Forensics Scenario Bank

Draft, 2026-10-14 · from Sarah's notes · 38 scenarios across 9 scenes · 12 portable components · source: docs/spec/forensics-scenario-bank.md

Confidence that this bank and its build order are right (top)

What would raise it:

Q1: Your choice of the first evidence scenes +4
A playable evidence-scene prototype (one case, cards and reveal) that reads as an investigation +8
Q3: The 3D prop test on the alley ladder +5
Each model checked against real SAT items of its type, so the numbers and wording match what students will see +6
Q2: The kitchen prototype, once readings exist +3

Open Questions (0 open of 7)

Q1. Which evidence scenes come first? answered

Blocks: The next plate commissions and the engine work for readings and records.

Recommendation: The apartment and the security office. Between them they cover exponential models, rates, linear functions and circle equations, which are the domains the measurement scenes can't reach, and each needs one uncalibrated plate. The lab is a close third; it adds probability and statistics but needs the most card design.

Q2. Does the kitchen prototype come before or after the first evidence scene? answered

Blocks: The kitchen plate and the hybrid case format.

Recommendation: After. The evidence scene proves readings and records on their own; the kitchen then adds them to calibrated measurement, which is the harder combination. Building it first would test two new things at once.

Q3. How are upright props made (ladders, crates, vehicles, the lift)? answered

Blocks: Props for the stairwell, rooftop, window ledge and kitchen, and any variant that changes a prop's size.

Recommendation: Test 3D models rendered through the calibrated camera on the alley ladder, where the painted version exists for comparison. This is Q2 from the ground-marks review.

Q4. Is the outcome mix 45% contradiction, 30% confirmation, 25% discovery? answered

Blocks: How variants are assigned outcomes.

Recommendation: Yes, with each scenario's variants split between outcomes so a variant's number never predicts its result.

Q5. How is the body shown? answered

Blocks: The apartment plate.

Recommendation: A sheet-covered body with only a hand or shoe visible, or a chalk outline once the body is gone. Either keeps the noir tone without gore; the covered body suits time-of-death cases, since the body is still there to read.

Q6. How are choice answers scored ("which visitor", "which tower")? answered

Blocks: Discovery cases that end in an identification: H1, O2, W2.

Recommendation: Two steps. The number is graded as today (300, 150, 0 by attempt). The identification that follows from it earns the judgment points. A right number with the wrong person shows the student where the reasoning broke.

Q7. Is Forensics the geometry and trig game, or a broad math game? answered

Blocks: The domain mix and which scenarios get built first.

Recommendation: Broad, with geometry as its signature. The cases carry the skill code geometry-trig, and the measurement scenes lean that way (about a quarter of the bank against the SAT's 15%). The evidence scenes reach advanced math and data, which no geometric scene can. If another game in the roster already carries those domains, Forensics can stay narrower and drop the evidence scenes' lower-value cases; the roster decides.

How a case is built

Scene
A plate. Measurement scenes are calibrated; evidence scenes are tap-to-open; hybrids do both.

Components
Portable evidence: a car is a dashboard and a receipts folder, wherever a car is parked.

Math model
An investigation type, reused across stories and scenes.

Story
The claim. Claim → evidence → finding: contradiction, confirmation or discovery.

The math establishes what is possible; it never proves guilt or innocence, and each case states its assumptions. After the answer, the scene shows the consequence: a route turns red, an intersection appears, a visitor's frame lights.

Scenes

Scene	Kind	Plates	Notes
Alley	measurement	plates accepted	Ground and plan views; loading doors, fire escape, dumpsters, crates.
Parking lot	measurement	plates accepted	The most versatile: cinematic wide view and a precise overhead grid.
Stairwell	measurement	no plate	Sightlines, doors, landings. The Tail's tenement stairs are another game's art and are not calibrated.
Rooftop	measurement	no plate	Equipment, railings, cables, a lift, views across the street.
Window ledge	measurement	no plate	Facing windows, a street lamp, the drop to the street.
Kitchen	hybrid	no plate	Containers measured in the scene, plus labels, the counter scale and the register tape.
Crime lab	evidence	no plate	Evidence tray, lab computer, microscope. Tap to open cards; no calibration.
Apartment (the body)	evidence, or hybrid for outline cases	no plate	Two states of one room. Sheet-covered body for cases that examine it (time of death); chalk outline for cases that use the victim's height or distances from the body, which need the floor calibrated and can draw the outline as a ground texture. Also the thermostat, a phone, the hallway camera.
Security office	evidence	no plate	Monitor wall of CCTV frames, badge and gate logs, a tower map.

Components

Component	Card	Data	Host scenes
Car	A flat view of the dashboard, and the glovebox folder	odometer, fuel gauge, dashboard clock; fuel and toll receipts; registration card with the car's length and width	parking, alley, any street
Phone	Lock screen, call and message log, photos	timestamps, call durations, step count, photo times	any scene
CCTV frames	A strip of frames from one camera	frame timestamps, who appears, position against marked points	office, parking, stairwell, apartment hallway
Access log	A gate, badge or alarm printout	timestamped entries and exits	parking gate, office, rooftop door
Thermometer or thermostat	A reading, or a logged temperature series	temperatures with times; the room's set point	apartment, kitchen, lab
Evidence tray	Lifted prints and labeled swabs	print feature coordinates; swab measurements	lab, any scene as a field kit
Lab computer	A profile comparison or a tox report	trait frequencies, match tables, concentrations with times	lab
Scale and containers	A scale readout, graduated containers, labels	weights, fill levels, container sizes, label concentrations	kitchen, lab
Register tape and price tags	A day's register tape and the shelf prices	items, prices, tax, discounts, totals	kitchen, any shop
Capacity plate and manifest	The lift's rated load and a shipping manifest	capacity, item weights, counts	rooftop, alley and parking loading docks
Map with grid	An overhead map with coordinates	positions, tower locations and ranges, routes	office, any overhead view
Wall clock	A clock face, sometimes wrong	a time; a known offset when it is wrong	anywhere, often as a distractor

Scenarios (38)

Evidence: M measured in the scene, R read off an object, T taken from a record. Outcome: C contradiction, F confirmation, D discovery; two letters mean the variants split.

