How to create a strong clue card for any jubensha
Creating clue cards can be one of the most challenging parts of a jubensha, but the also the most critical. Even one bad clue can make players dislike an otherwise amazing game. It may have been too obvious, revealing the murderer or another big secret too early, or it may have been too confusing, throwing players completely off the investigation or ruling out legitimate possibilities.
Here are a few ideas I consider when creating clue cards.
Start with the why
The most important starting point is why you are creating a clue card. A good clue card should have at least two reasons for existing. Here are some examples of what a clue card can accomplish:
Bring players closer to a secret
Lead players away from a secret
Add characterization or emotional weight to the game
Give one or more players a surprise
Give the reader of the card with an immediate call to action
Connect with another clue
For example, a clue card can be a red herring to the main murder (purpose 2) but it may lead towards another player’s secret (purpose 1). This same clue might actually be a surprise to the latter player as they had no idea this piece of evidence existed (purpose 4). However, after careful examination of the clue, this player spots something on it that prompts them to confront another player (purpose 5).
A clue that can justify its existence through multiple purposes is well on its way to being a great clue card. If you have clue cards that only serve a single purpose, challenge yourself to merge or cut them so that you have fewer weaker clue cards.
You want any player who reveals a clue card to feel like they got something good!
A balancing act
Ultimately, jubensha is a game and all games need balance. The most obvious advice for this is that everyone receives roughly the same amount of information, and everyone has roughly the same amount of information about them.
You want to avoid a situation where no one knows anything about a player not because of any hiding, but because no clue card meaningfully shared information about them. If that turns out to be the case, ask yourself if that character is truly as integral as the story as they could be.
On the other hand, no one should be the centre of attention with all the juiciest cards for the entire duration of the game. It may feel that way sometimes, where people take the spotlight at different parts of the game, but avoid prolonged periods of focused attention. Whether they’re guilty or not, it’s not a fun experience for the group as a whole.
It’s difficult to tell when a game is too skewed to one side winning, and because jubensha games are so unique, my only other advice for balancing is to test and iterate your game many, many times. Personally, clue cards were the parts of my jubensha that changed the most during testing.
Breadcrumbs on a journey
Like an escape room or a murder mystery novel, a jubensha tends to guide players down a path of the author’s design. The clue cards are the invisible walls that keep them on the path as much as possible. Every group is different, so there’s no way to keep the exact same journey for every experience, but you can design the guardrails.
The first question to ask is, what is the journey you want them to go on? In many games, this means leading the group to come to a conclusion on a number of incorrect (but still meaningful) conclusions before leading them to the correct conclusion. In other games, it may be a more narrative plotline to provide an emotional impact.
Once you’ve designed the path, you’ll need to design the distribution of your cards in a way that delivers the right cards at the right time to create the right response. Even if players know that a clue handed out at the beginning of the game cannot possibly be the smoking gun to solve the game, jubensha players are usually happy to follow your winding path to get to the end, even if it means a few detours.
The Rule of Two
One of my favourite techniques to use is the “Rule of Two” (not a real rule, just my own name for it!). It’s common in social deception games like Blood on the Clocktower—always have at least two potential explanations for a clue. For example, you may find the poison was locked in a box. Show that two people had access to the key. Or, show that two people didn’t have an alibi during a critical part of the timeline.
You will need to eventually confirm one way or the other with other clue cards, but a clue should not make it immediately obvious what conclusion should be drawn (even if it’s an incorrect one) since you want players to put it together themselves. A clue cards should give enough to satisfy the player’s expectation for information, but also to ignite the next logical step in investigation.
Alternatively, you can also confirm a truth, but do so during a time where it only causes more confusion. For example, confirm that only the victim’s fingerprints were on the knife that killed them. The players will then be propelled to reconcile this unlikely event with other clues to compile the whole picture.
Tying it all into your story
If everything above wasn’t enough, here’s another thing you need to consider: everything you add to jubensha should continue to immerse players. Unlike an escape room where sometimes you might find random numbers on a wall to solve (people don’t question why this wall would have these numbers), you will break immersion if you add a clue that feels contrived or out of place.
Ask yourself, would the characters (not the players) have access to this information, and how did they get it? If there’s no reasonable explanation that explains who we know everyone’s blood type, then it may be immersion breaking to “drop” a clue that has that information. After all, the clue cards themselves don’t actually exist—they’re just a means to represent what happens in the story.
Some clues leverage the source of the information as a part of the clue’s power. For example, you might consider conveying a clue through a text found through looking in a character’s phone versus that same message found in a notebook hidden in their closet.
Even if the medium of the clue doesn’t matter, including a variety of information helps keep things fresh and exciting for your players. I like to have a mix of clue cards with, but not limited to, the following:
physical appearance (e.g. a character has fresh mud on their shoes)
state of a character (e.g. a character keeps rubbing at their elbow)
the state of a room (e.g. the bathroom is spotless even though the cleaner’s shift isn’t until later)
items found in rooms (e.g. the murder weapon is hidden in the cake)
items found on people or in personal rooms (e.g. the butler always carries a stopwatch)
environmental observations (e.g. the tree fell due to the heavy wind last night)
correspondences (e.g. a letter sent)
memories (e.g. a character remembers what something means)
…and many, many more.
Pick the ones that fit the theme of your game to maintain immersion!
I hope this guide helps when you’re thinking about clue cards. As always, choose what works best for your game and ignore the rest—every jubensha is unique and only you (with the help of testers!) know best.
