How to play murder mystery logic puzzles
Every Dokuverse case is a small logic puzzle with a story, the kind some players call murder sudoku. Place the cast on a map, one per row and column, and follow a handful of clues that can only be read one way. When the last character fits, the reveal tells you whodunit.
The rules
Four rules cover every case in every world.
One per row and column
Place every character from the cast on the map so each row and each column holds exactly one of them.
Every clue is true
Clues use a small set of words, and each word means one thing. Beside always means sharing a side, never a corner.
Some squares are off limits
Nobody stands on a blocking object: a piano or a bookcase in the manor, a vase or a bookshelf in the café, a pond or a shed in the garden.
One answer, no guessing
A solver checks every case for exactly one answer, and you can reach it with logic alone. When the last character fits, the reveal tells you who did it.
- Window Nook
- Snug
- Sitting Room
- Front Room
Reading the map
This is Kitten Corner, the smallest map in the game: the 4×4 tutorial from the Cat Café. Rows are numbered 1 to 4 from the top (north) edge and columns are lettered A to D from the left (west) edge, so a square is named like B2.
The thick lines split the map into four areas. Some squares hold objects: cushions, yarn and a windowsill you can stand on, and a vase on B2 that nobody can. Four cats, Miso, Pepper, Duchess and Tux, need a square each.
The clue types
There are only a few kinds of clue, and each word in them means exactly one thing. The lit squares show what each example clue allows on the tutorial map.
On an object
“Miso is on a cushion.”
The character stands in a square with that object in it. Any cushion will do, so both cushion squares light up.
Beside an object
“Tux is beside a vase.”
Beside means sharing a whole side: one step north, south, east or west. Diagonals never count. It is only used for objects nobody can stand on, like the vase.
In a room, area or bed
“Duchess is in the Window Nook.”
Every map is split into outlined regions: rooms in Ashcombe Manor, areas in the Cat Café, beds in Gardoku. Every square belongs to exactly one.
In a row or column
“Tux is in row 1.”
Rows are numbered from the top (north) edge, columns are lettered from the left (west) edge. So row 1 is the top row and column A is the left one.
Further north, south, east or west
“Pepper is further south than Duchess.”
With Duchess on A2, Pepper is in any row further south than hers. That means any of those rows, not only straight down. And never in Duchess's column, because there is one per column.
Same or different region
“Miso and Pepper are in the same area.”
Both characters are inside one outlined region. The opposite clue says they are in different ones.
Alone
“No other cat is in Miso's area.”
Nobody else from the cast is in that character's region. Alone clues always say who counts, so in Ashcombe Manor the victim counts too.
Clues can say “not” too
“Pepper is not in the Sitting Room.” “Miso is not on any cushion.” A “not” clue rules squares out instead of in. Every word is defined in the clue glossary.
Good first moves
How experienced players open a whodunit grid, from the tutorial up to Expert.
Start with the narrowest clue
A clue about a row, a column or a small region leaves only a few squares. Pairs of clues about the same character often leave just one.
Cross out with rows and columns
Once a character is placed, nobody else can use that row or column. Cross those squares out before you look at the next clue.
Look for the last square
When a row, a column or a character has only one open square left, that square is the answer. It is often quicker to ask where a row's one character can go than where a character can stand.
Try it both ways, in your head
If a square would leave another character with nowhere to go, that square is wrong. That is still logic, not guessing.
Stuck? Ask for a hint
Hints are always free. The first one shows you where to look, the next explains the reasoning, and when a character has only one square left, a hint can place them for you.
A worked example
The first tutorial case in the app, solved step by step. It is free for everyone, so nothing here spoils a pack.
Tutorial · Cat Café · 4×4
Before Opening
Something went crash in the café before opening time, and the vase is in pieces. Four cats are looking extremely innocent.
The vase stands in one area of the café. The culprit is the only one in that area. Who knocked the vase over?
Clues
- Tux is in row 1.
- Pepper is not in the Sitting Room.
- Miso is not on any cushion.
- Tux is beside a vase.
- Pepper is not on any cushion.
- Duchess is in the Window Nook.
- Window Nook
- Snug
- Sitting Room
- Front Room
Step 1: Tux: two clues, one square
"Tux is in row 1." and "Tux is beside a vase." Row 1 has four squares, but only one of them shares a side with the vase on B2.
Tux goes on B1.
Step 2: Duchess: cross out, then place
"Duchess is in the Window Nook." The Window Nook has three squares: A1, B1, A2. Tux already holds B1, and A1 shares his row.
Only A2 is left, so Duchess goes there.
Step 3: Pepper and Miso: what's left
Rows 1 and 2 and columns A and B are taken, so Pepper and Miso share the last four squares: C3, D3, C4, D4.
"Pepper is not in the Sitting Room." rules out C3 for Pepper, and "Pepper is not on any cushion." rules out the cushion on C4. If Pepper took D3, Miso would need C4, but "Miso is not on any cushion."
So Pepper is on D4 and Miso on C3. Every row and column now has exactly one cat.
Show the reveal
There is a daisy stuck to Miso's tail. Miso was the only cat in the Sitting Room, and Miso knocked the vase over.
Coming 23 November to iPhone and Android
Free to download, with 25 free cases, a new free case every Monday at 09:00 UTC and hints that are always free. No ads. Extra packs of 5 cases are $0.99 each, or $3.99 for all six launch packs in the Launch Collection.
- App StoreComing 23 November
- Google PlayComing 23 November