Overall Pointers

Still in doubt about where to start, or how to manage your investigation into the case of On Circus Grounds? What follows is a number of stepping stones to help you on your way.
Although they’re arranged 1 to 5, of course you’re totally free to start with the puzzles and make a timeline afterwards.
Please do not read this roadmap as a code of law for ‘how to play the game’!
Follow your intuitions and release your very own detective-mind onto the case. If at any time you get stuck, you can use these overall pointers, or the clues per document on this website.

Step 1: Reading the documents

There should be a white envelope in the box containing Instructions. This letter explains that the rest of the contents of this box form evidence of a murder case in the year 1883.

The goal of the game is to uncover as detailed as possible what transpired in 1883. You do this by:

Reading the documents. In the box you’ll find a newspaper article, witness testimonies, rolled-up letters and much more. This already tells you a lot about the situation, the people involved and what the witnesses have to do with the murder. Just by using this readily available information, maybe you can already put together a story about what happened. You can dictate the order in which you read the documents, but I would advise you start with the newspaper article. Afterwards, let your own curiosity guide you!

Step 2: Making notes

The goal of the game is to uncover as detailed as possible what transpired in 1883. You do this by:

Making notes. There’s a lot of different sources in this game. So it can be very useful to take a few sheets of paper and – for example – make a list for every suspect of what you learn about him/her.
Look for things you learn that don’t fit neatly into the picture you’re forming.
Those are great leads for investigation!
Also, with every document, you can ask yourself: “who wrote this? Why did they make it?”
That’s sure to help you get on with your investigation!

Step 3: Deducing

The goal of the game is to uncover as detailed as possible what transpired in 1883. You do this by:

Deducing. Just like with real detective work, it’s important to make the right connections and draw conclusions from what you’ve learned. When you see the same words or pictures on different documents, it could mean there’s a hidden connection between those, even when this isn’t readily visible.

Step 4: Making a timeline

The goal of the game is to uncover as detailed as possible what transpired in 1883. You do this by:

Making a timeline. You can examine every document in whichever order you want. But it is useful to keep track of in what order the case developed in 1883. Often, the documents have a written date which can be trusted. If in one of those documents, for example, someone mentions ‘yesterday’, you also know on what date that transpired. This way you can try to parse causes from consequences. Maybe draw a literal line on a sheet of paper, write down data and possibly even times in chronological order.

Step 5: Solving puzzles

The goal of the game is to uncover as detailed as possible what transpired in 1883. You do this by:

Solving puzzles. In the documents you’ll naturally find encrypted texts, or someone will hint at hidden messages. You will need to solve the puzzles in different ways every time, but what often helps is asking yourself who (you think) encoded the message. What do you already know about them? Did you encounter something belonging to them, that could possibly help you in solving the puzzle?
If you find this difficult, look at the concerning document on this hints site.

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