Accident, Drink Involved is a cold case mystery game for one or two players, ages 16 and up, and it comes out tomorrow, Friday, October 16, on this site and on Etsy, as a printable or a digital edition, regularly $6.99 either way. It is a true-crime podcast's research file on a death that was ruled an accident ten winters ago. You read seventeen documents, then commit to four answers. Allow 60 to 90 minutes.
This is what is in the file and how an evening with it runs, taken from its own start file and listing. No spoilers: nothing here goes past the setup.
What Is the Case?
Ten winters ago, a young distillery threw its first year-end party at its founder's lake house, and after midnight its co-founder went through the ice of the frozen lake. The ruling: accident, drink involved. The insurance on his life paid out, and the company survived on it. Now The Cold Ledger, a true-crime podcast, has released its research file on the death, and you hold every document in it.
Its own description puts the game in three short sentences: "Everything you need is in these pages. Nothing is missing. Some of it is lying." The documents are the whole case. There is nothing to look up.
What Do You Get?
The printable edition is four PDFs, the same four in every copy:
- START HERE: the spoiler-free setup, print tips and a spoiler map that says what is safe to open, and when.
- THE CASE FILE: seventeen exhibits, the four objectives and a timeline worksheet. This is the game.
- GRADUATED HINTS: three tiers for each objective, one hint per page, so you never see more than you ask for.
- SEALED SOLUTION: behind a warning page, with a scoring ladder for your solve.
The digital edition is the same case in the browser, not as PDFs.
The seventeen exhibits are the kinds of paper a death leaves behind and a podcast can collect: sheriff's records, an insurer's claim file, a telephone bill, a dock work order and a modern forensic re-examination. The years are redacted.
How Does an Evening With It Run?
For the printable edition, START HERE sets the pace in five steps:
- Print it or open it on a screen. Both work.
- Read the case once, front to back, filling in the timeline worksheet with every time you meet. Two sittings is a fine pace: Exhibits A to H, then I to Q.
- Work the four objectives printed at the front of the case.
- Stuck? Open the hints at the tier you need, for the objective you're stuck on, and stop there. In the file's own words, "Using hints is playing correctly."
- Commit four answers in writing. Then, and only then, open the sealed solution and score your solve.
The digital edition runs the same way with nothing to print: the worksheet saves as you type, the hints open one tier at a time, and the sealed solution opens once you lock in your four answers.
There is no timer and no wrong pace: some players finish sooner, and two sittings work fine.
Printable or Digital?
The same case comes two ways, at the same price.
| Printable | Digital edition | |
|---|---|---|
| How you play | Four PDFs: print at home, or play on screen in any PDF reader | In the browser, on a phone, tablet or computer |
| Printing | US Letter, one-sided, black and white is fine, 32 pages in all | None |
| The worksheet | Keep it on paper if you can, including when you read on screen | Saves as you type |
| The hints | One per page, three tiers for each objective | Open one tier at a time |
| The solution | Sealed behind a warning page | Opens once you lock in your four answers |
| With two players | Share the reading aloud and argue | Send your link: each of you works the same file from your own phone |
| What you need | No app, no internet, nothing to cut or assemble | To be online while you play; stop any time and pick up where you left off |
| Regular price | $6.99 | $6.99 |
Bought on Etsy, the digital edition arrives as a one-page access pass: open the page it links to, enter your Etsy order number, and the case opens. The same number opens it again later, on any device. Bought on this site, checkout opens a page with your case link, and the same link arrives by email. It plays the way The Orpheum File's digital edition does, and the article on the digital editions has the details.
Who Is It For?
A detective date night, a solo puzzle evening or a night in for a true crime fan. It is for one or two players, ages 16 and up. With two, START HERE's advice is to share the reading aloud and argue: "it's better that way." The content note, as the file gives it: a death by drowning, and heavy drinking; no gore.
If You've Played The Orpheum File
Accident, Drink Involved has the same shape as The Orpheum File, the first Cold Ledger case: seventeen documents, four objectives, graduated hints and a sealed solution, for one or two in one evening. It is a different case, in a different place, from the same podcast's archive, so The Orpheum File's page is a fair picture of the form.
Where the Story Goes Next
Accident, Drink Involved can be played on its own. Its story continues ten winters later, at the same lake house, in The Tenth Winter, the murder mystery party game for 8 to 20 players, out Monday, October 19. If you mean to play both, play the case file first. Wednesday's article covers the idea behind both: why the party happens that night, and why the two deaths make two separate games.
When and Where
Accident, Drink Involved comes out tomorrow, Friday, October 16, on this site and on Etsy, printable or digital, regularly $6.99 for either.
Questions
What is Accident, Drink Involved?
A cold case mystery game for one or two players from Cold Ledger Games: a true-crime podcast's research file on a death that was ruled an accident ten winters ago. You read seventeen documents and commit to four answers, in 60 to 90 minutes. It is a detective date night, a solo puzzle evening, or a night in for a true crime fan.
Do I need a printer?
No. The printable edition plays on screen in any PDF reader, and the digital edition plays in the browser on a phone, tablet or computer. If you do print, it is US Letter, one-sided, black and white, 32 pages in all.
Can two people play together?
Yes. With two, share the reading aloud and argue. In the digital edition, send your link to the other player, and each of you works the same file from your own phone.
How long does it take?
Allow 60 to 90 minutes. Some players finish sooner, and two sittings work fine: Exhibits A to H, then I to Q.
Is it gory?
No. The content note, as the file gives it: a death by drowning, and heavy drinking; no gore. It is for ages 16 and up.
Do I need to play The Tenth Winter too?
No. The case file can be played on its own. Its story continues in The Tenth Winter, a murder mystery party game for 8 to 20 players, out Monday, October 19. If you mean to play both, play the case file first.
When does it come out, and what does it cost?
Friday, October 16, on wigleystudios.com and on Etsy. Both editions are regularly $6.99, or $5.59 in the Halloween sale from launch day through October 31.
While You Wait
The Orpheum File is out now: the same shape, a different case, for one or two. Or try the 90-Second Case, free in your browser: one screen, four exhibits, three statements and one lie.
The Orpheum File Play the free case