In A Grove

This game is inspired by Ryunosuke Akutagawa's famous novel "In A Grove". It is a game about deduction and bluffing. We are all witnesses in a crime scene and our goal is to find the murderer. It is not easy to find it out though, since everyone saw something else and sometimes don't accuse the same person. Can you solve the case?

We are all witnesses of a murder. But who is the murderer?

Yabunonaka (also known by the English name "In a Grove") is a deduction game.

Eight "suspect" cards are included in the game, one blank (or "white"), and the others are numbered 2-8. Players seek to determine by deducing which of the suspects is a "murderer". Game set up consists of shuffling the cards (first removing the 2, or the 2 and 8, if there are three or two players, respectively) and giving one, face down, to each player. One of the remaining cards is the "victim" and the remaining three are the "suspects". Players start the game with five "Accusation chips".

After the deal, players secretly look at their suspect card, pass them to their right, and look at the new suspect card they have. Each player has now seen two numbers (and/or the white card). One player, the "discoverer", chooses any two of the three suspects and looks at them, marking which one they have not looked at. If the discover wants to do so, she can swap one of the suspects for the victim (but cannot look at the victim card). If a swap is made, a "tamper" marker is paced above the new suspect card. Then the discover places her Accusation marker below which of the three suspects she believes is the murderer.

In turn, each other player checks two suspects, but cannot examine the card with the previous player's Accusation chip. Then that player chooses a card that he marks with his own Accusation chip (on top of any other Accusation chips already for that card). After all players have performed these actions, the suspect cards are revealed to determine which is the murderer. The white card is never the murderer. The largest number among the three suspects is the murderer, unless the 5 is included as a suspect, then the smallest number is the murderer. Players who correctly accused the murderer take their Accusation chips back. Chips below any non-murderers are taken by the player having his/her Accusation chip on top of the stack. Such chips are turned over and they become "Liar chips" which cannot be used to make further accusations.

Once a player collects eight or more Accusation and/or Liar chips combined, he/she loses the game. If no one loses, the role of discoverer passes to the player on the right, cards are reshuffled, and another round is played.

The game includes English rules.

INFO

Age                        9+

No. Players           3 - 4

Time                      20 mins