Note: this is an archive/backup of my original cohost post, where I was tracking this live. cohost is shutting down, hence moving this here. I’m doing my best to transfer links and images, but if you see any issues, that’s why.

Without further ado…

Murders at Karlov Manor ARG - RAMI Mystery Files

Masterpost for tracking the Murders at Karlov Manor ARG/Puzzles. If you see something missing here, feel free to let me know in the comments, via discord @mweepigeon, or via reddit (message not chat please) u/mweepinc

Since the post has gotten rather long-winded, I’ve split anything longer than about a paragraph out into its own post and am using this one as a hub/index. Each header will link to its own post, and include a short blurb on what that section is about.

The official website for puzzles is here. Starting with Prerelease, one Mystery File was released daily, with the final 13th puzzle releasing on 2024-02-14.

r/MagicTCG mods have helpfully spun up a new MKM-ARG flair, so do reference and utilize that for discussing the puzzles on Reddit. I’ve also compiled a list of links to relevant reddit discussion threads below.

reddit discussion thread index

Mystery Files

Mystery File 01: The Intriguing Interrogation - SOLVED

Crime Scene: The evidence you need to solve this puzzle can be found within the Murders at Karlov Manor Prerelease Packs.

You’re going to need to gather some information. You’ve got questions to ask.

Mystery File 02: The Hidden Homunculus - SOLVED

Crime Scene: The evidence you need to solve this puzzle can be found on certain Murders at Karlov Manor cards.

There’s an eyewitness we need to interview, and we’ve been running around in circles trying to find him. His name is Fblthp. Do a grid search for him within the art of five different Murders at Karlov Manor cards. Each time you find him, block off his position within the grid on this page.

Once you’ve found all his hiding spots, draw a single loop in the grid below that doesn’t cross itself. The loop passes through every cell that doesn’t contain Fblthp, but none of the cells that do. In each cell, the path must either go straight or make a 90-degree turn.

Once your loop is complete, use the code key to assign numbers to each cell. Add up all the numbers in the top two rows to get an expansion number, and add up all the numbers in the bottom two rows to get a card number.

Mystery File 03: The Strange Scenes - SOLVED

Crime Scene: The evidence you need to solve this puzzle can be found on certain Murders at Karlov Manor booster fun cards.

To unravel an enigma like this, there must be no borders in your mind.

Mystery File 04: The Perplexing Prism - SOLVED

Crime Scene: The evidence you need to solve this puzzle can be found on certain Murders at Karlov Manor cards.

I can’t trust my eyes . . . but whenever I do a double take, I’m met by a strange hue and cry. It seems like there’s an alternate reality.

After my latest shift on the job, I’ve determined that each guild has hidden an item somewhere around Ravnica. Fill the names of these items in on the chart on this page, one letter per square. Read the indicated letters to find your answer.

Mystery File 05: The Confounding Kidnapper - SOLVED

Crime Scene: The evidence you need to solve this puzzle can be found within the four Murders at Karlov Manor Commander Decks.

The kidnapper is trying to send us a message. Four messages, in fact. But they all lead to the same memory from many years ago.

Mystery File 06: The Mysterious Museum - SOLVED

Crime Scene: The evidence you need to solve this puzzle can be found on Murders at Karlov Manor Art Cards.

Solving a mystery is like appreciating fine art.

After you have reconstructed the map of the Mysterious Museum, transfer the 10 letters you found into the grid on this page.

Then fill the rest of the grid with those same letters so that no letter is repeated within any row, column, or 7-square section.

Mystery File 07: The Arcane Agency - SOLVED

Crime Scene: The evidence you need to solve this puzzle can be found on certain Murders at Karlov Manor cards.

Sometimes people get lost. With the help of our association, they’ve always found their way home.

The indicated letters spell a clue to the answer. You just need to find one more thing…

Mystery File 08: The Weird Window - SOLVED

Crime Scene: The evidence you need to solve this puzzle can be found in Murders at Karlov Manor Play Booster Boxes.

In this city, not even the mysteries made out of glass are clear.

Find the window art on the Play Booster Box insert and complete the loop as instructed. Then apply that loop to the grid on this page.

Mystery File 09: The Unusual Unlock - SOLVED

Crime Scene: The evidence you need to solve this puzzle is on certain items found in Murders at Karlov Manor play boosters, including one card from the set.

I found a strange contraption. It seems to be a combination lock covered in glyphs, with a chamber hidden inside it. It would be counterintuitive to punch through this enigma with brute force alone. I’ll need some clues in order to figure out how many spaces to advance each tumbler.

