Earlier Mystery Man Games

GKCfan

Hello everyone–

     A recent clue on the Mystery Man Facebook page referred to an earlier mystery man game.  It occurs to me that many players may not be familiar with the previous versions of the game (this is the fourth game), and I thought I should give a spoiler-free description of the game.

    In 2010, the first Mystery Man game revolved around a series of clues being released on a regular basis, usually in groups of three, with each clue being released over a period of days.  Put together, these three (sometimes four) clues would point to the direction of something connected to Agatha Christie.  Upon deciphering the clues, the player could go somewhere on www.agathachristie.com that was connected to the clues, and somewhere on the page would be a link to a major clue leading to the identity of the Mystery Man.  The link could be an entire sentence, a word, or even a period.  Clicking on it would lead to the clue.

    The 2011 and 2012 games were very different, but they all required at least a basic knowledge of Christie's work.  This year's Mystery Man game seems (so far) to be mirroring the first Mystery Man game.  So, study the clues, begin your search, and study the website carefully and ignore nothing.  Sometimes the only way to find a clue is through trial and error.

    Also, please, NO DIRECT ANSWERS.  Don't say "go to this page– the link's right here."  That will spoil the fun.  Bear in mind, this game isn't meant to be frustrating.  You can leave oblique hints and encouragement, but your comments should be meant to guide other players in the right direction, rather than provide the answer.  Remember, the getting of wisdom is no match for the thrill of the chase, and those who take the longer road shall reap their reward!  

     So, have fun, and don't act like you're in competition with the hundreds of other players.  Act like we're all on the same team, helping each other out, and providing hints and encouragement when needed.  That way, we all win.

Sincerely,

GKCfan

Tommy

Well said GKCfan!

glalonzo0408

Thank you............

LL88

I have one question - did the games previous years followed a typical Agatha Chritie's plot? You know: very difficult to understand by yourself who is the murderer; everyone knows it is the "least expected", but can hardly tell who is "least expected" exactly; there are only few among all hints that if aprehended properly, will lead you to the right direction.
I suppose they were exactly such and the current one has also the same idea, but want to be confirmed in order to know better what I am looking for at the end. Thank you.

GKCfan

No, the last three games did not follow a typical Agatha Christie plot.  The "suspect list" consisted of all the killers from all of Christie's novels.  The first year (2010), the game led to a list of several clues that identified the killer, such as "Death by Knife."  Therefore, the suspect list was narrowed down to all of the killers from Christie novels who had murdered someone with a knife.  Over several weeks, the list of suspects dwindled down a little every week, reaching two suspects in the next-to-last week, and only one suspect in the final week.  And if you hadn't read the book where the Mystery Man was the killer?  You were completely out of luck.

In the last two years (2011, 2012), the game led to a series of letters.  Every time you found a kidnapping victim, you got another letter (or sometimes multiple letters).  Once you found all the victims, you had to rearrange the letters you'd discovered to get the name of the killer from a Christie novel.  And if you weren't familiar with that novel?  You could probably figure out the killer by checking characters lists of the books online, but then the solution of a book you hadn't read would be spoiled.

This year's game is different.  For the first time, you have a collection of all-new suspects who are also victims.  You do need to know Christie stories to find the clues, but this year (at least so far, it may change), you don't have to have read all (or at least most) of Christie's works to play– you can find the solutions by exploring the website, at least up to this point.