FACE CRIME RULES
You asked us if it was possible to play Foul Play remotely via Video Call and after much plotting and scheming, we've solved it!
You'll find a full playthrough video tutorial below as well as full rules and card actions.
Free Downloadable Rules are also available in no-frills word docs and fancy pants PDFs on our resources page: HERE
As always, if you've any questions about gameplay don't hesitate to get in touch!
FACE CRIME OVERVIEW
You would never suppress evidence to keep a culprit from being arrested for a crime would you Detective? …Or would you?
This online with friends version of Foul Play takes Bad Cop from bad to worse.
Imagine you’d uncovered a suspect involved in the death of Lord D’Arque, then imagine they’d offered you a large sum of money to keep quiet. Well, money talks and you know, being the good guy doesn’t always pay so well. Protect and serve, it’s your duty. Protect the identity of this suspect, keep them concealed and it will certainly serve you well, financially speaking.
The only problem is that you ain’t the only bad cop in town, other dastardly detectives are on your case. They are looking to scupper your deal and reveal the identity of your suspect, so they go down for the crime. It seems you’re not the only Detective who’s been paid a tidy sum by a suspect to get them out of a murderous mess. It’s up to you to work out and reveal the identity of each Detective's suspect, putting them in the frame and helping yours run free, get the picture? Use the evidence to correctly deduce which suspect other Detectives are attempting to protect using any means necessary. Whether it be fair play or foul play!
THE AIM OF THE GAME
To discover and reveal the identity of all other Detectives' suspects before they uncover the identity of yours. The last Detective left with their suspect still undiscovered wins the game!
WHAT YOU NEED
· A Deck of Foul Play cards per Detective
· A pad and pencil (We advise making notes to refer back to)
A Copy of the free downloadable suspect reference sheet (per player)
· A minimum of two players (there’s no maximum number of players for this online version)
THE SET UP
Hoping to Set up another Detectives suspect? Then it’s time to set up this little game of murder. Each Detective in play will need to follow these game set up steps below:
1) Remove the Instruction cards that come with your deck, these only pertain to the ‘in person’ versions of Foul Play
2) Each Detective must seek out a suspect card of their choice from the deck, place this out of view of the camera in front of you, or place it face down. Only you know the identity of this suspect, let’s just hope it stays that way!
3) Shuffle the remaining cards in the deck (leave all other suspects in there too)
4) Deal 5 cards to yourself
5) Place the remaining cards to one side, this will be your ‘Evidence Locker’ (as the game progresses, you’ll also create a discard pile)
6) The game is set, now you just need to establish an order of play (what order Detectives will take their turn)
A Handy Tip-off: It is highly possible that two detectives could choose to use the same suspect card as their chosen villain. This is completely acceptable, after all, who's to say that a suspect wouldn’t try and buy their freedom from several officers of the law. You just have to make sure that you’re protecting them long enough to get paid in the end!
HOW TO PLAY
On your turn you can do one of two things:
1: Play a Card (Read the action card section further down to uncover what each card does)
· Hold the card you wish to play up to the camera and state your play.
· Once you have carried out the card action, you discard the card in the discard pile and replace it in your hand with a card from the ‘Evidence Locker’ (remaining deck of cards).
· This marks the end of your turn
2: Discard a card
Don’t want to play your hand? Then you can immediately tell the other players you are discarding a card, you can then replace it with another card from the ‘Evidence Locker’ (remaining deck of cards).
It is worth noting that all Detectives in play will have 5 cards in their hand at all times unless they are a victim of the ‘FOUL PLAY’ card. See Action card section for more on this particular card and how it works.
HOW TO WIN
In a game played by two Detectives:
It is the first Detective to correctly uncover the identity of the other Detectives suspect who will win the game.
A Handy Tip-off: If you use the Foul Play Card too much and a Detective loses their hand, this means they are out of leads and the game, leading to no winners! Only correctly uncovering a Detectives suspect will win the game when played between two, so make sure you use the foul play cards wisely (they can always be discarded).
