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FICTIONAL CASES TO PRINT AND SOLVE
Paper & Motive

The Ninth Step

A disappearance at Wren Harbour

Styled manila folder with The Ninth Step label and a pencil on a dark table. The game is supplied digitally; no physical item is included.

One digital download.
All four print editions.

$12.00 USD

  • 2–4 adults
  • Everyone investigates
  • Print at home

Digital files only. No physical item is shipped.

Made for your printer.

All four print editions are included. Choose the paper size and ink style that suit your printer.

  • A4

    Colour

    Low-ink

  • US Letter

    Colour

    Low-ink

Case details & content notes

A fictional detective case for 2-4 adults to print and solve together, fully offline after download and printing. No host required.

One complete case in A4 and US Letter, each in colour and low-ink: 25 core pages plus optional assembly and supporting pieces. Includes 18 evidence pages across 14 evidence IDs, five photographs, five graphics, a shared answer sheet, separate optional hints and a separate solution.

Target play time: 60-90 minutes, not yet human-playtested. Digital files only; no physical delivery.

Content note: A missing person, off-page death, deliberate confinement, implied drowning, a brief printed request for help, financial misconduct and strained relationships. No gore or body imagery. People, place and incident are fictional.

Open a page before you open the case.

The case introduction, a local news clipping and the instructions for opening the file. No solution revealed.

“The disappearance of surveyor Ella Venn is under review after redevelopment of the old North Inspection Chamber established that she died there on the evening she vanished.”

Open the free sample PDF
The Ninth Step sample introduction page, with a local news clipping and opening instructions
Actual introduction page · not the complete case