OVERVIEW & sETUP

Take on the roles of suspect and sleuth from Agatha Chistie’s acclaimed detective novel The Murder on the Links.

Méthodologie features characters, locations, and objects from the original story, but the deatils are obscure and perpetually rearranged to preserve the integrity of the mystery.

Image of the character board from the game Methdologie.

1. Unfold and place the three main boards in this order: Character > Location > Object.

2. Give each player one player token and 15 target tokens matching the color and icon on the back of their player token. Make sure everyone has the white side up.

3. Sort the cards by their card backs into three separated decks. Shuffled separately and place them in the table. Each player gets a hand of nine cards, being three from each deck.

NOTE: At some player counts, you must eliminate random cards from the decks during setup. In a four-player game, reveal one location and one object. In a five-player game, reveal two characters, one location, and one object. Place these eliminated cards face down in their designated spaces on the matching boards.

CARDS ANATOMY

A. SET: The test and color at top left shows the card’s set.

B. VALUE AND TYPE: The number at the top right showa the card’s point value and the color inside the circle matches the card’s back.

C. RANK: The number at bottom left shows the card’s numerical rank within its deck. The highest rank is #1, and the lowest rank is #18. When tiebreakers are required, the decks are ranked as follows: characters > location > objects.

D. NAME: The text at bottom right shows the card’s name.

E. BONUS: The text below the card’s name shows the bonus point that can be scored with certain card combinations. Some cards have no bonus.

Image of a location card from Methodologie with a illustration of a front door on it as well as several letters corresponding to the detailed anatomy of the card which is found in the text to the left of this image.

HOW TO PLAY

The Game of Méthodologie is played in two distinct phases: the Investigation Phase and the Accusation Phase.

INVESTIGATION PHASE

The players will reveal cards from their hands, then interrogate each other in order to eliminate leads.

This sequence continues until each player has only one character, one location, and one object left in hand.

ACCUSATION PHASE

The players will place target tokens to make accusations about the remaining cards in each other’s hands.

Any cards not correctly identified by majority accusation will be scored when the game ends.

EXPLAINER VIDEO

PLAY SESSION VIDEO

INVESTIGATION PHASE

PRESENT EVIDENCE

Each player selects a certain number of cards from their hand (see below) to present as evidence.

These cards are placed facing down on the table and when all the players are ready, they are all revealed simultaneously.

However each player must keep at least one character, one location, and one object in their hands at all times (if possible). If any player has three cards or less before present evidence, they are not allowed to present evidence.

When every player has three cards or less in hands after playing their cards face down, skip immediately to the accusation phase.

The face-down cards from this final round are considered “undisclosed” evidence and should not be revealed until the end of the game.
If any Player has multiple cards of a single type, they must play cards face down until they have maximum of one character , one location, and one object.

3 PLAYERS

3 Cards each per round

4 PLAYERS

2 Cards each per round

5 PLAYERS

1 Card each per round

6 PLAYERS

1 Card each per round

INTERROGATE SUSPECTS

For all three card types, whoever played the highest-ranking card of that type will conduct an interrogation. The interrogations is conducted in this order: characters > locations > objects.

Follow these steps for each interrogation:

The interrogator checks which other players have at least one card from the same set as the interrogator’s card. Any player who raises their hands are now a suspect. You(suspect) have to be truthful about your cards.

The interrogator points to each suspect , one at a time, and demands the identity of the card that they claim to have. Then the suspect must name one card from that set, but this time…. You(suspect) do not need to be truthful with your answer.

After hearing from all the suspects, the interrogator may (but it is not required to) perform a background checkon one of the suspects. If he chooses to do so, the interrogator points at one suspec and says “J`accuse!” At this moment the suspect must reveal the card he claimed. If the suspect was lying , that card it is eliminated but if the suspect was telling the truth, the interrogator must choosse and eliminate one of his own cards instead.

Image of characters from the front of the board game's box.

Illustrated image of a room with two dark silhouettes with white question marks on them.

ELIMINATE LEADS

All cards played this round are now eliminated. This cards, along with any cards eliminated during background check, are placed face down on their designated spaces on the matching boards.

DRAW CONCLUSTIONS

Each player draws new cards to replace the ones they presented as evidence. The ones presented as a background check are not replaced.

Take turns drawing the cards starting with who played the highest-ranking card this round and continuing in clockwise from there. Player can choose from any deck for each card draw.

Once one deck runs out, cards can only be drawn from the other decks. As all the decks runs out, no more cards can be drawn for the rest of the game.

TRACKER BOARDS

NEW! To help out with your investigation, download a free printable tracker board below!

Tracker Board Color

Color Version of Tracker Board for Methodologie the game.

DOWNLOAD

Tracker Board Grayscale

Grayscale Tracking Board for the game Methodologie.

DOWNLOAD

ACCUSATION PHASE

Character board from the game with players tokens on various characters.

NOTE: Each player should enter the ACCUSATION PHASE with one character, one location and one object. However, if you were caught lying too many times or performing too many unproductive background checks, you can be reduced to two cards or fewer. Try not to let this happen.

In this phase the accusations are made one board at a time in the following order: character > location > object.

These are the steps to be followed for each board:

Each player makes one accusation against each opponent. To do so, place one of your target tokens with their player icon, white side up, on a board space that indicates the card you think they have.
For each player, identify which board space has the most target tokens with their player icon. That space represents the majority accusation against that player. If there is a tie between multiple spaces for most target tokens, the higher-ranking space represents the majority accusation.
Each player must reveal and eliminate the indicated card from their hand if the majority accusation against them is correct. Any cards eliminated this way remain face up in front of the players who had them.

end of the game

When the ACCUSATION PHASE ends, the game is over.

Each player reveals the remaining cards from their hand and scores their point values, as well as any bonus points for card combinations. Cards eliminated during the ACCUSATION PHASE are not scored and do not count for card combinations.

All player tokens are now flipped, color side up.
All target tokens are now evaluated to determine whether they were correctly placed. All correctly placed target tokens are now flipped, color side up.
Each player scores one point for each of their flipped target tokens.

Track these points using the scoreboard and score tokens.

The player with the most points has solved the crime and wins the game!

If there is a tie, the tied players have revealed accomplices and share the win!