Basic Case Strategies

This guide gives some tips on solving the various random weekly cases in the game, including which actions are best to get you started and which cases have problematic variations you need to watch out for.

Introduction

This guide is not a strict guide to solving all the cases, but rather a general guideline for how to proceed if you're stuck on a tough case. The first part of this guide covers general tips on what the different actions are good for, and the second goes into more detail on the spesific cases and lays out somewhat of a step-by-step guide for each one to provide somewhat of a failsafe method for dealing with them. Many cases have multiple possible ways to find the solutions other than the ones listed here. Many pieces of evidence can be found in two or more ways. Feel free to experiment, as there may be solutions that fit your playstyle and minion's skills better than the ones listed here.

This covers the random weekly cases only- plot cases are not included. It also doesn't cover the minion cases found only in custom mode or any of the easter egg cases. (Nor am I telling you how to find the easter egg cases.)

Punishment, when used here, can mean anything including harassment, detention, suspension, and expulsion. Expulsion is a last resort for girls that won't respond to any other punishments, but the situations that require expulsion are set. If a case has variants where expulsion is the only solution, I have noted it at the end of the entry.

Note: Some updated cases are missing from this guide, so it is not complete. The information contained within is still correct, just missing a few variants.

Your Toolbox of Actions

Questioning is a nice safe action and you'll never lose karma for doing it. It will rarely solve cases on its own (though it will close some of the red herrings instantly, since there's no actual mystery there), but it can be helpful for choosing the best of many possible options and can sometimes open up new actions depending on who you question and what they know. When you're presented with lots of possible options or very few, questioning is a good way to get started.

Stalking is a good way to go if you have reason to believe a girl may be going somewhere to meet someone. This works in reverse, too; if you believe a girl may be getting bullied or framed, stalking will usually reveal the bully or will reveal if they're bullying someone themselves.

Harass, Detention, Suspend, and Expel, as noted above, are all ways of punishing the guilty, though harassing can also be used to squeeze a witness who's resistant to questioning. Harassing can be done to pretty much anyone, but you'll need evidence against someone before you can put her in detention or suspend her. Detention is usually the most fail-safe if you have it available; most girls will crack under a successful detention if you've got the right suspect, and as long as you aren't detaining innocents you won't lose karma even if they don't crack. Suspension is a serious punishment and carries slight karma and reputation penalties, but almost all girls will apologize for their behavior upon their return if you have rightfully suspended them. You will take a harsh hit if you've wrongfully suspended someone and a case may time out before a supended girl can return if you haven't dealt with everyone you need to, but it can also be a good way to buy yourself some extra time by removing a ringleader while you deal with the minions.

Inspect is to locations as Questioning is to people. You can't lose karma there, since these are locations that you have every right to be poking around in. Searching is somewhat riskier in that you can lose karma but has basically the same effect and a successful search will usually point you to a supect, if there's anything to be found. The karma penalty for a failed Search depends on what you were searching; poking around a classroom after class will incur far less student anger than getting caught searching a dorm room.

Staking Out and Guarding are two sides of the same coin, but can have very different effects. Guarding will keep students from entering a location to do something they're not supposed to, but it will also keep you from gathering further evidence against them. Staking Out allows the activity to continue, but gives you the leads you need to stop it. In most cases, you'll want to Stake Out while you're still gathering evidence. And keep in mind- even a student who's supposed to be staking out can chase someone off if they discover they're endangering other students. Guarding can also clear up a few red herrings instantly.

Persuade is highly situational and should be tried whenever it's unlocked- it carries no karma penalty for a failure and can turn a deliquent into a helpful witness.

The cases themselves often have subtle differences in clue wording that you may begin to recognize over time, allowing you to skip certain steps in the investigation and letting you know what witness may be hiding something. Paying attention to the subtle differences can make the cases much easier to solve as you continue to play.

Case Walkthroughs

A Black Sheep in the Flock

Question a gossip to unlock the goth's room. Search it. If you find her diary mentioning one of the gossips is bullying her, punish the gossip. If she has written about wanting to harm her classmates, punish her. If not, stalk the gossips, search the new location, and punish them if needed. You may need to expel a student in this case. Sometimes a red herring.

