What is a murdoku?
A murder puzzle on a grid. You get a floor plan, a body, and one card per suspect saying where they were. Exactly one arrangement follows from them, and so exactly one murderer.
The rules
- The floor plan is a grid of squares, carved into named rooms.
- Everyone stands on their own square: one person per row and one per column. No two people ever share a row or a column.
- The victim counts and lies on a square of their own. With five suspects there are six people on the floor plan.
- Where the victim was is not given. You deduce it like everyone else: the victim’s card only says they were alone with the murderer.
- Some squares hold furniture. You can sit on a chair or a couch; nobody stands on a table or a cupboard. Windows and doors sit in the wall and count as something you can stand beside.
- “Beside” means the next square along (above, below, left or right) and in the same room. Diagonals do not count, and through a wall does not count.
- The murderer is whoever was alone with the victim in the same room.
The kinds of clue
Four kinds, and no more. That is why a murdoku takes two minutes to explain to anyone.
Which room
Where somebody was, or was not.
“They were not in the canteen.”
Which thing
What somebody was on, or beside.
“They were sitting in a chair.”
Beside whom
Who stood next to whom, in the same room.
“They were beside Youssef.”
Which spot
Further up, down, left or right than somebody else, in a corner, or in a given row or column.
“They were in the last column.”
How to solve one
By ruling out. Every clue removes squares; what is left is the answer.
- Read every card before writing anything down. Together they pin more than any of them does alone.
- Start with what a clue rules out: “was not in the kitchen” removes a whole room in one go.
- Then rule out along rows and columns. The moment somebody is placed, that row and that column are closed to everyone else.
- Watch the furniture. Whoever sat on a chair is on a square with a chair, and there are usually only a few.
- Last, see who is left alone with the body. That is your murderer.
Where the word comes from
Murdoku is “murder” plus “sudoku”: a murder, solved the way you solve a sudoku. The grid with one person per row and column comes from the sudoku; the rooms and the clue cards come from the murder game. The idea is not ours. We make the tool you write your own with.
Whose it is
Murdoku is a puzzle by Manuel Garand and a registered trade mark of its owner. MurdX is independent and not affiliated. Manuel Garand is a puzzle designer from Montreal. His puzzles are at murdoku.com, a new one every week and free, and in the book Murdoku: 80 Murder Mystery Logic Puzzles. If you want good puzzles to play, start there. If you want to make one with your own people in it, you are in the right place.
Go to murdoku.comQuestions people ask
Can I make my own murdoku?
Yes. With the murdoku maker you make your own murdoku with your own people, your own rooms and the things that are really in them. The clues are written and checked for you, so there is always exactly one answer. Free, no account, in a few minutes.
Is MurdX a murdoku maker?
Yes. MurdX is an independent maker for puzzles in the murdoku style: you make your own, with your own people and rooms. It is not the official Murdoku, which is Manuel Garand's, at murdoku.com.
Is this the official murdoku site?
No. MurdX is independent and is not affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by the creator or the publishers of Murdoku. The official puzzles are at murdoku.com and in the book.
Are the puzzles from the murdoku book here?
No. Every case on this site is made by our own program, with our own floor plans and drawings. For the puzzles from the book, go to the book or to murdoku.com.
Does it cost anything?
Making, playing, sharing and printing a case is free. There are 128 ready-made cases from easy to extra hard, and a new one every day.
Who is it for?
Anyone who likes a puzzle: an evening with friends, a team day, a classroom. A case with the names and faces of your own group is the most fun, and you make that one yourself.
Making your own murdoku
There is no shortage of places to play one. What there is not, is a place to make one with the names of your own people, the rooms of your house, office or school and the things that really stand there. That is what this is for. You pick the people, draw the floor plan, and the clues are written and checked: one answer, always.