After I’ve deduced the password, this translation chart should be useful.

Mystery File 10: The Radiant Riddle - SOLVED

Crime Scene: The evidence you need to solve this puzzle can be found on certain Murders at Karlov Manor cards.

Upon reflection, I realized the only way to foil evil schemes is to shine the light of justice on them. Putting the pieces together may offer only a symbolic victory, but it’s worth pursuing nonetheless.

Mystery File 11: The Ruby Ruse - SOLVED

Crime Scene: The evidence you need to solve this puzzle can be found within the Murders at Karlov Manor Bundle.

Your head is spinning, but trace evidence has pointed you in the right direction.

Mystery File 12: The Fractured Fingerprint - SOLVED

Crime Scene: The evidence you need to solve this puzzle can be found in a variety of X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram posts made between January 31 and February 5, 2024.

I can’t quite put my finger on it . . . because the evidence has been sliced up and scattered. Collect all the pieces that have been posted, reassemble them, and find the way through.

Mystery File 13 (the overarching one) - SOLVED

Crime Scene: The evidence you need to solve this puzzle can be found on certain Murders at Karlov Manor cards. You’ll need your solutions from all of the other Mystery Files to complete your investigation.

It all comes down to this. Although the cases may be rooted in the past, today is the day you can finally unravel this enigma. Each Mystery File will lead you to a card name. All you need to do is follow the evidence.

Miscellaneous Speculation & Not-Actually-Puzzles

There was a lot of speculation and tinfoil-hatting throughout this ARG, especially early on during preview season and story reveals, prior to any actual information about the Mystery Files were released. Look at all these rabbit holes we dug!

Map Fragments (supplemental puzzle)

This puzzle is unrelated to the 13 Mystery Files and was distributed via Wizards social media accounts between January 8th and January 19th, involving assembling fragments of maps edited onto various card artworks and using that to solve a puzzle that was revealed on the 19th.

MKM Story Speculation

This is various tidbits of my speculation on the story articles attached to Murders at Karlov Manor. They’re presented as-is, as I wrote them at the time, and are entirely unconnected to the ARG - but we didn’t know that at the time, which is why they’re included as a part of this masterpost

Animated Teaser Trailer Speculation

On January 10th the @wizards_magic twitter account posted an animated teaser trailer for MKM with some fake newspapers in the background. This is speculation about said trailer for both story and ARG reasons, including speculation regarding the typos in the original now-deleted trailer

Numbers in Art (debut stream)

During the debut stream, as Proft was voicing over his evidence and reasoning before the big accusation, a series of images were shown with some seemingly random numbers overlaid. u/MakesOnAPlane compiled an album of them in this post

Chinese Borderless Surveil Land Renders

In the Chinese renders for the cycle of borderless surveil lands, some (but not all) have missing periods. Most likely a rendering or typesetting error rather than an ARG thing, as the puzzles were designed to be language agnostic and this error is not replicated on English language cards

Clue Weapons Speculation

Speculation about various things surrounding the 5 Clue weapons, including the fingerprints in the art and their occasional appearance in other card art.

Potential Hidden Numbers

Speculation about various potential numbers hidden in card artwork, with varying levels of confidence. So far we’ve not seen anything that connects this to an actual puzzle, so if it is ARG related we’ll likely have to wait for prompting from a Mystery File before being able to do anything

“Constellation” Pattern

Speculation about Case of the Crimson Pulse, Fugitive Codebreaker, and Connect the Dots having the same constellation pattern. Most likely just connected cards for flavor reasons and not ARG related.

Vases, Vases, Everywhere

Speculation about vases showing up in the artwork for multiple cards. Most likely just connected cards for flavor reasons and not ARG related.

case closed

thanks y’all for reading!

comments from cohost post

Liam Thomas @junkmail [2024-02-02 22:08]

This is speculation, but given that the token punch-out says it’s related to a case, and its back matches the tile pattern on the clue tokens, I bet you overlay the punched-out token thing over the clues to get numbers.

  • mweepigeon @mweepigeon [2024-02-03 12:34]

    Okay it’s definitely something, each of the 5 holes “highlights” a different number on the 5 clue tokens, made a render and uploaded

Rachel S. @PositronicWoman [2024-02-07 20:36]

just wanted to say how delightful it is that the progress for the ARG is being thoroughly catalogued on cohost, thank you for your archival work!

  • mweepigeon @mweepigeon [2024-02-07 21:09]

    Thanks! I’m glad people are enjoying it / finding it useful