GOOD COP RULES
Watch the video tutorial on the 'How To Play' page or read the rules below.
PLAYING GOOD COP
There are three pieces of evidence that you’ll need to uncover to solve this crime. Find them all and you'll be able to track down the killer before anyone else and be dubbed, Top Detective!
GOOD COP: SET UP
Locate the 5 purple, 5 green and 5 blue backed evidence cards from the deck.
With the cards facing down, pick one evidence card from each pile, randomly place them in the deck.
Put the remaining 12 evidence cards in the box, these cards aren’t in play.
Shuffle the deck!
Deal 9 cards from the shuffled deck in a 3 x 3 grid face down in the centre of the table. This is the Crime Scene.
Deal 5 cards to each detective, this is your ever-changing case file as your investigation progresses.
Place the remaining cards face down next to the crime scene, this is the Evidence Locker.
A Discard Pile will be created on the opposite side of the Crime Scene once the game is underway.
The game is set! You’re now ready to begin your investigation, you better start following up on those leads and chasing down the killer!
A handy tip-off: When playing Good Cop you don’t need the evidence cards in your hand to win, you just need to have the suspect card that you wish to accuse when attempting to solve the crime.
RULES OF PLAY
GOOD COP AND BAD COP BOTH FOLLOW THE SAME RULES OF PLAY
Once your crime scene is set and cards dealt, the detective who has the highest number of red-backed cards in their hand goes first, if there is a tie then the more experienced (oldest) detective goes first.
On your turn, you can either
play a card or discard a card.
PLAY A CARD
Place a card from your hand face up in front of you and state your play. If no one blocks your play with the block card then you can carry out the action on the card. Once the action is complete you must discard the card you played in the discard pile and then pick up a new card from the Evidence Locker. You pick up a card from the Evidence Locker after every card played.
DISCARD A CARD
If you don’t wish to play a card on your turn you can immediately discard a card (without showing anyone else what that card is) and pick up a new card from the Evidence Locker. Once the evidence locker is empty the discard pile is put in its place and a new discard pile is begun.
If a detective has only one card in their hand, certain cards can’t be played and must be simply discarded. Fair Play and Crime Scene are two such cards.
If a detective has all of their cards stolen then sadly their case has gone cold and they’re out of the game!
A minimum of two detectives in play are required in order for one to solve the crime and win the game.
HOW TO WIN GOOD COP
In order to win the game you will need to discover the identity of the killer by first uncovering the three evidence cards (A, B and C). Once you know who the killer is, you can only attempt to solve the crime when you hold their suspect card. On your turn, place the killer’s card FACE DOWN in front of you and state (dramatically, of course)
“I have uncovered the truth!”
If another detective blocks you with a block card, DO NOT discard the suspect card. Put it back in your hand and you’ll now have to wait for your next turn to solve the crime.
If no one blocks you, you must state the three pieces of evidence that brought you to this conclusion and then reveal the killer. If the other detectives agree with your solution, you win - justice served! If any other detective disagrees with your solution then the three evidence cards are found to hopefully corroborate your findings.
If you are proven wrong, you’ll be taken off this case and out of the game, your cards are then shuffled back into the Evidence Locker. Now every detective has seen your case file, they have all the evidence they need and the race is on to chase down the killer and solve the crime!
Case Closed!