A Delicate Blossom

Question the girl. If this leads you to a friend, question the friend and persuade or harass her if she plans on throwing a party. If she seems overly confident, harass her to convince her to play fair. If she's nervous, persuade her. If that fails, stalk her to find out who's bullying her and harass them.

A Lost Lamb

Deal with this one urgently. It's on a strict time limit and can lead to a harsh reputation hit if failed. Immediately search her room and question the friend. If this leads to a new location, search it. If someone had kidnapped her, punish them. If she returns the next day, question her and punish if necessary.

A Plague on Both Your Houses

Question both. If they've eaten the same thing, search the cafeteria. If they share a class, search the classroom. If you find out they missed a test, harass them and then search their rooms, and then punish whoever it leads to. Sometimes a red herring.

A Special Event

Question the star to be pointed to another student. Question them. If they point you to a third person, punish them. If they suspect the star is planning to sabotage the event, stalk the star. If she's suspicious, punish her, otherwise punish the understudy.

A Struggling Student

Search her room. If her notes look well used, search the classroom to find a tutor and persuade or harass them to help. If she isn't trying or is on drugs, punish her.

A Vandal on the Loose

If trash has been left, inspect the area. If this leads you to a girl, persuade her. If not, guard the area. For paint or burn marks, stake out until you find a suspect. Punish her. You may need to expel a student in this case.

But is it Art?

Search the room until you find the painting. If it isn't appropriate, persuade or punish her.

Cell Phone Madness

This one can get out of hand fast. Question or stalk the girls until one of them admits to having it. Search her room to find the message. If someone is getting bullied, persuade them. If you find nudes detain the owner and detain everyone who still has a copy. Otherwise, punish everyone with a copy. Be careful with harassment early in this case as you may lose the thread of evidence. Sometimes a red herring.

High Rollers

Search the location. If you find a list of names, search the rooms to find the ringleader and then punish the participants. If the girls are playing Clue, cross off the rope and guard the room to close out the case immediately. Otherwise stake out the room until you find the suspects. Persuade or punish them until the case closes or you find the leader. You may need to expel a student in this case.

Just Say No

This case can lead to huge reputation hits if not dealt with quickly. Questioning will never do you any good here. Stalk one of the girls to see if she's interacting with anyone else. If someone is laughing at her, punish the new suspect. If you see a package exchange hands, punish all involved. If she leads you to a new location, search it and then guard it. You may need to expel a student in this case.

Missing Items

Search the owner's room and question the owner to get pointed in a direction. If she points you to a girl, question her and then search her room. If you find the item, punish her. If she doesn't point you toward a girl, search the last location she saw it. If you have reason to suspect the owner is framing someone, punish the owner.

Missing School Supplies

Search the classroom. If it leads you to a new location, search there. Otherwise question the girls until one makes jokes about it. Harass her and then search her room. If you find the supplies or similar evidence, punish her. If one girl points fingers but no one else acts suspicious, she may be trying to distract you. This case is sometimes a red herring.

No Handbills, No Flyers

For concert posters, stake out the location until you find a suspect, then persuade or harass her to stop. If there's a victim, question and persuade her. If that doesn't work, stake out the location and then punish whomever you find. Otherwise, inspect the location. Once it leads you to a suspect, question and punish if necessary. This case is sometimes a red herring.

Phantom of the Opera (WIP)
Stake out the location. If it leads you to a subject, persuade or punish.

Prancing and Pawing

Question the girl. If she claims not to hear anything now, harass her until she points to a third girl and search her room. If she hears it from outside, stake out the hallway and punish whoever you find. If she thinks it's coming from the room, inspect the room. If she mentions scratching and the roommate seems amused, punish the roommate. Otherwise, stake out the room.

