How To Play Mysterium

Mysterium is a great game. However, as I look back through its rulebook, I’m reminded of how confusing it is. Worse yet, the rulebook makes Mysterium feel like a complicated game, which may dampen players’ enjoyment initially. To help, I will go through the rules below in a much easier way. In other words, this is how to play Mysterium.

To play Mysterium, the Ghost Player secretly and randomly assigns a Suspect, Location, and Object to each Psychic. The Ghost gives each Psychic at least one Vision Card at every turn. The Psychic has to correctly interpret the surreal Vision on the card and pick from a pool the Suspect, Location, or Object they think the card is pointing them toward. Each Psychic must guess all three within seven rounds. If they do, everyone moves on to Phase 2, where the Ghost gives all Psychics the same Vision Cards. The Psychics use these to vote on the Suspect, Location, and Object group they think is responsible for the Ghost’s murder. If they’re right, they win!

Back-Of-The-Box Facts About Mysterium

• Player Count: 2-7
• Time To Play: 45 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes
• Age Range: 10 and up
• Difficulty: Beginner/Easy
• Price Range: $40-$50
• Release Year: 2015
• Publisher(s): Libellud
• Designer(s): Oleksandr Nevskiy and Oleg Sidorenko
• Artist(s): Igor Burlakov, Oleksandr Nevskiy, Oleg Sidorenko, and Xavier Collette
• Where to Buy: Amazon

How To Play Mysterium

Mysterium is a simple game at its core. Once you’ve got a handle on how to play, you’ll pick it back up with future plays pretty easily. 

Let’s get started learning how to play Mysterium.

Mysterium Component List

Mysterium comes with the following:

1. Six Intuition Tokens
2. Six Sleeves
3. Six Clairvoyancy Level Markers
4. 36 Clairvoyancy Tokens (heretofore referred to as ✓ and X tokens)
5. One Clock Board
6. One Timer
7. Four Progress Boards
   1. One Character Progress Board
   2. One Location Progress Board 
   3. One Object Progress Board 
   4. and One Epilogue Progress Board
8. 54 Psychic Cards
   1. 18 Character Psychic Cards 
   2. 18 Location Psychic Cards 
   3. and 18 Object Psychic Cards
9. 54 Ghost Cards
   1. 18 Character Ghost Cards 
   2. 18 Location Ghost Cards 
   3. and 18 Ghost Object Cards
10. Six Culprit Tokens
11. Three Crow Markers
12. One Game Screen
13. Six Ghost Tokens
14. 84 Vision Cards

The Goal Of Mysterium

Everyone works together in Mysterium. One player is the Ghost, who is trying to tell Psychics the details of their murder. The Psychics are trying to solve that murder, but they only have one night to do it (represented by seven rounds in the game).

In Phase 1, the Ghost Player will give the Psychic Players Visions in the form of surreal, painterly cards. These Visions are meant to guide the Psychics toward choosing the right Suspects, Locations, and Objects. They have seven rounds to accomplish this goal. If all Psychics correctly guess the Suspect, Location, and Object secretly assigned to them, players move on to the second phase of the game.

In Phase 2, the Ghost Player will again give players Visions, but this time all Psychics receive the same Vision. The Psychics vote on the group of Suspect, Location, and Object cards they think the Ghost is pointing them towards. If the majority votes for the correct group, all players win! If not, all players lose.

Players also lose if not every player guessed their Suspect, Location, and Object within seven rounds in Phase 1. According to the game, the Psychics and Ghost will have to wait another year to try and solve the mystery again.

Setting Up Mysterium

Mysterium’s problems with rules explanation start with its setup. That’s because it shows half of its setup across a two-page spread showing all the components and where they all go. That sounds helpful, but the way it’s all organized is messy, and it’s hard to know where to start. The other half of its setup comes on the following page, and, thankfully, it’s a little easier to follow.

With all of that said, here’s how to set everything up, starting with the Psychic Players.

Side Note On Suspects Versus Characters

Also, as a quick side note, the game refers to Suspects as Characters. So, it refers to the Suspect Progress Board as the Character Progress Board, for example. I prefer the term, suspects since it feeds into the mood better, and that’s what those people are in the game. 

