You and the other players work as one team of detectives to find which fox stole the pie. On your turn you roll dice to search for clues or reveal suspects, then rule out suspects before the fox reaches its hole.
What age is Outfoxed! for?
Box says 5+
We suggest 5+ with an adult helping, 7+ on their own.
Rolling for clues is easy, but you have to remember which clue markers showed green or white and rule out suspects from that. A grown-up can keep that record for a 5 or 6 year old; 7 and up can manage it alone.
Easy to learn
2 to 4 players
20 minutes
About 5 minutes to set up (our estimate)
Co-operative: everyone wins or loses together
No direct conflict between players. Content: Cartoon mystery about a fox that steals a pie. Losing means the fox escapes; nothing scary or violent is described.
Checked against the Outfoxed! English rules of play from Gamewright, copyright 2015. The rules are a single sheet with no printed page numbers, so every page reference is page 1.
Outfoxed! in five steps
Scroll down and tap things to try them. The board follows along. The suspects, items and board are our own made-up set, because the real ones are printed on the pieces. The rules are the real Outfoxed! rules.
Step 1 of 5: The case
1
The case
A fox stole a pie. You are the detectives. Work together to find the thief before the fox runs home.
FindWork out which suspect is the thief.
ClueA clue says if the thief wears an item.
FoxA failed turn sends the fox closer to its hole.
The fox starts at the left end of its path. Tap the foxhole to see the way home.
The 16 suspects. 14 are face down.
The suspects, items and board are our own made-up set. The real ones look different. The rules are the real Outfoxed! rules. The fox path is 36 steps long, counted from the picture on the rule sheet (page 1).
2
Say it, then roll
Say what you want to do first. Then roll the three dice. You can roll up to 3 times. Dice that match stay put. Roll the rest again.
Search for clues wants three footprints. Reveal suspects wants three eyes.
Pick what you want to do.
Our practice dice have 3 footprint faces and 3 eye faces on each die. That split is our guess. The rule sheet only names the two symbols (page 1).
3
Search for clues
You rolled three footprints. Move your detective up to 3 spaces, up and down or side to side. Land on a paw print to check a clue.
You can turn a corner, so a square next to you on a slant takes 2 steps. The rule sheet says "not diagonally" but does not say whether you can turn, so turning is our reading.
Tap a lit space on the board, or a Go here button.
GreenThe thief wears it. Suspects who do not wear it go home.
WhiteThe thief does not wear it. Suspects who wear it go home.
Suspects on the board
4
Reveal suspects
You rolled three eyes. Turn over 2 suspects. Then check every suspect on the board against the markers. A suspect goes home if it does not wear a green item, or if it wears a white item.
Tap Reveal 2 suspects.
Your notebook
House rule The notebook shows green and white for you. The real game asks you to remember them (page 1).
This paragraph of the rule sheet says "marked red", but every clue is green or white, so we read it as green. We check both colours, the same as when you search for clues (page 1).
5
How it ends
You win if you name the thief. You also win if every other suspect is put away. You lose if you name the wrong suspect, or if the fox gets home.
Three suspects are left. Tap one to name the fox.
The thief card
Your notebook
Everyone wins together or loses together. There are no points.
Two detectives, one screen. Take turns, or play both hats yourself. Say it, roll the dice, then do it. Tap Show me when you are stuck. You can name the fox at the start of a turn. The rule sheet does not say when, so that is our choice. A game usually takes about 24 turns between the two detectives. The suspects, items and board are our own made-up set. Our dice have 3 footprint faces and 3 eye faces each. That split is our guess, because the rule sheet does not give it.
How do you teach Outfoxed! to kids?
The box says 5 and up. We suggest 5 and up with an adult helping, and 7 and up on their own. It is a team game: everyone works together against the fox. Keep the first teaching to two minutes and learn the rest by playing a turn.
Say this
A fox stole a pie, and we are the detectives. We have to work out which fox it is before it runs home.