The Secret Society

Urgent, as this may have a time sensitive clue. Question one of the girls and stalk the other. If you get a new location, stake it out and punish whoever it leads to. If it leads you to a third girl, harass her and then search her room. If you find evidence of a slave ring, stake out the location on the noted date, then persuade the freshmen or punish the seniors. If you miss the slave offering date, punish the suspects you have harshly. Sometimes a red herring, but the girls will tell you upon questioning them if it is.

Shock to the System

This one may be on a strict time limit and can result in harsh reputation losses if left unchecked. Question one of the plotters. If they threaten you, harass them and detain them. If this doesn't work, search their room. If you find a location and a date, guard or stake out on that date. If the plotters seem innocent, stalk the gossip. If she's suspicious, punish her. Sometimes a red herring.

Suspicious Similarity

This may be on a strict time limit. Search the classroom. If the teacher seems upset, search the rooms until you find two misgraded test papers. If you find a cheat sheet, question and harass the girls if needed until you find the ringleader. Otherwise, search their rooms to see if there's a cheat sheet, and harass if you find something. This case is sometimes a red herring. Be careful not to punish too harshly before you find out if someone is selling cheat sheets or you may lose the thread of evidence.

Trouble in Paradise

Question both roommates. If one knows something and doesn't want to tell, harass her and then question both friends and persuade if necessary. If one of the girls has made a new friend, question the new friend and then either persuade the old friend or harass the new. If unsuccessful, harassing the jealous girl's roommate will let you know if she's plotting violence.

Final notes

Much credit to Franka for her inital guide on the Hanako forums that inspired this one, Hanako herself for her frequent case hints on the forums early on, and everyone in the forums that worked towards finding case strategies early on.

The three most recent case types are currently missing as I haven't had a chance to do testing on them yet.

[sadaaaa]

for the "Bumps and Bruises" case, some variants include: question one of the girls and she may immediately clear it up as a red herring. if both girls say the same thing, stalk one and it leads to a new location, stake out the location and it will reveal another girl as well, who will say the same as the other two if questioned. persuade all girls- case resolved.

for the "scarlet" one you get from the mask after the first meeting, question and then harass all friends until you can "mislead" the target- its pretty obvious but at first i was confused lol

[Steve]

Found a case called "Where there's smoke" which I solved by staking out the location to find a suspect, searching the suspect's room, and then harassing her.

[Darksilverhawk]

Working from memory of that case variant here, but if you have evidence the supplies were stolen but no one's acting suspicious, try harassing the one trying to pin suspicion on the others; she might be trying to distract you.

[lego brick on floor]

"Search the classroom. If it leads you to a new location, search there. Otherwise question the girls until one makes jokes about it. Harass her and then search her room. If you find the supplies or similar evidence, punish her. This case is sometimes a red herring."

One of these cases had everyone except one deny all knowledge of the incident, with the exact same wording; the last one was the one to pin suspicion on two others. The classroom showed signs of the supplies being there at some point. I thought it was a red herring, but it turns out that one of the students destroyed the supplies as a protest. How was I supposed to know? Was I supposed to question them more than once?

[lego brick on floor]

Oh, thanks. I'm still messing around with failing the underground school plot case. Reading those are fuuun.

[Darksilverhawk]

None of the weekly cases have failure effects outside of the reputation hit for failing them. The more serious the incident the greater the loss (a student getting caught trying to set the cafeteria on fire will obviously carry a larger penalty than someone sleeping through a swim meet) but failing any randomized case just gets a reputation hit and a bit of flavor text informing you of how badly you screwed up in that particular case.

[lego brick on floor]

What happens if you miss the arsonist with the Vandal case? (Candle wax, lighter stuff, etc.) Is that just a rep / karma hit or is there a mroe serious punishment?

[BabyRabbiNY]

Case update? I bought the game like 2 months after it came out, I never knew there was an update. Haha, sorry about that!

[Darksilverhawk]

Yeah, the cases from the latest update (the ghost case as well) are still missing; I burned out on this game pretty hard about the time the case update came out and haven't done a ton of testing on them yet. I'll add a note about that.

[BabyRabbiNY]

I noticed that "Bumps and Bruises" is missing. Thats the one where the two friends fight each other.