How to Play Outfoxed!
Outfoxed! is a cooperative whodunit in which detectives investigate which fox stole Mrs. Plumpert’s pot pie. Everyone shares information and makes deductions together; nobody controls a rival team. This guide covers the standard Gamewright edition, with a few practical tips at Play More for planning game nights.
| Quick facts | Details |
|---|---|
| Players | 2–4 |
| Format | Cooperative deduction game |
| Core components | Game board, 16 suspect cards, 16 thief cards, 12 clue markers, 3 custom dice, 4 detective hat pawns, fox figurine, and clue decoder |
| Standard challenge | The fox advances 3 spaces after an unsuccessful turn |
Objective
Work as a team to identify the one suspect shown on the hidden Thief card. Gather clothing clues, use them to eliminate suspects, and make the correct accusation before the fox reaches the foxhole. Because the game is cooperative, the whole table wins or loses together.
Setup
- Place the board in the middle of the playing area. Each player takes a detective hat pawn and places it on the central starting space.
- Put the fox figurine on the fox-start space. Shuffle the 16 Suspect cards and place them face down around the board’s perimeter, with four on each side. Turn any two face up.
- Shuffle the Thief cards. Without looking, insert one into the clue decoder so the red Gamewright logo is visible at the back. Return the remaining Thief cards to the box.
- Shuffle the 12 clue markers into a face-down pile beside the board, and place the three dice within reach. The player who most recently ate pie starts; turns continue to the left.
Core turn flow
- Choose an action. Before rolling, announce either “Search for Clues” or “Reveal Suspects.” Searching requires three footprint symbols; revealing requires three eye symbols.
- Roll up to three times. Roll all three dice, setting aside matching symbols after each roll. You may reroll dice that do not match your announced action, but you must complete the action only if all three dice show the required symbol by the third roll.
- Search for Clues. Count the footprints and move your hat up to that many spaces horizontally or vertically, never diagonally. You may move through the fox’s path. If you land on a paw-print space, draw a clue marker and place it in the decoder. Slide the decoder open and note the color: red means the thief wears that item; green means the thief does not. Compare that result with every face-up suspect and remove any card that cannot fit. Close the decoder, then place the clue marker face up on the space where you finished.
- Reveal Suspects. If all three dice show eyes, turn any two face-down Suspect cards face up. Compare them with the clue markers already on the board, remembering which items were marked red or green, and remove any newly disproved suspects. The turn then ends.
- Advance the fox after failure. If the three dice do not match your chosen action, move the fox three spaces toward the foxhole and end your turn. This is the standard rule; the official variant increases the movement to four or five spaces for a harder game.
How the game ends
You may accuse when the team believes it knows the thief. Name a suspect and reveal the hidden Thief card: a match wins, while a wrong accusation loses. If only one Suspect card remains, reveal the Thief card and compare the two; matching cards win. If the fox reaches the foxhole first, the thief escapes and the team loses.
Beginner tips
- Say every decoder result aloud and keep a shared elimination record.
- Reveal suspects early so clue results can remove more possibilities.
- Plan movement around paw-print spaces, but do not spend every turn chasing clues when several face-down suspects remain.
- Before accusing, check that the proposed fox satisfies every known clothing clue.
FAQ
Can a detective move diagonally?
No. A successful Search for Clues permits horizontal or vertical movement only, up to the number of footprints rolled.
What does each decoder color mean?
Red indicates that the hidden thief is wearing the pictured item. Green indicates that the thief is not wearing it. Apply the result to the face-up suspect cards.
What happens when a clue is found?
Use the decoder first, eliminate incompatible face-up suspects, close the decoder, and place the clue marker face up on the space where the detective finished moving.