I want to run a playthrough with a small group of newbie players, including myself. We've never had the experience of playing an RPG before. My group likes these types of games: murder mystery, questioning the players, deception, etc. so I think this game #birdsecrets fall into the type of genre we'd enjoy.

I'm trying to understand how to play the game, but no matter how hard I try, I don't really quite follow. Is there an existing video playthrough of this game I could watch or is there anyone willing to explain the gameplay mechanics?

Thanks!

Hi jpyeah, thanks for asking, and sorry you're stuck. Admittedly there are gaps in the structure and the game isn't written in a way that's super friendly to new players. The core of the game is the clue style deduction, but that is sort of played out in scenes and the game doesn't really offer any advice on how to set or play out scenes.

A player could set a scene by asking a question like "Did Winifred the pigeon see anything?" At that moment they are inventing a witness, Winifred, and establishing what the scene will be about. It might play out like this:

• The player could ask everyone at the table to contribute a detail to the scene like where your investigator finds Winifred, or what she is doing when you find her.
• Have one of the other players portray Winifred while you question her. 
• When everyone feels like you should roll now it would trigger the move Question a Witness. 
• Say how the scene ends based on the roll.

Then have another player do something similar but with a different question like "What happened to the murder weapon?"

I hope that helps and I'm sorry for the delay.