Skip to content
Open Playtest

The Journal

Suspects and Clues

This game revolves around the journal. All of the suspects and clues we create live in its grid and should be updated as the game goes on.

Some suspect cards will likely be blank after completing the Meet the Suspects phase. They can remain blank for the rest of the game, but players may add new suspects to empty cards any time they are writing a chapter on one of their turns. Additionally, players can fill in and update the traits, descriptions, and relationships of suspects as they’re revealed through the narrative.

Clues are added after each chapter of the Lead-Up. Five more clues get added at the end of the phase when the murder scene is found. To add a clue, simply fill in an empty clue card in the journal. In the rare case that there are no empty clue cards in the journal, simply erase an irrelevant clue to add a new one, or combine the new clue with an existing one.

Clue Reference

The Killer

A specter is haunting our suspects—the specter of murder. This specter is represented by a game piece known as the killer. Any time a rule references the killer, it’s specifically talking about this game piece. The killer represents the very idea of murder as it drapes over the characters in our story and infiltrates their every moment.

The killer is placed on a suspect in the journal after the first phase of the game. Once it enters play, the killer will always rest on one of the suspects in the journal until the game is over. The killer will move from suspect to suspect based on the cards we draw on our turns. The killer’s movement follows these rules:

  1. The killer starts its movement in the direction corresponding to the corner of the journal that matches the suit of the drawn card.

  2. The killer moves a number of spaces equal to the rank of the drawn card.

  3. The killer turns 90 degrees to continue its movement if it hits the edge of the journal.

  4. If the killer lands on an empty suspect card, the active player chooses either to create a new suspect immediately or continue the killer’s movement until it hits a named suspect.

Sleuth Movement Reference