On your turn, say what you want to do: look for clues, or turn over suspects.
Roll the three dice up to three times, setting aside the ones that match what you chose.
If all three match, you do your action. Looking for clues: move your detective. If you land on a paw print, you check a clue marker in the decoder. Green means the thief wears that item, and white means not.
Turning over suspects: flip two more suspect cards, and put away suspects who do not match our clues.
If the dice do not all match by the third roll, the fox moves 3 spaces closer to its hole. We win if we name the right fox, or put away everyone else.
The fox's path is 36 steps long, so at 3 spaces for each failed turn the fox gets to the foxhole on the 12th failed turn (we counted it from the picture on page 1). The rulebook has one official variant, a harder one where the fox moves 4 or 5 spaces (page 1). It has no easier setting, so every simplification below is a house rule.
First-game simplifications
House rule Move the fox 2 spaces instead of 3 when a turn fails, for the first game or two. The rulebook says 3 (page 1).
House rule Let a grown-up keep a notepad of which items were green and which were white, so younger players do not have to remember. The sheet says to use your memory (page 1).
House rule Let a grown-up read the dice for younger players and count the footprints out loud before they move.
Watch-outs for kids ages 5 to 7
Say whether you are looking for clues or turning over suspects before you roll the dice, not after (page 1).
You can roll up to three times, and you set aside the dice that already match (page 1).
If the dice do not all match after the third roll, the fox moves 3 spaces and your turn ends (page 1).
Green means the thief wears that item. White means the thief does not (page 1).
A white marker puts away suspects who are wearing that item. A green marker puts away suspects who are not wearing it (page 1).
You win by naming the right fox, or by putting away every other suspect. If the fox gets home first, you lose (page 1).
Back for another game?
Setup: board, fox pawn on its start space, 16 suspects face down around the edge with 2 turned up, one thief card slid unseen into the decoder, 12 clue markers face down. The player who most recently ate pie starts (page 1).
Your turn: say whether you will Search for Clues (want three footprints) or Reveal Suspects (want three eyes). Roll up to 3 times, setting aside matching dice (page 1).
Failed: if all three do not match by the third roll, move the fox 3 spaces. Your turn ends (page 1).
Search for Clues: move your detective up to the number of footprints, not diagonally. We let you turn corners, which the rule sheet does not cover. On a paw print, put the top clue marker in the decoder and slide it open. Green means a clue, white means the thief is not wearing it. Put the marker face up where you landed (page 1).
Reveal Suspects: turn up 2 suspects and check them against the face-up clue markers. Put away suspects who are not wearing an item that was a clue (page 1). The sheet says "marked red" here, which looks like a typo for green.
Winning: name the right fox, or put away all but one suspect and check the thief card (page 1).
Losing: you name the wrong fox, or the fox reaches the foxhole (page 1).
Every turn, four things
Everyone plays on the same team, and everyone takes the same turn.
Say itSearch for clues, or reveal suspects. Say it before you roll.
RollUp to 3 rolls. Set aside the dice that match.
Do itAll three match? Move your hat up to 3 spaces, or turn over 2 suspects.
Or the fox runsNo match by the third roll? The fox moves 3 spaces and your turn ends.
How do you score Outfoxed!?
There are no points. You win together or lose together (page 1). This helper counts failed turns instead. The fox moves 3 spaces on every failed turn (page 1), and its path is 36 steps long, so it gets home on the 12th failed turn. With the official variant it gets home on the 9th (4 spaces) or the 8th (5 spaces) failed turn. The path length is our count from the picture on page 1.
Your pocket card
For the table. The front is your turn, the back is how it ends.
Outfoxed!, the short version
Findthe guilty fox
Say it: Search for Clues or Reveal Suspects.
Roll: up to 3 times, setting aside matching dice.
All match: do your action.
Not all match: the fox moves 3 spaces.
Green means the thief wears the item. White means not.
You win
Name the right fox.
Put away all but one suspect, and the thief card matches.