Mysterium

1 Game Overview

Mysterium is a cooperative deduction game with a twist: one player takes the role of a ghost, murdered years ago and haunting the mansion. The other players are psychic investigators summoned to solve the crime.

The ghost cannot speak. Instead, they communicate through abstract, dreamlike "vision" cards — beautiful illustrated images that may (or may not) connect to the suspects, locations, and weapons the psychics must identify. Interpretation is everything.

The game is part Clue, part collaborative art puzzle, and completely unique. It's one of the most atmospheric and socially engaging games ever made — conversations around the table about what a surreal image of a moon and a fish "means" are half the fun.

2 What's in the Box

• 84 vision cards (the abstract dream illustrations)
• 6 ghost tokens
• 6 psychic screens
• 36 suspect cards, 36 location cards, 36 weapon cards
• 6 character boards (psychic boards)
• 1 ghost board
• 18 intuition tokens + clairvoyancy tokens
• 1 hourglass, 1 crow token, 1 culprit envelope
• 1 progress board + calendar

3 Setup

1. One player secretly becomes the ghost (behind the screen). The others are psychics.
2. Lay out 6 suspect cards, 6 location cards, and 6 weapon cards face-up on the table — these are the possible answers.
3. The ghost secretly assigns one suspect, one location, and one weapon card to each psychic. The psychics don't know their assignments.
4. The ghost draws 7 vision cards into their hand. The calendar is set to hour 1 (of 7).
5. The culprit (one real suspect/location/weapon combination) is sealed in the envelope at the start.

4 How a Round Works

Each of the 7 rounds represents one hour. The hourglass limits how long psychics can deliberate.

1. Ghost gives visions: The ghost selects one or more vision cards from their hand and slides them face-up to each psychic still guessing their suspect (later: location, then weapon). No talking, pointing, or facial expressions — the cards are the only communication.
2. Psychics discuss and guess: Psychics look at their vision cards, discuss interpretations openly, and place their intuition token on their chosen suspect card. Other psychics can move clairvoyancy tokens to agree or disagree with each guess.
3. Ghost reveals results: The ghost knocks once for correct, twice for incorrect. Correct psychics advance to guessing their location card. Incorrect psychics get new visions next round.
4. End of round: The ghost discards used cards and draws back to 7. The calendar advances.

5 The Final Vote

After 7 rounds (or earlier if all psychics have identified all three of their cards), the final phase begins.

1. The ghost gives each psychic 3 new vision cards — these hint at which of the full suspect/location/weapon combinations is the true culprit.
2. All three culprit options (one per psychic who solved their set) are revealed. Each psychic secretly votes for which is the real culprit.
3. Psychics who earned more clairvoyancy points during the game get to see more of the ghost's vision cards before voting.
4. Votes are revealed. If the majority chose correctly, the ghost is freed and everyone wins!

6 Tips & Common Questions

• Can the ghost react to guesses? No — the ghost cannot communicate at all except through vision cards. No sighs, eye rolls, or nods.
• What if no one solves their mystery in 7 rounds? The team loses — there aren't enough spirits to help the ghost move on.
• Can you play with 2 players? Yes — one is the ghost, one handles all psychic roles. It works well, though the social dynamic is different.
• How hard is it? The ghost role has the steepest learning curve. New ghost players often try to be too logical — the game rewards associative, artistic thinking.