A Game of Life and Death

“A Game of Life and Death” 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”. 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.

Alex — a man with a bald head

  • He was in the same column or row as a trash can

Bernd — a man with black hair

  • He was in column 9

Cyrus — a man with white hair

  • He was not beside a tree

Dalia — a woman with brown hair and glasses

  • She was in column 4

Elsa — a woman with black hair

  • She was in the same column as a trash can and she was beside a window

Freya — a woman with blond hair and glasses

  • She was beside a lamp and No one else in her room was a man

Greta — a woman with brown hair

  • She was alone with a male suspect and she was in the same row as a plant

Hana — a woman with black hair

  • She was beside a shelf and she was alone with a suspect who had glasses

The victim, Veronika, is a woman. 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
26
Steps before anyone can be placed for certain
9
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:

  • Alex: 16 possible tiles
  • Bernd: 9 possible tiles
  • Cyrus: 60 possible tiles
  • Dalia: 8 possible tiles
  • Elsa: 2 possible tiles
  • Freya: 5 possible tiles
  • Greta: 7 possible tiles
  • Hana: 3 possible tiles

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

  1. Greta: only row 5 possible – blocked for others.

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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