot provide individual visions to each medium during this round.

5. Dealing with a Tie

If there is a tie when voting for the final guess, the vote of the player who reached the epiphany phase first is decisive.

6. Ghost’s Vision Card Replacement

The ghost can replace their entire hand of vision cards once per round, but this should be done at the beginning of a round before distributing any vision cards.

7. Number of Players

The game is designed for 2 to 7 players. However, if there is only one medium (in a two-player game), they must play with two psychic cards to maintain the game balance.

Tips and tricks Play smarter, not harder!

The board game ‘Mysterium’ is a cooperative game where players work together to solve a mystery. Here are some strategies, tips, and common mistakes to avoid for an enjoyable and successful game:

Advanced Strategies:

As the ghost: When giving clues, try to connect multiple cards on a common theme. This can help players understand the links between the clues and the suspects, locations, and weapons.
As an investigator: Don’t limit your thinking to the literal images on the cards. Think about the underlying themes or emotions that the cards could be representing.

Beginner Tips:

Understanding the game: Make sure you understand the game mechanics before you start playing. ‘Mysterium’ is a game that relies heavily on player communication and intuition, so having a good grasp of the rules is crucial.
Communication: As an investigator, remember that you can and should discuss your clues with the other investigators. This is a cooperative game, and other players may see connections you missed.

Common Mistakes:

Overthinking: Players often overthink the clues, trying to find complex connections that aren’t there. Remember that the ghost may be trying to point out something simple, like the color or shape in the image.
Ignoring the ghost’s limitations: Players often forget that the ghost is limited in the number and type of vision cards they can give. Keep this in mind when interpreting your clues.

Ways to Optimize Gameplay:

Time management: Be aware of the time limit. The game ends after seven rounds, so make sure you’re making progress towards solving the mystery each round.
Use of crow markers: As the ghost, use your crow markers wisely. They allow you to discard your hand and draw new vision cards, which can be crucial in giving better clues.