Paranormal Detectives

You awaken to a terrifying realization: your mortal life has abruptly ended, and you are now an ethereal ghost floating above your own remains. Gathered around your body is an unusual collection of individuals examining the crime scene with intense curiosity. They are paranormal detectives! To ensure justice is served and your spirit can find eternal rest, you must find a way to communicate the circumstances of your demise and reveal the identity of the culprit.

The Goal of the Game

Paranormal Detectives is a deduction party game. One participant embodies the Ghost of the deceased victim, while the remaining players take on the roles of Paranormal Detectives. Using supernatural communication methods, the Detectives pose questions to uncover the truth behind the crime.

The first Detective who accurately deduces all 5 key elements of the story wins the game alongside the Ghost.

Parental Advisory

Paranormal Detectives addresses themes of death and includes occasional references to violence, illegal substances, and mature content. When playing with younger participants, an adult should adopt the role of the Ghost and select an age-appropriate scenario. All stories involving drugs or sexual content are marked with a symbol in the upper-right corner of the Story card.

• 1 Main board
• 28 Story cards
• 35 Interaction cards
• 3 Ghost Interaction cards

• 5 Detective screens
• Investigation sheets (pad)
• 1 Ghost sheet
• 1 Quill Pen sheet
• 5 Talking Board markers
• 6 Pens
• 3 Ghost Meter markers
• 10 Wound markers
• 17 Tarot cards
• 2 Hangman’s Knot ropes

1. Central Area: Place the Main Board and the Quill Pen sheet in the middle of the table.
2. General Supply: Group the Ghost Meter markers, Talking Board markers, Wound markers, and Hangman’s Knot ropes next to the central board.
3. Ghost Setup: Choose which player will take on the role of the Ghost. This player receives:
   • The Ghost sheet,
   • 1 randomly chosen Story card (kept strictly hidden from others),
   • The 3 Ghost Interaction cards,
   • The deck of 17 Tarot cards,
   • 1 pen.

   Note: Do not read any Story cards prior to play. Only the single selected Story card should be reviewed during setup, and exclusively by the Ghost player.

4. Detective Setup: Each remaining player chooses or randomly receives a Detective character and collects:
   • The corresponding Detective screen,
   • 1 Investigation sheet (placed privately behind their screen),
   • All Interaction cards displaying their Detective’s portrait icon in the top-left corner,
   • 1 pen.

   Two-player note: In a 2-player game (1 Detective and the Ghost), the Detective chooses two full sets of 7 Interaction cards belonging to any two Detective characters.

5. Adjusting Interaction Decks: Detectives must discard back into the box any Interaction cards showing player count symbols that do not include the current total player count (counting the Ghost).
   For example: In a 5-player game, remove cards showing the and symbols.

   Each Detective must end up with the following hand size based on total player count:

   • 2 players: 14 cards
   • 3 players: 7 cards
   • 4 players: 6 cards
   • 5 players: 5 cards
   • 6 players: 4 cards

   Physical Contact Note: Two cards (Ghost Touch and Quill Pen) require direct physical contact between participants. If any player is uncomfortable with this, they may freely swap those cards out for any unused Detective cards instead of the standard icon-based discards.

6. Crime Scene Preparation: The Ghost privately reads the chosen Story card. They place Wound markers onto the chalk outline on the Main Board as instructed by the card (some stories feature no wounds). They also place 1 Wound marker onto the gender icon to indicate the victim’s apparent sex. Finally, the Ghost reads aloud the italicized descriptive text located at the bottom of the Story card.

The Detective who most recently encountered something frightening takes the first turn. Play proceeds clockwise around the table among the Detectives. The Ghost never takes a regular turn in this order; their role is strictly to respond to Detective inquiries.

On your turn as a Detective, carry out the following two phases in order:

1. Ask the Ghost a question (mandatory).
2. Try to guess the story (optional).

Asking a Question

Follow these steps in sequence:

1. Play 1 Interaction card face up from your hand into the play area.
2. Speak your question aloud. The question cannot be phrased to receive a simple “yes” or “no” response.
3. The Ghost delivers their answer strictly adhering to the communication mechanism shown on the played Interaction card.
4. All Detectives may write down observations and clues on their respective Investigation sheets.
5. Remove the played Interaction card from the game by returning it to the box.

Tip: Questions can target the core 5 Keys (WHO, WHY, WHERE, HOW, WEAPON) or gather indirect context such as: What was your job? How quickly did you perish? How did you feel minutes prior to death? What was your connection to the culprit?

Guessing the Story

Directly following your question, you (and only you) may attempt to solve the mystery. To do so, state aloud what you believe are the 5 Key elements:

• WHO: The individual or entity responsible for the victim’s death. This is not necessarily a malicious murderer—it could be someone causing an accidental death, or even the victim themselves. It usually defines a profession or relationship (e.g., gangster, taxi driver, uncle, boyfriend).
• WHERE: The specific location, building type, area, or room where the death occurred (e.g., living room, bakery, beach, mine).
• WHY: The motive or triggering cause behind the actions of the WHO (e.g., jealousy, money, bullying, panic).
• HOW: The physical mechanism or medical condition directly causing the demise (e.g., stabbed, drowning, allergy reaction, shot).
• WEAPON: The concrete tool, object, or weapon directly inflicting the fatal trauma (e.g., machete, shotgun, stone, fire).

