You are solving the tutorial for Clues by Sam. Just follow the instructions given by the characters in the puzzle. Once you're done, head over to the home page for a daily puzzle!
How to play Clues by Sam
Your goal is to figure out
who is criminal and
who is innocent.
Based on what you know, tap on a suspect to choose if they are
innocent or criminal. They might reveal a new hint.
You cannot guess! Just like in real life, you can't convict someone
based on a 50/50 hunch. There is always a logical next choice, even
when you think there isn't!
You can also check one of the awesome YouTube tutorials below
And that's it. Good luck!
Clarifying details
Everyone is either a criminal or innocent.
Professions don't make some innocent or criminal, unless a hint
suggest so. A police is as criminal as an accountant until proven
otherwise.
Everyone speaks the truth, even the criminals.
Neighbors always include diagonal neigbors. One person can have
up to 8 neighbors.
In between (or sometimes just between) means the persons between the two, not including the two.
Connected means a chain of orthogonal adjacency. For example
"all criminals in row 1 are connected" means there are no innocents
between any two criminals in that row.
Rows go sideways and are numbered 1,2,3,4,5. Columns go
up and down and lettered A,B,C,D.
To the left/right always means somewhere in the same row.
Above/below always means somewhere in the same column.
Directly to the left/right/above/below always means the
neighbor to the left/right/above/below.
All always means there's at least one. It doesn't necessarily
mean there's more than one.
Any doesn't tell anything about the number of criminals/innocents. "Any criminal on row 2 is..." means "If there are any criminals on row 2, they would be ..."
One of the innocents/criminals / one of several / one of multiple always means there's at least two innocents/criminals. This is slightly conflicting with "All innocents/criminals..." and I'm open for suggestions how to improve the phrasing here!
Common neighbors means those who are neighbors of both persons.
It does not include the persons themselves.
In total always means the sum of all in the group(s). Two
criminal cops and cooks in total means there might be 1 cop and 1
cook, or 0 cops and 2 cooks, or 2 cops and 0 cooks.
Corner means the four corners.
Edge means the 14 persons "surrounding" the board, including corners.
... the most always means uniquely the most. If John has the most criminal neighbors, no one can have as many criminal neighbors as John.
An even number means numbers divisible by two: 0, 2, 4, 6... and an odd number means everything else: 1, 3, 5, 7...
You never need to guess. In fact, the game only allows you to
make logical choices.
Tips
Tap on revealed hints to dim them if you think it's no longer useful
to you. This is optional, but can help you keep track of which hints
are still relevant.
Referenced names and professions are highlighted a bit. Not much, so it doesn't spoil all the fun of discovery. But a bit.
For different color schemes, try toggling between themes, or try toggling between dark/light mode. There are currently 4 color modes in total.
Share the results with your friends, either as text or an image. Images work great in Instagram. If you complete the puzzle in less than 5 minutes (crazy fast, I know), it will also show seconds.
"Is this a logic error?"
Since the game prevents you from guessing, it also prevents you from making mistakes. But how do you know if the mistake was yours or mine? You might think your logic is sound, but the game prevents you from making a choice. Did you just find an error in the puzzle?
Before reporting it as an error, please consider this: The game has had two confirmed errors, both from the very early days. Since then the game's logic system has improved considerably. Every day thousands of people solve the puzzles in different ways, and still there are zero confirmed errors.
Unfortunately I can't prove there are no errors. And one day there might be! Perhaps your error is that rare case? Then what should you do?
If you really think you found an error in the logic, I suggest you post about it on reddit, for example on r/CluesBySamHelp. You can also send me a mail, but I won't be the fastest way to get a response. Some people out there are crazy fast!
So, please check your logic! Are you sure you're not missing any contradicting clues? Are you sure you're pressing the right button? The solution is out there. Good luck!
Stuck?
Don't feel bad, it's a difficult game! Try asking for help for example on Bluesky or r/CluesBySamHelp. You can also try r/puzzles, but only for archived puzzles or yesterday's puzzle, since they don't allow questions about daily puzzles. Press the "Share progress" button below to copy a link to your current situation.
Others can continue from where you are when opening the game through the
link. Even on another day.
There is also a hint button available below the grid. It will first reveal the clues you should be looking at, and the second press will reveal the persons you can identify.
Share your result
What would a daily puzzle be without sharing? In Clues by Sam you can share your result in a few different ways. You can either:
Copy your result and paste it where ever you want.
Use text share. This might be easier for you than copying and pasting, especially on mobile.
Use image share. This will create a pretty image presenting your result. This is great for sharing on Instagram and other image based media platforms
Here's what the shared information means:
The time shows how long it took for you to complete the puzzle. If the time is under 5 minutes, seconds will also be shown.
🟨 means you made at least one mistake identifying the person
🟡 means you used a hint to identify the person
🟠means you used a double hint to identify the person
For the shared image the symbols look slightly different, but I hope you'll be able to figure them out.
Issues? Is there a problem with the puzzle? Or is the game
not working properly? Or anything else you'd like to discuss? Maybe you have
opinions about the font? Don't hesitate to reach out:
sam@adartis.fi
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