Overview
Players run a sinister inn, recruiting accomplices and managing money, buildings, and police investigations. The theme includes fictional murder and burial.
Edition scope. Pearl Games multiplayer base game, short setup. Excludes The Carnies and solo play. This is a hosting reminder; consult card text and the rulebook appendix for individual annex effects.
Objective
Finish with the most money across cash and Checks.
Setup
- Give each player 2 Peasants, a player aid that doubles as a barn, 5F cash, and one 10F Check. Return unused Peasants and player aids to the box.
- From the 70 travelers, randomly remove 35 cards for 2 players, 28 for 3, or 22 for 4 (short game). Shuffle the rest into the Entrance Stack, living side up.
- Give each player their colored tokens and one room. Open 3 additional white rooms with 2–3 players, or 4 with 4 players. Choose a first player and leave room for the Exit Stack.
How to play
Fill rooms → one action each, then one more each → police check → departure and room income → wages → pass first player left.
Welcome travelers
The first player assigns travelers from the Entrance Stack to open empty rooms until filled. Owning a room does not stop others acting on its guest.
First circuit, then second
Clockwise, each player takes one action; then repeat once. Choose bribe, build, kill, bury, or pass and optionally launder money. Players do not take both actions consecutively.
Pay with cards
For the first four actions, play hand cards equal to the target’s rank. Helpers with the matching affinity return to hand; other travelers go to the Exit Stack and Peasants to the bistro. A card being built cannot pay for itself.
Morning
Check for police remaining in rooms. Then guests leave and generate room income, followed by wages. Pass the first-player card left.
The five actions
| Action | Result / affinity |
|---|---|
| Bribe | Take a traveler into your hand; blue-affinity helpers return. Alternatively recruit 1–2 Peasants from the bistro without paying cards. |
| Build | Turn a traveler from your hand with an annex icon into an annex; red-affinity helpers return. Police and Peasants cannot be built. |
| Kill | Turn a guest from the inn into a corpse in front of you; gray-affinity helpers return. No money yet. |
| Bury | Place your corpse under an annex with space; purple-affinity helpers return. Capacity equals annex rank; consult your player aid for the barn. Keep all proceeds under your own annex; split equally with another annex’s owner. |
| Pass / launder | Optionally exchange cash for Checks in 10F units, or cash Checks. You may simply pass. |
Worked example
Talk through a plan: “I killed a guest in the first circuit and want to bury them in the second.” Check the required payment cards and burial space. Another player’s annex means sharing the proceeds. Leave cash for wages too.
Using two temporary markers to track each player’s actions is a practice suggestion, not an extra game resource.
Ending & scoring
When the Entrance Stack first runs out, shuffle the Exit Stack to start the second season. The second time it runs out, finish that round and end the game. If welcoming leaves fewer travelers than players, end immediately without taking actions. At game end, pay 10F per unburied corpse and remove it. Resolve endgame annexes (cash is still capped at 40F), then add Checks. Most money wins; break ties with the number of corpses under your own annexes.
Rules to double-check
- Cash is capped at 40F; excess is lost. Checks do not count toward the cap. Exchanging money uses a pass action.
- Every card in hand costs 1F in wages each round, including Peasants. Wages require cash; dismiss any unpaid helpers.
- If police remain in a room, pay 10F per unburied corpse; Checks are allowed. If unable to pay in full, pay everything you can; the corpses are still removed.
- At departure, gain 1F per occupied room of your color. White rooms generate no player income.
Sources & edition notes
Pearl Games · Base-game rulebook ↗
Rules sources checked on 13 November 2026. Teaching scripts and practice tasks are suggested hosting aids. The publisher’s rules and the edition in the box remain the reference for exceptions.