Synonyms: The left column of the Story card lists all acceptable answers. The Ghost should accept clear, direct synonyms (e.g., accepting hatchet or tomahawk for axe, or fear for panic; but rejecting broad categories like knife or neurosis).

Attempt Limit: Each Detective has a maximum of 2 guess attempts per game. If you fail on your second attempt, you are eliminated from the investigation and cannot ask questions or make further guesses. The remaining Detectives continue playing.

Solving the Mystery and Partial Progress

When an attempt is made, two outcomes are possible:

• The Mystery is Solved: If all 5 Keys are guessed correctly, the game concludes immediately. You and the Ghost win together!
• Partial Progress: If you identified between 0 and 4 Keys correctly:
  • The Ghost secretly writes down the exact number of correct Keys (from 0 to 4) somewhere on your Investigation sheet. The Ghost does not reveal which specific elements are correct and does not speak the number aloud, keeping the other Detectives in the dark regarding your exact progress.
  • The Ghost also privately logs this number on the Ghost sheet in your Detective’s row, filling the leftmost available space.

Additional Ghost Clue

Whenever a Detective makes an attempt resulting in partial progress, the Ghost must immediately provide a bonus clue to all Detectives by playing 1 of their 3 Ghost Interaction cards. No question is asked for this clue. All Detectives observe the Ghost’s performance and record notes. Once used, the Ghost Interaction card is returned to the box.

End of a Detective’s Turn

Once your turn ends, the player to your left begins their turn.

Tarot Cards

The Ghost selects up to 3 Tarot cards and arranges them on the table. The Ghost may place cards face-down across other face-up cards to obscure parts of illustrations and highlight specific visual details.

Talking Board

The Talking Board contains 9 clusters of three letters each. The Ghost uses the numbered markers (1 through 5) to spell out up to the first 5 letters of a clue word. Markers are placed sequentially, pointing toward letter clusters (not individual letters). Multiple markers may be assigned to the same cluster.

Ghost Meter

The Ghost places up to 3 markers along different gauge scales on the Ghost Meter: Small – Big, Light – Heavy, Slow – Fast, Good – Evil, Silent – Loud, Cold – Hot, Young – Old. Alternatively, markers may be placed on the color spectrum spots.

Quill Pen

The Ghost holds the active Detective’s wrist while that Detective grips a pen above the Quill Pen sheet, guiding their hand to draw the clue. The drawing must consist of a single unbroken stroke: the moment the pen leaves the paper, the séance ends. Only pictograms and shapes are permitted—no words, letters, or digits.

Hangman’s Knots

The Ghost bends and arranges the two pieces of rope on the table to create shapes and symbols. Letters, numerals, and written words are strictly prohibited.

Ghost Scream

The Ghost responds either by producing an non-verbal sound or vocalization (no words allowed), or by pointing directly at any real object present in the room.

Whisper of Shadows

Without making any vocal sound, the Ghost silently mouths a single word with their lips.

Ghost Touch

The Ghost traces a symbol or shape using their finger on the Detective’s back, hidden from other players. Letters, numbers, and words cannot be drawn.

Haunted Mirror

Without making any vocal noises, the Ghost performs a silent mime or gesture lasting at most 3 seconds.

The game concludes in one of two ways:

1. Decisive Deduction: A Detective correctly names all 5 Keys to the story. That Detective and the Ghost win together.
2. Exhaustion of Resources: All Detectives have depleted their Interaction cards or have failed on both of their guess attempts. In this scenario, whichever Detective correctly identified the greatest number of Keys wins individually. In case of a tie, the player who reached that highest score first is declared the winner.

Stories and Card Sorting

Each story can only be experienced once per group. Keep solved Story cards stored separately in a bag or box to avoid replaying them. A free digital companion app is available for download on Google Play and the App Store to provide extra scenarios.

You can also enjoy Paranormal Detectives cooperatively. Detectives may talk freely, exchanging theories and deductions throughout the game.

Key rule adjustments:

• The entire team shares a collective pool of only 2 guess attempts for the whole investigation. The team must mutually agree on when to spend an attempt.
• All players (including the Ghost) win only by accurately identifying all 5 Keys.
• The final score is evaluated based on how few Interaction cards were needed:
  • 9 or fewer cards: The Ultimate Ghostbusters
  • 10–11 cards: Determined Poltergeist Hunters
  • 12–13 cards: Subtle Spirit Chasers
  • 14+ cards: Novice Ghost Hunters

• Game design: Marcin Łączyński, Szymon Maliński, Adrian Orzechowski
• Game Concept Co-Designer: Horacy Mazowiecki
• Illustrations: JocArt – Jochem van Gool
• Graphic design: Mateusz Komada, Katarzyna Kosobucka
• Producer: Vincent Vergonjeanne
• Production manager: Przemysław Dołęgowski
• Development: Filip Miłuński, Michał Gołębiowski
• Rulebook editing: Seth Johnson, Paul Grogan, Gaming Rules!