UPDATED - My bad - I was playing with Obstacle cards cards having same functionality as Lock cards - I fail.

move along

Normally a BARRIER or LOCK card will stop your movement into the room until either :

A) the puzzle gets solved

B) You have the correct item/key to progress.

However, the "Locket Cabinet" essentially broke our game - It wasn't until i got home and peiced together what happened until i figured it out.

Lets look at the card.

So, this is a Barrier Card. Meaning, we can't go past this room without the requirement - in this case - A Brass key!

Theory - This should be an exploration card and NOT a barrier card. Or some better wording of "players may freely move past this room"

After I got home, I took a picture of the manual and did some quick photoshops to figure out "where our game broke".

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Lets see how the game broke -

IF the "locked cabinet" prevented access to the study (as a barrier does) that forces the investigators up the "ladder" (locked entry to BASEMENT STORAGE from my "keeper quiz". OR up into the corner hallways. Eventually they'll run out of rooms to explore (furnace and ceramony rooms are red herrings) - Investigators would eventually hit a locked door on the Basement Storage.

IF the "Locked Cabinet" merely was an EXPLORATION card - Investigators WOULD have gotten to the secret passage and obtained the key for the Study.

As it was in the game we played, Investigators were unable to ever reach that First key to start the first clue & get past the barrier.

What we did mid-play -

How we "hacked it" to resume mid-player. Since the ladder had to be placed in the Chapel, I let the LOCK on the basement storage be only applied to the first enterance players opened (in this case the ladder). So i let them go through to the basement Storage. which actually gave them Clue #2 and broke the flow of the game -as they never found clue 4 or 3. I let the ladder then go into the secret passage where they then resumed play. I just hope this first rough expereicne doesn't hinder them from wanting to play again.

"Locked Cabinet" is an 'Obstacle' card - which means cards past it (ie. underneath it) may not be explored until the obstacle is resolved. It has NO effect on movement.

Bartimus said:

oh. god. I treated them as "Lock Cards". Realizing now that there is no difference between Lock and Obstacle cards in how I played them

Page 9 - bottom right: "Obstacle Cards represent some obstruction or challnege preventing an investigator from exploring his room"

MOVE ALONG! Can i lock/hide this thread of embarrassment?

Also important: We figured out that the Axe only opens puzzle locks on obstacle cards. You aren't technically in the room with a locked door, and the axe requires you use it against a puzzle in the same room.