A Game of Life and Death III

“A Game of Life and Death III” is a Murdoku case from the House & Home category: a board of 9×9, 8 suspects and one victim. Read the clues, work out where everybody was standing, and name the suspect who was left alone with the body.

The Board

The floor plan as the case hands it to you: 9×9, rated Hard, with 5 rooms. Every person — 9 in all — takes a row and a column of their own.

C1C2C3C4C5C6C7C8C9
R1SCWS
R2CTCCaCaTr
R3CaTr
R4Ca
R5PCaL
R6CaCC
R7CTCCaLTTC
R8CaCaTTC
R9TaCaCC
Floor plan of “A Game of Life and Death III”. Letters mark the objects; the key is below. A thick blue edge marks a window. A dashed edge marks a door.

Rooms

  • Dining Room — 13 tiles: Shelf, Chair, Table, Plant
  • Kitchen — 14 tiles: Chair, Table, Trash can
  • Hallway — 18 tiles: Wooden crate, Shelf, Carpet, Lamp
  • Game Room — 20 tiles: Chair, Lamp, Table
  • Conservatory — 16 tiles: Tree

Objects on the board

  • C Chair (can be stood on)
  • Ca Carpet (can be stood on)
  • T Table (blocks the tile)
  • L Lamp (blocks the tile)
  • S Shelf (blocks the tile)
  • Tr Tree (blocks the tile)
  • W Wooden crate (blocks the tile)
  • P Plant (blocks the tile)
  • Ta Trash can (blocks the tile)

The Suspects and Their Clues

Each suspect comes with what the witnesses remember. Read them all before placing anyone — a clue about one person is very often what pins down another.

Anna — a woman with black hair

  • She was alone in the room and she was beside a chair

Bernd — a man with brown hair and a beard

  • He was not beside a plant

Carol — a woman with black hair

  • She was in the same column as a trash can

Dalia — a woman with blond hair

  • She was not beside a wall and In her room there was another suspect beside a tree

Edison — a man with brown hair and a beard

  • He was in the same row as a trash can and he was east of a tree (R3/C7)

Floyd — a man with black hair and a beard

  • He was beside a lamp

Greta — a woman with brown hair

  • She was in the Kitchen

Hugh — a man with brown hair, a beard and glasses

  • In his room there was another suspect beside a carpet and he was north of a plant

The victim, Volker, is a man. Nothing else about them is known, and no clue depends on it.

How Hard It Really Is

Deduction steps from the first clue to the verdict
29
Steps before anyone can be placed for certain
14
Reasoning the solve needs

How to Start — Without Spoilers

Before anything else, count where each suspect could be if you only read their own clues:

  • Anna: 19 possible tiles
  • Bernd: 65 possible tiles
  • Carol: 8 possible tiles
  • Dalia: 2 possible tiles
  • Edison: 2 possible tiles
  • Floyd: 5 possible tiles
  • Greta: 12 possible tiles
  • Hugh: 6 possible tiles

The first deductions after that, in the order the solver finds them:

  1. Edison: only row 9 possible – blocked for others.
  2. Carol: only column 3 possible – blocked for others.
  3. Anna must be alone, but someone is already in the Game Room – so not there.

That is as far as this page goes. From here on it is yours — the in-game hint giver explains each next step if you get stuck, without giving the answer away.

This case has exactly one solution, and it can be reached by forward deduction alone — no guessing.

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