The Thirteenth Bell - A Printable Halloween Mystery

The Moon Mask is missing, and the Halloween festival is about to begin. Four volunteers, a corrected delivery time and a trail of festival records could explain what happened. Can you put the evidence in order?

The Thirteenth Bell is a cooperative paper mystery for 1-4 players, with suggested ages 12+ depending on reading and puzzle confidence. Solve six connected steps: order prop collections, correct a delivery time, decode a message, solve symbol equations, complete a room-and-time deduction grid and build a four-digit cabinet code. Your final explanation must identify a person, room and time as well as the code.

One complete case is included. Both English editions contain the same 15 pages: A4 and US Letter. There are eight player pages, two optional hint pages, an explained solution and a story ending, plus the cover and setup guide.

Print and read the setup first. Use player pages 3-10; keep hints 11-12, solution 13-14 and ending 15 separate until needed. You need paper, a pen, access to the PDFs and a printer for printed play. No host, cutting or extra props are required.

The tone is a light, fictional Halloween festival mystery, with no murder or gore. This is one case with one solution; it will not be a new mystery once you know the answer. The design target is 30-45 minutes, an untested planning estimate rather than a measured playtest result.

USD 8 paid digital download. No physical product is shipped. Created with AI assistance. Independent human playtesting and physical printer testing have not been completed.

Support: vardeverkstudio@proton.me

PERSONAL USE

One household or one private event at a time. Replacement printing for your own use is allowed. No resale, redistribution or public upload. Statutory consumer rights are not restricted.