The quick version
Deal six pictures each. The active player chooses a word, plays a matching picture and writes the word in every other player’s notebook except one. Mix and deal notebooks. Everyone plays two pictures, refilling immediately after each. Reveal the word, explain cards and vote clockwise for a suspect. Score correct detectives and an uncaught conspirator, then rotate the active player.
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Keep one notebook blank
Give each player a marker, matching vote token and six picture cards. The active player privately chooses a word they can illustrate with two of their cards, plays one face up and immediately draws a replacement.
Take one notebook for every other player. Write the chosen word in all but one, leaving that one blank, then shuffle and deal the closed notebooks. The active player must not track who gets the blank. Everyone else secretly reads their own notebook: blank means conspirator, word means detective.
Two pictures, then an explanation
Starting left of the active player, go clockwise with one picture each, played in front of its owner. Refill to six immediately after every played card. The active player then plays their second picture, and everyone else follows for a second circuit. Keep the secret word and notebooks private during card play.
The active player says the word and explains their two pictures. Continue clockwise with everyone’s explanation; the conspirator now hears the word and improvises a connection. Starting left of the active player, each other player puts their vote beside another player’s marker, never their own. The active player does not vote.
Reveal notebooks. Each detective who voted for the conspirator earns 3 points. If the conspirator received at most one vote, they earn 5 and the active player earns 4; with two or more votes, both earn zero. Keep point tokens hidden.
Cross out the old words, discard played pictures and pass the active role clockwise. With four or five people, everyone is active twice; with six to eight, once. Highest points wins, breaking ties by most physical point tokens, then sharing any remaining tie.
Explain a connection without treating it as proof
An unusual picture can be a sincere attempt; a perfect explanation can be an improvised bluff. Hear every explanation before voting. Use familiar, comfortable words so the puzzle is interpretation rather than obscure knowledge. If the word leaks before card play finishes, abandon that round and restart with new notebooks and a new word.
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Ideas & Twists
Choose a variation together before you start.
Detective Club · See main rules
Published variantPictures only
After two pictures each, vote without revealing the word or explaining cards. Reveal notebooks and word only after voting, then score normally. This shifts attention entirely to the visual evidence.
Detective Club · See main rules
House suggestionSimultaneous votes
After explanations, everyone except the active player secretly writes a suspect. Reveal together and place tokens accordingly. This replaces the clockwise visible vote; all scores remain the same.
Detective Club · See main rules
House suggestionFour-card hands
Start with four cards and refill to four after each play instead of six. Still play two cards each. The smaller choice makes improvised connections more necessary.
Detective Club · See main rules
House suggestionOne-sentence explanations
After the word reveal, each person gets exactly one sentence to explain both pictures. No follow-up questions before voting. Use the normal clockwise vote and published points.
About this guide
The full card sequence, hidden partnership, vote threshold and points follow the Blue Orange edition. Theme and no-discussion variants are published. The last three twists and accidental-leak restart are house choices.
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