The Night Crossing

RULE 1: Count the passengers every hour. If there are more than on the manifest, do not count again.

The last night steward of the MV Grey Heron vanished halfway through the crossing. Now the job is yours: seven hours of black water, no signal, forty cabins, and a laminated card with twelve rules. The bottom of the card has been torn away.

Then you find a second list in her locker, in her handwriting. Same rules. Almost.

One list was written to keep you alive. The other was written by something that has been listening to every word spoken on this ship.

You don't choose left or right. You choose which rule applies. At every critical moment the book asks you one question, and you answer with a rule number from the list you trust. Trust the wrong one, and the ship will show you exactly why.

• 250 numbered sections and 27 endings, one for every passenger on the manifest
• A genuine fair-play mystery: every clue you need is hidden in the pages
• Rule points, Whispers and codewords that track what the ship has learned about you
• A printable Shift Log, a passenger manifest, a deck plan and handwritten documents

Count carefully. Don't tell anyone the time. And whatever you do, don't read the rules out loud.

27 passengers. 27 endings. Only one of them gets everyone home.