Paranormal Detectives

To set up Paranormal Detectives, place the main board, quill, paper, hangman knots, ghost meter, wound tokens, and talking board in the center of the play area. One player is chosen to be the ghost, collecting interaction cards, tarot cards, a ghost sheet, and a random secret scenario card. The ghost places wound tokens on the board's chalk outline matching the scenario and reads the physical description aloud. Each other player takes a detective screen, investigation sheet, pen, and a matching set of interaction cards based on the player count.

The main goal is for the detectives to solve the mystery of the ghost's death by correctly deducing five critical elements: who caused it, where it happened, why it happened, how it happened, and what weapon was used. The ghost wins together with the first detective who successfully solves all five components of the case before resources run out.

During a player's turn, they choose an interaction card from their hand and ask the ghost a question that cannot be answered with a simple yes or no. The ghost must answer using the specific communication method required by the card, such as using the talking board, tarot cards, making sounds, or drawing on the detective's back. After receiving and noting the clue, the active detective may optionally make a full guess about the five elements of the story.

When a detective makes a guess, the ghost checks how many elements are correct. If all five are correct, that detective and the ghost win the game instantly. If incorrect, the ghost secretly marks the number of correct guesses on the score sheet without revealing which ones were right, and then provides a bonus clue to all players.

The game ends immediately if any detective correctly guesses all five elements of the mystery. Alternatively, if all detectives run out of interaction cards or exhaust their maximum of two guess attempts without solving the case, the game ends and the detective who accumulated the most correct keywords wins.