Tap two runes to swap them. Then consult a sage with this arrangement, or declare it as the secret.
Your deduction
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possibilities remaining
Hardcore: no counter, no list. Hold the clues in your head and declare only when you're certain.
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rival's possibilities
The rival awaits your first move…
The Council of Sages
Each sage holds a scroll of possible rules — tap it to read. Tap the sage's gold vessel to consult it with your trial; a coin falls in for every question you ask.
an ancient game of deduction
SAGE
Welcome, my lord. We have awaited your coming.
The Order's great secret — the sacred order of the runes — has been lost to us. Only the Council of Sages still remembers it; yet each sage guards but a single truth, and none will utter it plainly. Each holds a scroll of rules that might be his — which one is true, you must divine.
Lay the runes upon the pedestals — your trial.
Drop a coin in a sage's vessel to consult him; he answers only whether your trial obeys his true rule. Strike the impossible rules from his scroll.
When a single ordering alone remains, you hold the truth — declare the secret and restore the Order.
Beware: a rival mind races you to the same answer. No timer, no trick of the hand — only the sharper reason prevails.
Runes
Mode
Pick a rival, then play. 5 runes = far deeper (120 orderings). Hardcore hides the counter & list — pure mental deduction.
Apprentice: slow rival · Scholar: skilled rival · Grandmaster: optimal rival, with a head start (brutal).
or
Same puzzle, in real time. First to crack it wins. Uses your Runes & Mode above.