A Team Game for 2 or More Players

COMPONENTS

1 Giant Mystery Decoder

75 Mystery Cards with 150 Mysteries

OBJECT

To be the first team to solve enough mysteries to reach the top of the Giant Mystery Decoder.

SET UP

1. Choose your teams.

2. Decide which team will use the purple score mover on the Giant Mystery Decoder and which will use the green score mover.

3. Make sure each team’s score mover on the Giant Mystery Decoder is at the bottom, next to the handle.

4. Place the Mystery Cards in a stack between the two teams.

PLAYING THE TEAM GAME

1. The team with the player whose birthday is closest to Halloween goes first. This team will get a chance to solve the mystery first, so they hold onto the Giant Mystery Decoder.

2. One player on the other team will act as the Reader. S/he will not try to solve this card’s mystery.

3. The Reader draws the top Mystery Card and turns it over. The Reader may not show the card to anyone else.

4. In his/her spookiest voice, the Reader reads the title at the top of the card “The Case” and “The Mystery.”

5. After “The Mystery” is read, the first team must try to solve it. When they decide on their guess, they hand the Giant Mystery Decoder over to the Reader.

6. The Reader holds the Giant Mystery Decoder over “The Solution” at the bottom of the card to magically reveal the answer, without showing it to anyone.

a. If the team solved the mystery, the Reader shows everyone the decoded answer and clicks the team’s score mover ahead on the Giant Mystery Decoder. In this case, the Guessing Team moves ahead five notches, one notch for every point they earned (see the Scoring Guide, on the next page).

b. If the team didn’t solve the mystery, play moves to the other team. They are handed the Mystery Decoder.

i. The Reader reads this team the first clue. This team now has a chance to try to solve the mystery. Once they decide on their answer, they hand the Mystery Decoder to the Reader to see if they are right.

ii. Play continues this way, going back and forth between the two teams, until one of them solves the mystery or the card is finished.

iii. Whoever solves the mystery gets the points. The number of points awarded depends on how many clues were revealed

SCORING GUIDE

5 Points- Solve the mystery by hearing the title of the mystery and the case only.

4 Points- Solve the mystery by hearing the title, the case and one clue.

3 Points- Solve the mystery by hearing the title, the case and two clues.

2 Points- Solve the mystery by hearing the title, the case and three clues.

1 Point- Solve the mystery by hearing the title, the case and all four clues.

7. After the mystery is revealed, a new Reader is selected from the other team and a new card is drawn. (Note: If the mystery is not solved, no one is awarded points and the solution is revealed to all players.)

WINNING THE GAME

The team that gets its score mover to the top of the Giant Mystery Decoder first wins the game!

TIPS FOR WINNING

When your team makes a guess, make sure it’s one the whole group agrees on. Don’t hand over your Giant Mystery Decoder to the Reader until your team decides on an answer.

To help your team make its guess, ask the Reader to re-read any or all parts of the card that have already been read. You may ask the Reader to do this as often as you like.

THE TWO-PLAYER GAME

In this game, one player is the Reader, and the other player is the Guesser. Scoring and game play are the same, except that play does not move back and forth:

1. The Reader holds the card. The Guesser holds the Giant Mystery Decoder.

2. The Reader reads the title, “The Case” and “The Mystery.”

3. The Guesser decides whether to try to solve the mystery or get a clue. The fewer clues the Guesser is given, the more points s/he will get (see the Scoring Guide above). When the Guesser is ready to solve the mystery, s/he hands the Giant Mystery Decoder to the Reader to see if s/he is right.

a. If the Guesser solved the mystery, s/he moves ahead on the Giant Mystery Decoder one space for every point earned.

b. If the Guesser didn’t solve the mystery, the Reader reads the next clue. The Guesser continues trying to solve the mystery until the entire card is read. If s/he doesn’t solve the mystery at all, the Reader reveals the solution and the Guesser gets no points.

4. When the mystery is solved or the card is finished, the Guesser and the Reader change roles.