1 – Psychic Player Set Up

Each Psychic Player chooses a color: white, blue, purple, yellow, red, or black. Once they’ve chosen their color, they get the following components:

• Clairvoyancy Token in their color
• Clairvoyancy Marker in their color
• Intuition Token (henceforth referred to as Crystal Ball) in their color
• Sleeve in their color

Psychic Players are now set up. The Ghost Player will get set up in a couple of steps.

While setting up the Psychic Players, I also recommend shuffling all the decks of cards. Don’t shuffle any of the decks together. 

2 – Set Up The Play Area

To set up the play area, which should be in the center of the table, players need the following components:

1. All four progress boards (Suspect, Location, Object, and Epilogue)
2. Clock Board
3. Clairvoyancy Track

Start with the four progress boards. At one end of the play area, set the Suspect Progress Board (you can tell what progress board you’re looking at by the symbols on the boards; a person is shown on the Suspect Progress Board).

Next, set the Location Progress Board in the play area. To do so, leave enough space between it and the previous progress board for two rows of cards to fit between them. Repeat this process for the Object Progress Board and the Epilogue Progress Board. Set the Clairvoyancy Track against the top of the Epilogue Progress Board. Each Psychic places their Clairvoyancy Tracker next to the first space on the Clairvoyancy Track.

Put the Clock Board in easy reach of all players, and set the hour hand to the Roman numeral I.

3 – Choose Game Difficulty

Players can play Mysterium on one of three difficulties: easy, medium, or hard. Each level of difficulty determines how many cards form the pools for Suspects, Locations, and Objects. Having more Suspects, Locations, and Objects means a higher potential for mistakes in choosing the correct Suspects, Locations, and Objects. 

The difficulty level also affects how many times the Ghost Player can discard their hand of Vision Cards for more. The more times the Ghost Player can do this, the more chances they have to give the Psychics a Vision that more clearly points them to the correct Suspect, Location, or Object.

I recommend starting on easy first and seeing how that feels. You can always increase the difficulty later.

4 – Ghost Player Set Up

There are multiple parts to the Ghost Player setup, so I’ve separated them to make them easier to follow. 

Choosing Psychic Cards And Ghost Cards

Start with the Suspect Psychic Cards (gray and brown back with a person in the middle). Draw a number of Suspect Psychic Cards equal to the number of players and chosen difficulty level (player counts below include the Ghost Player). 

Below is what you would draw for an easy difficulty level:

• Two players=four cards
• Three or four players=five cards
• Five or six players=six cards
• Seven players=seven cards

Here’s what you would draw for a medium difficulty level:

• Two players=five cards
• Three or four players=six cards
• Five players=seven cards
• Six or seven players=eight cards

And here’s what you would draw for a hard difficulty level:

• Two players=six cards
• Three or four players=seven cards
• Five players=eight cards
• Six or seven players=nine cards

The back of each Suspect Psychic Card has a number. The Ghost Player has a set of Suspect Ghost Cards (blue back with a person in the middle). These cards also have numbers on the back. The Ghost Player needs to choose the Suspect Ghost Cards from their set that have the same numbers as the Suspect Psychic Cards.

They repeat this process for the Location Cards and the Object Cards. 

With the Ghost Cards, the Ghost shuffles each set individually, then draws enough cards to match the number of Psychics. It’s at this point the Ghost needs to set up their Game Screen.

Setting Up The Game Screen 

The Game Screen is divided into six columns. Each column has a slot for a Ghost Suspect, Location, and Object Card. Each column also has a line running through it matching the color of one of the Psychics. 

After the Ghost has finished drawing the number of Ghost Cards per player, they start putting those cards into the Game Screen slots. The Ghost Suspect Cards go into the Suspect Slots, and so on. It doesn’t matter which Suspect Card goes into which Suspect Slot so long as it’s random.

The Ghost should do all of this secretly (along with everything else they’re doing).

The Ghost should also place each Ghost Token below the column with the matching color for their Game Screen. 

Remaining Ghost Set Up (Vision Cards And Crow Tokens)

The Ghost should shuffle and draw seven Vision Cards.

