Every detective in the world got these same five crime scenes on 2026-08-16. Each one is procedurally generated and then proved to have exactly one logical solution before it is published — including the cases where somebody is lying. You place every suspect back on the map using only their testimony: exactly one person per row, never two in a column. Whoever is left alone with the victim did it.
A 5×5 grid across 3 rooms: saloon, cabin, dining. A compact scene and short, direct testimony — the ladder's first rung.
Cracked by 6 detectives so far.
A 5×5 grid across 3 rooms: suite, terrace, lobby. A compact scene and short, direct testimony — the ladder's first rung.
A 6×6 grid across 4 rooms: rangerstation, cave, riverbank, campsite. A wider map, and clues that start needing to be combined.
Cracked by 2 detectives so far.
A 6×6 grid across 5 rooms: dock, lagoon, camp, wreck, cliffs. A wider map, and clues that start needing to be combined.
A 7×7 grid across 6 rooms: watchtower, pantry, hydroponics, generatorroom, radioroom, shelter. The first cases that reward pencil marks, and where an accomplice occasionally appears.
The twist: one suspect is an accomplice — every statement they make is false.
A 8×7 grid across 6 rooms: lilypond, cactushouse, palmpavilion, seedvault, orchidhouse, tropicalhouse. The first cases that reward pencil marks, and where an accomplice occasionally appears.
Cracked by 1 detective so far.
A 9×8 grid across 7 rooms: kitchen, sunroom, patio, livingroom, shed, garden, pond. A liar is likely, motives may be in play, and one assumption is usually needed.
A 8×8 grid across 6 rooms: printroom, gallery, supplycloset, lifedrawing, courtyard, atelier. A liar is likely, motives may be in play, and one assumption is usually needed.
The twist: one suspect is an accomplice — every statement they make is false; and the accusation also demands the motive, not just the name.
A 10×9 grid across 7 rooms: pressroom, gallery, judgeschambers, archive, hallway, holdingcell, jurybox. The full board — a lying accomplice on half of them, and the motive to prove as well as the name.
The twist: the accusation also demands the motive, not just the name.
A 9×9 grid across 8 rooms: gallery, ballroom, suite, office, bar, terrace, lobby, cellar. The full board — a lying accomplice on half of them, and the motive to prove as well as the name.
The twist: one suspect is an accomplice — every statement they make is false; and the accusation also demands the motive, not just the name.
The grid size is the size of the crime scene, so a 10×9 expert case is a far larger search than a 5×5 beginner one — but the difficulty is really carried by the clues, not the square count. A beginner case tells you almost directly where somebody stood. An expert case tells you where somebody was not, three times, and expects you to do the rest — and on half of them one of those statements is a lie told to protect the killer. If a case lists a motive, naming the right person is not enough on its own; you have to prove why.