THERE’S BEEN A MURDER

OBJECTIVE OF THERE’S BEEN A MURDER: The objective of There’s Been a Murder is to choose the player who holds the Murderer card whenever the Detective card has been drawn.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3 to 8 Players 

MATERIALS: 24 Playing Cards and Instructions 

TYPE OF GAME: Deduction/Cooperative Card Game 

AUDIENCE: Ages 13 and Up 

OVERVIEW OF THERE’S BEEN A MURDER 

Players must work together to solve the horrendous murder that happened in a simple country house in the 1930s. There are many suspects, but there are also few answers to be found. After all, everyone is talking, but nobody wants to talk. Will the murder escape, or will you be able to come together to solve this heinous crime? 

SETUP 

To begin setup, remove the Murderer and the Detective from the deck. Shuffle all of the rest of the cards and deal a single card face down in the center of the playing area. This card is removed for the rest of the game, and nobody is to look at it. The rest of the deck is split, and the Murderer card is shuffled into one half while the Detective card is shuffled into the other.  

Each player is dealt two cards. The deck is then placed in the center of the playing area, face down, within reach of every player. There should be some space remaining beside the deck, ensuring that there is room for the discard pile. The last player who watched a murder mystery or read a murder mystery will become the first player.  

The game is ready to begin. 

GAMEPLAY 

Beginning with the starting player, every player will take their turn. Turns rotate to the left around the group. The turns continue until the players win or lose the game. Each turn consists of two phases, the draw phase and the play phase.  

 During the draw phase, players will draw cards from the deck to refresh their hand. This is only done if the player has less than two cards in their hand. At this point they will draw the number of cards that they need to ensure that they have two cards in their hand. Anyone who has two cards will skip this phase and move to the play phase.  

The play phase consists of each player playing one card. The cards are all played into a pile in the middle of the table. The players are permitted to look through this central pile if they see fit, but it will be known as the discard pile throughout the entire game. The order of the charge should not be changed, and the draw deck should never be examined.  

Players should never discuss cards that they have seen or cards that they hold in their hand. 

END OF GAME 

The game comes to an end in two different ways. Either the players win, or the players lose. Whatever happens, it happens to everyone. The players win the game if the Detective card is played, and the player targets whoever has the Murderer card. It may also happen if the Murderer card is placed to the player who is holding the Confidant card. 

Players lose the game is the player holding the Witness card receives the Murder card, or if a player is unable to draw from the draw deck to refresh their hand.  

Ellie Phillips
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