Level one, spotting: where to look, nothing more
The first level names the thread without pulling it. It tells you that two exhibits describe the same event from two instruments, that a word does not mean the same thing on two pages, that an alibi covers one slot and not another. It never names a person and never gives a number.
It is the level to open when the group has stalled for a quarter of an hour without a new fact. Most tables never go past it: being told where to look is usually enough.
Level two, comparing: which exhibits to put side by side
The second level names the exhibits by their reference and says what to compare between them: these two times, these three amounts, this signature against that register. It still leaves the conclusion to the group.
On the case file portal the levels are grouped by theme: the hours, the sums, the cipher, the scene, the people, the limits of the file. You open the theme you are stuck on and leave the others closed.
Levels three and four: reasoning, then unblocking
The third level reasons for you up to an intermediate conclusion: it says what the comparison shows and what it does not. The fourth gives the missing piece outright, a number, a name, a place, whatever the theme needs, so that the group can carry on to the end.
Operation Blackout, the case with the most threads, arranges its help as sixteen hints in four tracks, four per track, but the logic is identical: you climb one track at a time, as far as you need. The detective case files page lists which case has which structure.
The two question tiers and the safety exit
After the hints come the questions. The intermediate tier asks for a fact you should now hold, for instance a corrected time or a total, and answering it correctly unlocks an intermediate conclusion. The final tier asks for the answer to the case and opens the full solution, with a reconstruction table exhibit by exhibit.
Answers are checked on the server, so nothing about them can be read from the page. After three wrong answers a safety exit opens the solution anyway: a group that paid is never kept from it.
How to use hints without ruining the evening
Agree on the rule before you start: one person is the keeper of the portal, and a hint is opened only when the whole table asks for it. Open the lowest level first. Read it aloud and put the phone away. Wait ten minutes before opening the next one.
And keep the conclusions report of the PDF for the end: filling it in together before answering the final question is the part groups remember. The printable murder mystery kit page compares this format with the hosted kits, which have a guide instead of hints.
Frequently asked questions
Do the hints spoil the solution?+
Not the first three levels. Spotting says where to look, comparing names the exhibits, reasoning gives an intermediate conclusion. Only the fourth level, unblocking, gives the missing piece outright, and you choose whether to open it.
Are the hints inside the PDF?+
No. They are on the portal, behind your personal code, so nobody at the table can read them by accident. The PDF holds the briefing, the working sheets and the exhibits.
What happens if we answer the final question wrong?+
You get a prompt that points you back to the file, three times. After the third wrong answer a safety exit opens the solution, because a customer who paid is never held hostage by a form.
Do murder mystery kits have hints too?+
No. A kit has a host who holds the guide and the solution on the portal. Hints in four levels are a feature of the cooperative case files, where nobody at the table knows the answer.
