What the game is
The Midnight Register is a name-elimination mystery. Something valuable disappears from the Grand Midnight Hotel, and the guest register — dozens to hundreds of signatures split across pages and wings — is your suspect list. Alongside it you receive a bundle of evidence cards. Each card states one fact about the culprit that is always true: about the letters of their name, the page they signed, the wing they stayed in, or the guests who signed near them. Any guest who fails a card is innocent and can be crossed out. Apply every card faithfully and exactly one name survives.
The register behaves like a real book. You see one page at a time, turn pages with the arrows, arrow keys or a swipe, and jump between wings with the tabs. Tap a signature once to cross it out, twice to star it as a person of interest, and a third time to clear the mark. Your markings, card notes and page position save automatically.
Case procedure
- Read every card first. Broad cards about wings and pages clear the most guests early. Precise name cards earn their keep on the final shortlist.
- Check the exact ruling. Every card carries fine print — open it. Whether Y counts as a vowel or whether a tie counts as “more” is never left to interpretation.
- Cross out with confidence. Only cross a guest out when a card genuinely clears them. The remaining-suspects count in the book footer is built from your own marks.
- Track your cards. Mark each card Fresh, In progress or Exhausted so a long case survives a tea break.
- Arrest, recover, decode. Arrest the last name standing. A correct arrest unseals the recovery cards for WHERE, and the culprit’s page number is the key to the coded WHY.
The rulings that matter most
- Vowels are A, E, I, O and U only. Y never counts. Two of the same vowel count as two vowels.
- Consecutive repeated letters mean the same letter twice in a row, as in Penny or Otto — repeated vowels included. Letters repeated apart do not count.
- Repeated names on a page require the exact same spelling twice on that single numbered page.
- Counting cards include crossed-out guests. Your cross-outs record deductions; they never change what is written in the register.
- Reading order runs down each page and straight on to the next, so “within ten guests” can cross a page break.
- Facing pages pair as in a book laid flat: page 1 faces page 2, page 3 faces page 4. A page with no partner clears its guests on facing-page cards.
- “More” and “longer” are strict. Ties always clear a guest, a wing or a hiding place.
Choosing a case size
Pocket Case (40–60 guests, about five minutes) teaches the card system in one sitting and makes a fine daily habit. Junior Clerk (120–180 guests) is the standard evening case. Inspector (300–450) demands genuine record-keeping across wings, and Chief Archivist (600–900) is the full ledger — bring a pot of tea. Larger cases add more evidence cards, longer page navigation and tighter interlocking clues, never unfair ones.
Working habits of a Chief Archivist
- Open with cards that clear whole wings or pages — one wing card can outwork five name cards.
- Work one card at a time, page by page, and mark it Exhausted before moving on. Half-applied cards cause most wrong arrests.
- Star, don’t arrest. When the field is small, star the survivors and re-run the precise cards over the stars alone.
- Use the reference cards actively: the Night Porters, Hotel Orchestra and Gardening Club lists carry page numbers for a reason.
- Trust the fine print over instinct. If a ruling feels ambiguous, you have not opened it.
Fairness, hints and reveal
Every case is generated and then proved before you see it: exactly one guest survives all the cards, every card is necessary, exactly one hiding place fits the recovery, and the coded note decodes cleanly. Hints recommend which card to work next without applying it. Reveal shows the full solution and each card’s clearing power, and a revealed case never joins your cases-cracked tally. A wrong arrest or a fruitless search is stamped on the file — the case stays open.
Questions from the front desk
What is The Midnight Register?
The Midnight Register is an elimination mystery. A valuable item disappears from the Grand Midnight Hotel and every guest in the register is a suspect. Evidence cards each state one true fact about the culprit; applying them all crosses out every guest but one.
How do the evidence cards work?
Each card is one precise, always-true statement about the culprit — about their name, their page, their wing or the guests near them. Any guest who fails the statement can be crossed out. Every card matters: the generator proves no card is redundant.
Can I use the cards in any order?
Yes. Every card is true independently, so you can work them in any order. Broad wing and page cards usually make faster early progress; save precise name cards for the shortlist.
Do crossed-out guests still count for other cards?
Yes. Crossing a guest out only records your deduction about the culprit. Counting cards — repeated names, nearby guests, page tallies — always count every signature in the register, crossed out or not.
What are the recovery cards and the coded note?
They answer WHERE and WHY. Recovery cards refer to the culprit’s own register entry, so they only become usable after a correct arrest. The coded note is a confession encrypted with a shift taken from the culprit’s page number.
Is every case guaranteed solvable?
Yes. Every new case is generated and then proved: exactly one guest survives all the cards, exactly one hiding place survives the recovery cards, and removing any single card would leave the case unsolved. No guessing is ever required.
How long does a case take?
A Pocket Case takes about five minutes. Junior Clerk runs ten to fifteen, Inspector twenty-five to forty, and a full Chief Archivist register can absorb an evening.
Is The Midnight Register free?
Yes. All case sizes are free to play in your browser, with no account or sign-up. A new case is one click away, and your markings save automatically between visits.