Подія

Insight.

Cost: 0.

Шукач

Fast. Play after an investigator discovers the last remaining clue at your location.

Investigators at that location gain a total of X resources, distributed as you wish. X is that location's shroud value.

"…when you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." Arthur Conan Doyle, "The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier"
Greg Bobrowski
The Secret Name #110.
Crack the Case

FAQs

(from the official FAQ or responses to the official rules question form)
  • Q: I have a question about effects like Old Keyring, which have lasting effects "for" a skill test rather than "during" a skill test. Are other abilities that resolve during this skill test affected by Old Keyring's change to the shroud, or does it only affect the skill test itself? For a specific example: If I investigate a shroud 2 location using Old Keyring, and during the test I use Lola Santiago's ability, do I need to pay 2 resources or 0 resources? Similarly if I play Crack the Case during this investigation, do the investigators get 2 resources, or 0 resources? A: To answer your question(s):
    • Yes, Old Keyring would give -2 shroud to the location for the duration of the investigation test; any abilities triggered during the test would be affected by this -2 shroud.
    • If you used Lola Santiago’s ability during the player windows of the test, the X on Lola would be 0 in your example.
    • Since clues are gained during Step 7 of an investigation skill test, Crack the Case would still be affected by the modified shroud value, and the X on it would be 0 in your example.
Last updated

Reviews

Great card! As a seeker, it rewards you for doing your job! Fast action is cool and it's a card for team players, you can fund your team on a high-shroud location. You could even replay it with Eidetic Memory I could see it very well in a Minh deck, she's always been a team player. But it's cool for a lot of investigators, Roland for exemple would welcome the extra cash. A great card indeed!

mogwen · 254
Yeah, it's indeed great for Roland! — matt88 · 3117
Definitely a good card, but after piloting it for a while, can confirm that resource-hungry seekers (or Roland) would still need Emergency Cache to get off and running. Crack the Case is welcome even if it nets 1 credit, but I've had many turns with it sitting in hand and no way of efficiently investigating without resources... — Malgox · 20
I wonder, could you play this on a location several turns after it has been cleared of clues? Technically it is still "after an investigator discovers the last remaining clue at your location", it is just several turns after, not immediately after. Thoughts? — lockque · 1
No, it must be played as soon as the condition is satisfied or not at all. — axefby · 1
I have the question regarding the timing of this card: Is it played during a skill-check or after it? When it is played after a skill check, it could be combined with Knowledge is Power and De Vermis Mysteriis. What do you think? — Gracchus · 1

Solid card. Have tried it in Joe and would recommend not putting it in the insight deck however. It doesn't benefit from the discount and it doesn't help you clear the clues thenlmselves, much better kept in hand so that he can use his other tricks to clear clues and then follow up with this as soon as possible.

The best thing about the card is that in solo it's always a good play regardless of the Shroud value, even 1 extra credit is an action saved and it scales from there. Since he's able to break Shroud 3-4 without breaking a sweat though this is a definite replacement for Emergency Chache in his decks.

skanedog · 64
Roland Banks also loves this card. His ability saves the action of getting the clue and this pays him for it; insane value. This card singlehandedly puts Roland's economy on par with the richer Guardians (Leo, Carolyn, Zoey). Sorry Mark; you're now officially the poorest Guardian. — SGPrometheus · 809
But Mark did get Act of Desperation to help refund midgame. — Death by Chocolate · 1447
Mark probably needs the money the least as he has a base 5 fight and can punch above his weight when the chips are down. Act of Desperation gave him a way to gain some resources to keep fighting and well maintained means that he can keep the fight up. — Myriad · 1219
What I love with this card is that it can be a solid support for the team. I think every Guardian will be happy to be gifted resources to play their expensive weapons! — mogwen · 254

Nice card.

Crack the Case is econ in a faction that until recently didn't really have resource issues (Namely, paying for slightly more expensive assets, that don't immediately pay for themselves like Dr. Milan Christopher does, Fingerprint Kit and Mr. "Rook").

The freedom from needing actions to get the money, the potential for 4 resources, it's a great supplement to Emergency Cache, the requirements to trigger it however don't make it quite effective enough to be a replacement for Emergency Cache unless youre playing a baseline 5 character. Crack the Case is just as easily played round 2 as it is round 20, having methods to quickly turn the extra money into test success, for example via talents, is smart. On the flipside Crack the Case can really speed up the rate at which your friends get stuff like Rite of Seeking or Agency Backup into play.

Space in a deck might be a bit too tight to actually fit Crack the Case, off-class characters however.. Roland Banks loves it! This is actually a good reason (the best reason?) to bring Crack the Case, as a means to fund your team some resources, it's certainly more straightforward then using Charles.

Note that the card can activate even if you aren't the investigator doing the clue deed, a nice bit of flexibility.

Tsuruki23 · 2523
I've found it to be a perfectly adequate replacement for Emergency Cache. Just play it as soon as you clear any shroud 3+ location. If you don't need the resources immediately you're going to need them at some point. The fact that this is fast makes it much better than EC. — Sassenach · 179
Goes very well with Hawk-Eye Folding Camera since your goal is to clear locations. This is an autotake for most Seekers now in my opinion. I will say though that E-Cache 3 is probably a good replacement for it if you're running Fingerprint Kit. — StyxTBeuford · 12985
and brilliant for true solo as taking the last remaining clue is even eaier. — Ezhaeu · 49
Once, the daisy of our group popped two Crack the Cases on a shroud 6 location. Higher Education yielded some use in that scenario... — trazoM · 9
This card actually reveals the name for the Mountain of Madness cycle, years before release. — akvik · 1

Surprising mechanic changes when revealed on Joe Diamond's Hunch Deck, despite not getting any play discount. The effect allow using when anyone in your team discovered the last clue, yet cards on hand are closed information so no one knows you have Crack the Case until you happenened to be standing there and witness a job being done.

Hunch Deck turns it into open information and now it is visibly a clue bounty to everyone on the table, and we can even discuss exact amount of resources to share since Hunch is revealed at start of Investigation Phase but before anyone takes turn. Those who want some of the bounty but can't work on clues may play first and wait at the location to pick the last clue. I like the table talk that results from putting it in the Hunch Deck.

Similar effect when having Cryptic Research on hunch because it is similarly Fast, 0 cost, and with teamplay effect. The card being visible "virtually" adding itself to everyone's hand as long as they are at the same location. Now everyone can hedge their risk better thinking about the possible 3 card draws while looking at what they have now. (But it must be played in Joe's turn, so if they want 3 more cards to take the tests / setup they can ask Joe to go first and give 3 cards.)

5argon · 9812

I’m calling “bullocks” on that decision to apply crack the case between step 7 and step 8 of the skill test. Applying crack the case after that skill test ends should be considered immediately after getting the clues. That’s bogus that flashlight, old keyring, etc. punish this card. I’m not buying it. Is that even an official ruling?

Seems reasonable to me. The trigger condition on Crack the Case is discovering the last clue, not ending the test in which the last clue was discovered. So it happens during step 7, and not between 7 and 8 - if the skill test has any other effects besides discovering clues, you could choose to resolve those after Crack the Case. For example, if there was some effect that required you to pay resources, you could get those from CtC. — TheNameWasTaken · 3
Since you’re already peeved, I won’t mention that although Flashlight and Old Keyring drop the resources from this card, Obscuring Fog does not raise them. — Eudaimonea · 5