The Ghost should also, depending on the difficulty of the game, prepare their Crow Tokens by placing them behind their Game Screen. When Crow Tokens are used, the Ghost places them on top of their Game Screen. Using them allows the Ghost to discard their hand of Vision Cards and draw seven new ones. See below for what to do:

• Easy=One Crow Token can be used per turn (and the Crow Tokens are refreshed at the end of every turn)
• Medium=Each Crow Token can only be used once per game (the Ghost gets all three).
• Hard=The Ghost only gets one Crow Token total for the entire game.

5 – Remaining Set Up

Once the Ghost has set up their Game Screen, they (or another player) should lay out the Psychic Cards in the play area, grouping them into Suspects, Locations, and Objects. Remember those progress boards from earlier? Lay out each group of cards above the appropriate progress board in one to two rows. 

Psychics place their Crystal Ball on the Character Progress Board.

Now, you’re ready to play Mysterium!

Phase 1

Mysterium is broken up into two Phases. Phase 1 is where most of Mysterium is played.

The Goal Of Phase 1

The goal of Phase 1 is for each Psychic to correctly guess the Suspect, Location, and Object assigned to them on the Ghost’s Game Screen.  

What Players Do During A Round In Phase 1

The Ghost Player starts each round. This is how.

1 – The Ghost Gives Out Vision Cards

The Ghost must give each Psychic at least one Vision Card. They place these cards face up in front of each player. The hope is that when the Psychic flips however many cards they’re given over, they’ll interpret what’s on the cards in a way that leads them to correctly guess the Suspect, Location, or Object they need to.

So, as an example, maybe a Psychic is going to guess a Location. The Ghost, knowing that player’s Location is a graveyard and how that player thinks, gives that player a Vision Card with a poison bottle on it, indicating death. The Psychic may interpret the Vision Card the same way…or they may not. The Ghost can’t tell them or help them any other way than by giving them Vision Cards. The rest is up to the Psychic.

After the Ghost gives each Psychic one or more Vision Cards, it’s time for the next step.

2 – The Psychics Make Their Guesses

It’s at this point that the Ghost flips over the Timer (which lasts two minutes). The Psychics have until the Timer runs out to put their Crystal Balls on a Suspect, Location, or Object. All Psychics start out by trying to guess the Suspect assigned to them, but if they’re right, in later rounds, they’ll be guessing Locations, then Objects.

More than one Psychic can place their Crystal Ball on the same Suspect, Location, or Object. Psychics can also discuss their choices and make suggestions to help one another out. Psychics can also discuss and aid each other prior to the Timer being flipped as well.

Again, the Ghost should not talk or give hints in any way. As the Ghost, feel free to laugh if players start to act a little panicked, though. It’s part of the fun of being the Ghost. In other words, enjoy your well-laid plans turning into a total mess.

3 – The Psychics Place Their ✓ And X Tokens

While the Timer is counting down, Psychics can place one ✓ or X Token per Crystal Ball. The token must be pointing at the Crystal Ball, and Psychics can only place one token per Crystal Ball. In addition, Psychics cannot place ✓ or X Tokens pointing at their own Crystal Ball. 

A ✓ Token indicates the Psychic thinks that Crystal Ball is placed on the right card. An X Token indicates the Psychic thinks that Crystal Ball is placed on the wrong card.

4 – The Ghost Tells Psychics If They’re Right Or Wrong

There are two outcomes to a Psychic’s guess with their Crystal Ball: either they’re right or wrong. The Ghost can simply tell each Psychic if they’re right or wrong.

Here’s what happens if a Psychic is right:

• The Psychic takes the card their Crystal Ball is on and puts that card in their Sleeve. 
• That player discards all their Vision Cards.
• That player also moves their Crystal Ball to the next Progress Board (if they were on the Suspect Progress Board, they would move to the Location Progress Board).
• Players who put a ✓ Token pointing at that Crystal Ball move their Clairvoyancy Markers up one space on the Clairvoyancy Track.
• Those players then discard their ✓ Tokens to the discard area on the Clock Board.
• The Ghost flips the Ghost Card matching the card the Crystal Ball was on over on their Game Screen.

Here’s what happens if a Psychic is wrong:

• The Psychic places their Crystal Ball back on the Progress Board it was on before.
• That player keeps all their Vision Cards in front of them.
• Players who put an X Token pointing at that Crystal Ball move their Clairvoyancy Markers up one space on the Clairvoyancy Track.
• Those players then discard their X Tokens to the discard area on the Clock Board.

