How to Play & Help

Start a game

All sign-in happens through Gig Game. Go to Gig Game, sign in, choose American Sleuth and start a game. You land on the host console, and the big-screen link and the guests’ join code are right there.

Start a game

What you need

For the room

• A big screen everyone can see: a television, or a laptop on a projector.
• A laptop or tablet for the host.
• From four to forty guests, depending on the story.

For each guest

• A phone with a web browser.
• The join code from the big screen.
• A name to play under.

How a game runs

Every game follows the same shape, and the host moves things along with one gold button.

1. Lobby. Guests join with the code. The host picks a story that seats the group.
2. Introduction. The narrator sets the scene and everyone is dealt a character. Check your phone: yours is private.
3. Three rounds. Each round pins new clues to the corkboard and gives you questions to put to the room. Take notes in your phone notebook.
4. Accusation. Every detective files an accusation: who did it, how and why.
5. Reveal and scores. The narrator names the killer and the scores are tallied.

For the host

• The gold button moves everyone to the next screen. Press it when the table is ready.
• Choose a story that seats your whole group. Anyone beyond the cast simply watches.
• Pick a round timer (none, or 5 to 60 minutes; the default is 20) and decide whether the game moves on by itself when time runs out.
• Play the voiced narration if the story has it, or read it as text on screen. You can replay narration from the console.
• You can switch off player portraits, or take one down, from the console.

For players

• Open the join page on your phone, enter the code and your name.
• Your phone shows your character, your secret, and a notebook. Don’t show it to anyone.
• Talk to each other. The clues on the screen are shared, but the truth is in what people say.
• If you are the killer, your phone has a cover story. Keep your nerve.
• When the accusation opens, choose the killer, the method and the motive, and file it.

Scoring

• Detectives score for naming the killer, the method and the motive, with a bonus for getting all three.
• The killer scores for evading the room, and for framing someone else.

Questions