Here are the best official adventures for beginners in D&D!

Repeat this process until you narrow down the suspects to just one person.

But with the right advice, you might go from failing every other game to winning fairly regularly.

Dungeons & Dragons image showing the Demogorgon, a man riding a carriage, and a blue dragon.

Actually Check The Reference Cards

The game provides reference cards to check as you play.

Unsure if a suspect has fur, skin, or scales?

Look at the background of the suspect card; that texture will match its clue throw in.

A table is set with the board games Cloudspire, Guards of Atlantis II, and Skytear

Share Your Cards

You don’t have to keep your suspect cards a secret.

You’re free to share your information, or even just show the cards, to everyone else.

Come Up With Codenames For Each Shape

Each shape can appear in one of several variations.

Simba, Mickey Mouse and Robin Hood from Disney Lorcana.

Careful wording is needed when describing these shapes to the Codex holder.

Unless, of course, you don’t describe them.

MOBA thrills, without the screen!

A photo of the box and contents of Five Minute Mystery.

As you become familiar with the shapes, you might start assigning codenames to them to shorten explanation time.

It doesn’t even need to be a sensible name.

My games call the cross shape depicted in the image “the Full Monty.”

A photo of a spread of reference cards in Five Minute Mystery.

It explains nothing, but the Codex holder knows what we mean, so it still works.

Not all goals hit the mark, though.

Some are certainly more fun than others.

Photo of the codex in Five Minute Mystery.

Don’t be afraid to come up with your own homemade goals, too.

If you think of an interesting gimmick, give it a test run.

They’re simply some lighter or darker shading against an object, as if painted there.

A photo of a spread of suspect cards in Five Minute Mystery.

Or so you’d think.

Sometimes, a scene will have a super tricky place for one of the shapes.

This can be a circle replacing the O in a sentence or the eye in a fish.

A photo of the front and back of a scene card, leaning against the codex in Five Minute Mystery.

Wanting a more casual experience?

Play without a time limit.

Want more of a challenge?

A photo of a spread of goal cards in Five Minute Mystery.

Consider keeping a ‘house rules’ paper inside the box to be reference in future games.

Unsurprisingly, there’s a fair bit of lore to remember in Lorcana!

Photo of a scene card in Five Minute Mystery.

A photo of the front box art of Five Minute Mystery.

Tabletop