5 – Prepare For The Next Turn

First, check to see if it’s time to move on to Phase 2. It’s time to move on to Phase 2 if all Psychics have correctly guessed their Suspect, Location, and Object before seven rounds have passed in Phase 1.

If not all Psychics have correctly guessed their Suspect, Location, and Object, move the hour hand on the Clock Board forward one hour, then repeat all steps 1, 2, 3, and 4 for Phase 1.

Steps To Follow When A Psychic Has Guessed Everything Right

Whenever a Psychic does correctly guess their Suspect, Location, and Object, they move their Crystal Ball to the Epilogue Progress Board, showing they’re done. They can continue to lay down ✓ or X Tokens, and they can continue to discuss ideas and provide suggestions to the other Psychics. 

Also, depending on how many rounds are left in Phase 1, that player moves their Clairvoyancy Tracker that many spaces forward on the Clairvoyancy Track.

Crow Tokens

Depending on the difficulty of the game, the Ghost can use their Crow Tokens as they see fit. See the Remaining Ghost Set Up Section for when they can use them.

Phase 2

Not all games of Mysterium will make it to Phase 2, but some will. Here’s what to do if that happens.

1 – Create The Line-Up

To start, take the remaining Suspect, Location, and Object Cards in the play area and, along with the Progress Boards (except the Epilogue Progress Board, which remains in the play area), put them back in the game box.

What The Psychics Do

Over the course of Phase 1, the Psychics will have correctly guessed and collected their Suspect, Location, and Object Cards in their Sleeves. Each Psychic takes their Suspect, Location, and Object Cards and puts them in a group on the table. Then they place one of the Ghost Tokens beneath their group (the Ghost Tokens are semi-circle tokens with numbers inside blue circles). 

The Psychics then take all of their ✓ or X Tokens, even the ones they played during Phase 1, and set them in front of themselves with the ✓ or X sides showing face up.

What The Ghost Does

The Ghost Player takes the six Culprit Tokens (gray circular tokens with question marks on one side and numbers on the other) behind the Game Screen. Then the Ghost Player secretly picks one of these Culprit Tokens and sets the others to the side behind the Game Screen. They place the chosen Culprit Token face down on the appropriate spot on the Epilogue Progress Board. 

The Ghost Player then secretly chooses three Vision Cards from their hand, one for the Suspect, one for the Location, and one for the Object. They shuffle these three cards and then set them face down in the center of the table. 

2 – Psychics Vote

During this step, the Psychics secretly vote by choosing the ✓ or X Token with the number matching the Ghost Token they think points toward the Suspect, Location, and Object involved in the Ghost’s murder. They slide that token, keeping it facedown, in front of them and keep the rest separate. 

The Psychics cannot talk during this time, and there’s another catch too: the Psychics may not be able to see all of the Vision Cards before voting. Where each Psychic’s Clairvoyancy Tracker is on the Clairvoyancy Track will determine how many Vision Cards they can see before voting.

They will always get to see one Vision Card, no matter how far they’ve progressed along the track. However, if they want to see two Vision Cards, they need to have progressed to the five or six space on the track, and if they want to see three Vision Cards, they need to have progressed to at least the seven space. 

After all Psychics have cast their votes, they flip their tokens up simultaneously to reveal what group they chose. The group with the most votes is hopefully the one the Ghost was trying to point them towards. If it is, they all win! And if not, they all lose!

If, for some reason, there’s no clear majority, there is a way to break the tie. Whichever player progressed furthest along the Clairvoyancy Track, the group they chose wins the vote. 

If a tie still happens, whichever player is the oldest, the group they chose wins the vote. 

And that, folks, is how you play Mysterium.

Did You Know?

(Each time you refresh the page you will get a new “Did You Know” fact!)

Did you know there’s a fun dice-rolling, push-your-luck racing game? If that sounds like an interesting combination to you, then check out my review of Cubitos! Enjoy!

Conclusion: How To Play Mysterium

Whew! That sure seems like a lot to play Mysterium, huh? I promise it’s not as bad as it may seem right now. Learn the rules at your leisure, and when you’re ready, have lots of fun getting to play Mysterium!

So, what do you think about how to play Mysterium? Are you even more excited to play it now? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

And, as always, keep on gaming, fellow board gamers.