In a game of three or more Detectives:
Knock the other Detectives out of play by correctly revealing the identity of the suspect they are trying to protect or by using the ‘Foul Play’ action card to make them lose their hand. You want to be the last detective standing, successfully keeping your suspect protected and concealed.
THE CARDS
In this online version of Foul Play, the cards carry out different actions to what is written on them and how they are used in the standard ‘in-person’ version of Foul Play. Take a moment to familiarise yourselves with the alternate uses below before you start to play.
A handy tip-off:
Play a practice game first to help to get used to the varying cards and their new dastardly uses.
We have put together an explanation of each card and what they do below, why not print off a copy or have this page accessible via an electronic device throughout the game?
THE EVIDENCE CARDS
These are the cards that will help you whittle down which suspect a Detective has concealed. When you hold an evidence card you can ask for the evidence on the card from another Detective of your choosing regards their suspect, the answer they give must be the truth.
E.g. If the Evidence card states ‘The suspect has grey hair’ – you can show the evidence card and ask one Detective of your choosing “Does your suspect have grey hair?”. They must answer truthfully.
For a shorter and simpler way to play, all evidence questions are answered publicly, this means that you will ask a Detective of your choosing a question from an evidence card, but all other detectives will hear the answer over the video link.
ALTERNATE PLAY
If you’re looking for a challenge and longer game time, then you can choose to reveal any answers to evidence cards PRIVATELY.
For this, you’ll need to have a private messaging system online or via smartphone between Detectives. This is where a response to evidence card question can be sent privately, this means when a question is asked publicly to another Detective, all other detectives in play will hear and see the evidence card but the response will be sent in a private messaging to reveal the answer to the Detective who has posed the question. If you decide this is the way you’d like to play then you will need to ensure a method of communication is set up prior to the game beginning.
Many video conferencing programs (Zoom, Teams) have chat options available, allowing you to select just one person to privately message.
It is worth noting that if deciding to reveal answers to evidence cards privately, all other action cards are carried out publicly.
Ensure you decide how you are going to reveal evidence prior to starting the Investigation and ensure everyone can privately contact one another successfully before you begin the game.
FAIR PLAY
Want a detective to play fair? Show this card and choose a Detective to make them reveal the front of their red backed cards. This can be useful as all the suspects have red backs and as they have their own suspect in front of them you can eliminate any suspects you see from your enquiry. A Handy Tip-off: The player does not discard the cards, they remain in their hand once you have seen them and play continues.
FOUL PLAY
If you can’t uncover the identity of the other detective’s suspects you can always try and scupper their chances of finding yours! Play this card and you can make a detective discard all their blue, green OR purple cards from their hand. This leaves them with a reduced hand and less chance of winning.
A Handy Tip-off: If a player has no cards they are out of the game
CRIME SCENE
A very handy card as it has two uses!
1 - Replenish! If someone has used Foul Play on you and you have a reduced hand, you can use this card to replenish your hand back to 5 cards by stocking up from your evidence locker.
2 - Accuse! Once you know the identity of an opposing detective's suspect you must hold a crime scene card in order to make an accusation.
RED HERRING
If someone uses an evidence card to ask you a question and you don’t feel like answering then you can just feed them a red herring instead! Play this card to refuse to answer evidence questions. Once used, you discard the card and pick up another from the evidence locker and play continues.
A Handy Tip-off: Only Red Herrings can be used to block evidence questions. The Block card won’t work in this situation!
BLOCK
Does exactly what it says on the tin!
It blocks all action cards including accusations! If you don’t feel like discarding cards or revealing your evidence just show this card and then discard it. Play then continues as normal.
A Handy Tip-off: Block cards cannot be used to block evidence question cards. Only Red Herrings can be used to do that.
INTERROGATE & FULL COOPERATION
Some things don’t change! These cards do exactly the same as if you were playing an in-person game. One detective of your choice must reveal their hand when an Interrogate card is played and all players must reveal their hands when a Full Co-operation card is played.
CASE CLOSED
THE WAYFARER'S LEAGUE
Join the Wayfarer's League as they learn how to play Foul Play : FACE CRIME!
Their review of the game can be found on our reviews page or you can click the link to read it on their own website : HERE