1-4
High
90-120 min
14+
In The Voynich Puzzle, you will attempt to decipher the Voynich Manuscript, each using your own copy of the book as your primary tool. As your overall understanding of the manuscript increases, you will be able to decipher the pages of your book, thus improving your chances of decoding it. The winner is the player who, when the game ends, has accumulated the most overall knowledge.
On your turn, you open your book anywhere and select a page to perform the actions shown at the top of that page (card). Each page allows you to interact with one of the five main sections of the manuscript (botany, astrology, baths, writings, and recipes). When you gain enough knowledge of any type, you can share it by adding a piece to the manuscript puzzle. All participants will have access to this knowledge, which will help them decipher the manuscript. This is represented by turning and flipping the cards in your books. Deciphering the manuscript grants you access to enhanced actions and end-game scores.
The game ends when any general knowledge marker reaches the end-game icon in space number 52. The current round ends so that all participants have taken the same number of turns, and then each person takes one additional turn before proceeding to end-game scoring.