The Detective's Handbook
How to play Indicia
Indicia is a 100% logic deduction game: a detective's sudoku set at a 1920s gala. You read each suspect's clues, place them on the board, and uncover who walked off with the jewel. No dice, no luck — just wits. This guide takes you from zero to closing your first case.
The Objective
One culprit. One solution.
In every case, the mansion's jewel has been stolen. Your job is to reconstruct where every guest was that night and point to the only one who could have done it.
No dice, no cards flipped over, nothing left to chance. Every case is designed to have exactly one possible arrangement of the suspects. Reason well and you always get there; slip up and there's a clue to prove it.
That's the game's promise: everything you need to solve the case is on the table. Winning comes down to careful reading and chained deductions, not intuition.
The Scene
The Board
The crime scene is a square grid divided into rooms. These are the elements you'll be working with.
The grid
An N×N grid of cells — from 6×6 to get you started up to 20×20 in expert cases.
The rooms
Colored zones that group cells: the ballroom, the library, the garden. Many clues speak in rooms.
The furniture
Some pieces block their cell (nobody stands there) while others can be stood on — a bench, an armchair, a rug: you can be on top, and the floor beneath still counts.
The display case
The jewel sits in a fixed cell inside one room. It's the heart of the case and the anchor for your measurements.
The Golden Rule
One person per row and one per column, always on valid cells (never on furniture). As in sudoku, that constraint is what makes the clues chain together and the solution unique.
The Evidence
Clue Types
Every suspect declares something about their whereabouts. Learn to translate each type of card into forbidden or forced cells.
Room
“I spent the whole evening in the Emerald Ballroom.” → that person must stand in a cell of that room.
Adjacency
“I was right next to the countess.” → adjacent in the same row or column, with no cells in between.
Elimination
“I never set foot in the Library all night.” → ruled out of every cell in that room. Crossing out is progress.
Distance
“I kept two spaces away from the display case.” → pins the exact separation from the jewel.
Comparison
“I was closer to the gem than the butler.” → orders two suspects by distance.
Witness
“I was alone with the thief.” → the jewel's keeper gives away the only one who was with them.
The Method
How to deduce, step by step
The same loop cracks the easiest case and the hardest one. Repeat it until the board is closed.
01
Read every clue card
Each suspect carries a card with a permanent clue about where they were. Read them all before touching the board: the solution comes from crossing them, never from a single one.
02
Mark the impossible
Translate each clue into forbidden cells and cross them out. If a card says someone never entered a room, that person can't go in any cell of that room. Shrinking the board is half the job.
03
Hunt the forced deduction
When a suspect has only one possible cell left, or a cell only one possible suspect, place them: it's the only option. That's a forced deduction — you never have to guess.
04
Propagate by row and column
Exactly one person goes in each row and each column. Every placement frees up (and forbids) cells for everyone else. Repeat until everything locks in.
05
Catch the thief
With everyone placed, the thief is the one suspect left alone with the jewel in its room. Point them out and close the case. Unique solution, verified by the game.
A Quick Example
Picture three suspects and a card that reads: “I wasn't in the jewel's room”. That alone lets you cross that person out of the entire display-case room.
Another card declares: “I was right next to the display case”. Only one valid cell borders the jewel, so that suspect is placed — a forced deduction, no guessing.
Locking them in fills their row and column. The third guest has a single free cell left… and it happens to share a room with the jewel. That's the thief. Case closed.
Where You Play
Modes & Progression
Indicia grows with you: the difficulty ramps up gently and there's something new every day.
Case Files
Plenty of levels per difficulty, in order. Each solved case opens the next, from 6×6 up to 20×20 — rookie to expert.
Daily Case
A fresh case every day. Solving any level that day keeps your detective streak alive.
Streaks & Rankings
Earn points for every case, keep your streak going and compete on the global leaderboard with server-verified times.
Stuck? Every case has progressive hints: they reveal the next logical step — not the solution — so you learn to deduce better without ruining the mystery. And if you're premium, you can download levels and play offline.
From the Notebook
Detective Tips
Start with the negatives
Elimination clues cross out lots of cells at once. They tend to unlock the first forced deduction faster than the positive ones.
One at a time, all the way down
When you place a suspect, squeeze out every consequence (their row and column are now taken) before moving on to the next clue.
When in doubt, don't guess
You never need to flip a coin: there is always a next logical step. If you can't see it, revisit the cards you haven't used yet.
The display case is your anchor
The jewel's room is always on the board. Many clues are measured against it: use it as your reference point.
You know how to deduce. Now catch the thief.
The first case file starts easy and ramps up gently. It's free and there's nothing to install.
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