"Survive The Night. Find The Killer."
A live in-person 1927 Victorian social-deduction mystery tournament for 48 contestants.
THE MYSTIC is an immersive in-person social deduction tournament built for live college festivals, department gatherings, and mystery events.
Forty-eight contestants enter the grand estate hall, register with a confidential Seal Code, and are partitioned across 6 reconstructed 1927 mansions. Exactly one secret Impostor lurks in every house. When the fatal minute (11:47 PM) strikes, the lights fail, clues appear, bodies fall, and emergency tribunals commence.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 48 CONTESTANTS │
│ (6 Mansions × 8 Guests) │
└──────────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────┘
│
▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ROUND 1 (The 6 Houses) │
│ 7 Innocent Investigators + 1 Secret Impostor per house │
│ Top 4 Survivors per Mansion Advance │
└──────────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────┘
│
▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ROUND 2: DUAL CATACOMBS (24 Guests) │
│ 2 Wings × 12 Guests (2 Impostors) │
│ Top 3 Survivors per Wing Advance │
└──────────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────┘
│
▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ROUND 3: THE GRAND BLACKTHORN BALLROOM │
│ 6 Finalists · 1 Mastermind │
│ 1 Sole Grand Champion │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
| Mansion | Estate Theme | Signature Rooms | Key Lore / Hazard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blackthorn | The Ancestral Bloodline | Grand Hall, Library, Study, Dining Room, Basement, Garden | The Grand Chandelier swings when the Impostor is nearby. |
| Ravenwood | The Political Branch | Ballroom, Office, Wine Cellar, Conservatory, Guest Wing, Clock Tower | Curfew bells echo throughout the corridors. |
| Ashbourne | The Medical Division | Laboratory, Clinic, Archive, Morgue, Kitchen, Courtyard | Faulty generator wiring plunges clinic into total darkness. |
| Nightfall | Secret Societies | Chapel, Ritual Room, Library, Hidden Passage, Crypt, Courtyard | Hidden stone passages connect the Crypt to the Chapel unseen. |
| Silvermere | Financial Vaults | Vault, Office, Records Room, Hall, Dining Room, Observatory | Reinforced steel vault door with single entry bottleneck. |
| Greyhaven | Hunting Estate | Trophy Room, Hunting Lodge, Basement, Armory, Forest Gate, Cabin | Dense fog outside perimeter reduces vision to 3 meters. |
Each mansion contains 8 distinct 1927 period archetypes (
- Lord / Patriarch (Victorian Silk Top Hat, Blood Ribbon, Silk Bowtie, Suit: ♠)
- Chief Surgeon (1920s Derby Hat, Metal Stethoscope, Medical Archive, Suit: ♥)
- Consulting Detective (Trench Fedora, Briarwood Smoke Pipe, Suit: ♦)
- Dowager Baroness (Gilded Imperial Tiara, Choker Pearl Necklace, Suit: ♣)
- Occult Scholar (Scholar Cap, Monocle with dangling gold chain, Suit: ♠)
- Naval Commander (Peaked Officer Cap, Gilded Shield Badge, Suit: ♦)
- Gilded Heiress (Black Lace Funeral Veil, Crimson Rose, Suit: ♥)
- Estate Majordomo (Formal Service Beret, Skeleton Master Key, Suit: ♣)
To prevent contestants from teaming up, whispering answers, or creating pre-formed coalitions:
- Masked Identity Protocol:
- In the Public Lobby and Projector, players are identified by Seat Number & Character Title (e.g. Lord of Blackthorn · Seat #01), keeping identities blind.
- Blind Mansion Partitioning:
- When Round 1 starts, friends who registered together are purposefully distributed across different mansions.
- The 120-Second Emergency Tribunal:
- When a body is reported, a strict 120-second countdown begins.
- 60s Physical Cross-Examination: Players defend their whereabouts at 11:47 PM.
- 30s Silent Phone Ballot: Private voting buttons on mobile devices with zero peek tolerance.
- 30s Projector Verdict: Central projector aggregates votes and reveals if the ejected guest was Innocent or the true Impostor.
- The Innocent Penalty:
- Ejecting an innocent permanently removes a loyal vote and doubles the Impostor's winning probability for the dawn score.
The Game Master controls the tournament via /host:
- Chambers Tab (
/host?tab=rooms): Create new tournament rooms, manage capacity, and export CSV/Excel participant ledgers. - Control Room (
/host?tab=control):Open Hall Lobby: Opens participant registration.10s Fatal Countdown: Dims the hall lights on the live projector screen.Assign 6 Mansions: Partitions all 48 players into 6 mansions with 1 Impostor each.Begin Night Phase: Locks the doors and begins room investigation.Curfew / Emergency: Halts all active timers.Display Scores: Reveals survivor rankings on the projector.Reset Tournament: Restores the arena to 0.
- Projector Screen (
/projector): Fullscreen hall display with real-time roster, 1927 Entry Passkey, and live countdown timer.
- Framework: Next.js 14 (App Router) + React 18
- Styling: Tailwind CSS + Custom Gothic CSS (Cinzel Decorative, JetBrains Mono, Spectral)
- Animation: Framer Motion
- Database: MongoDB Atlas + Offline JSON fallback
- Realtime: WebSocket Server + Server-Sent Events
- Passes: QR entry codes (qrcode.react)
# Install dependencies
npm install
# Configure environment
cp .env.example .env
# then set your own HOST_PIN, ADMIN_PASSWORD, JWT_SECRET, MONGODB_URI
# Start development server
npm run dev
# Start full custom server (WebSockets + MongoDB sync)
npm run dev:fullThis playbook is part of a full operations binder:
| Doc | Contents |
|---|---|
| GAME_RULES.md · FULL_GAME.md | Complete rules & full game flow |
| SCENARIO.md · room1.md | 1927 lore & mansion scenario detail |
| HOST.md · EVENTDAY_RUNBOOK.md | Game Master operations & event-day timeline |
| ARCHITECTURE.md · STRUCTURE.md | System design & code structure |
| API.md · WEBSOCKETS.md · DATA_MODEL.md | Backend reference |
| SECURITY.md · TESTPLAN.md · DEMO_MODE.md · ENVIROMENT.md | Hardening, QA, demo mode & environment |