ID	Scene	Scenario and claim	Model	SAT domain	Evidence	Outcome	Components and props	Variant types
A1	Alley	The Impossible Escape A suspect climbed out a second-story window on a ladder found in the alley.	Reach and clearance	Geometry & trig	M	CF	ladder	4
A2	Alley	The Low Clearance A courier says the box truck drove under the fire escape to the loading door.	Reach and clearance	Algebra	MR	C	car (truck registration card), fire escape	3
A3	Alley	The Missing Crate A shipment vanished, and the remaining crates were restacked to hide it.	Material quantities	Advanced math	MR	D	crate stack, capacity (manifest)	3
A4	Alley	The Shortcut A suspect reached the street before the alarm sounded.	Time reconstruction	Algebra	MT	CF	access_log (alarm), phone (steps)	4
P1	Parking lot	The Turn The suspect's van made the turn that left these tire marks.	Circular motion	Geometry & trig	M	CF	tire marks	3
P2	Parking lot	The Camera Angle The security camera would have caught the glass breaking.	Camera coverage	Geometry & trig	M	CF	glass, camera	3
P3	Parking lot	The Wrong Car A witness names a getaway car; the stall it used says otherwise.	Object placement	Data & problem solving	MR	CF	car (registration card), tire marks	3
P4	Parking lot	The Collision A driver was already past the garage entrance when the other car struck.	Motion paths	Algebra	M	D	map grid on the overhead plate	4
P6	Parking lot	The Skid The driver was going under the 15 mph limit when he braked.	Speed from skid length	Advanced math	MR	CF	straight skid marks (ground texture), pavement friction card	3
P5	Parking lot	The Disappearing Vehicle The car left before midnight; the gate log disagrees.	Time reconstruction	Algebra	RT	CF	access_log (gate), car (odometer, receipts)	4
S1	Stairwell	The Witness on the Landing A witness saw someone through the open doorway below.	Visibility	Geometry & trig	M	CF	door, landing	3
S2	Stairwell	The Broken Handrail The handrail broke in an accident; where the pieces lie suggests otherwise.	Route reconstruction	Algebra	M	C	handrail pieces (ground marks)	3
S3	Stairwell	The Blind Spot The camera recorded nothing because someone stayed outside its view.	Camera coverage	Algebra	M	D	cctv, map grid	3
S4	Stairwell	The Fire Door The fire door was blocked, so no one could have come through it.	Access geometry	Geometry & trig	M	CF	door swing, a dropped box	3
R1	Rooftop	The Rooftop Exchange Two people never came near each other.	Route reconstruction	Algebra	MT	D	map grid, phone (times)	4
R2	Rooftop	The Cut Cable The cable parted on its own; it had sagged low enough to snag.	Quadratic sag	Advanced math	M	C	cable, anchor points	3
R3	Rooftop	The Missing Equipment The equipment went down in the lift in one trip.	Capacity constraints	Algebra	R	CF	capacity	4
R4	Rooftop	The Scatter The debris fell from the north parapet.	Evidence distribution	Data & problem solving	M	CF	glass shards or debris (ground marks), map grid	3
W1	Window ledge	The Photographer The photo was taken from the apartment across the street.	Visibility	Geometry & trig	M	CF	facing windows	3
W2	Window ledge	The Shadow The figure under the street lamp was the shorter suspect.	Shadows and lighting	Geometry & trig	M	D	street lamp, shadow (ground mark)	3
W3	Window ledge	The Open Window Someone climbed in carrying the painting.	Reach and clearance	Geometry & trig	MR	C	window opening, painting crate	3
W4	Window ledge	The Fall The package dropped from the third-floor window.	Route reconstruction	Algebra	M	CF	package (ground mark), map grid	3
K1	Kitchen	The Switched Bottle Nothing was added to the bottle before the party.	Material quantities	Data & problem solving	MR	C	scale (containers, labels)	4
K2	Kitchen	The Missing Ingredient Every portion of saffron is accounted for in the orders.	Inventory discrepancies	Algebra	RT	D	scale, register	4
K3	Kitchen	The Altered Recipe The batch was made to the house recipe.	Material quantities	Data & problem solving	MR	C	scale (containers, recipe card)	3
K4	Kitchen	The Vanishing Cash The register came up short because of a pricing error.	Financial inconsistencies	Data & problem solving	RT	F	register	4
K5	Kitchen	The Spoiled Batch The tray sat out for less than an hour.	Exponential growth	Advanced math	RT	F	lab_screen or test strip (bacteria count), thermo	3
L1	Crime lab	The Partial Print The partial print came from the suspect's right thumb.	Scale reconstruction	Geometry & trig	R	CF	tray (print features on a grid)	3
L2	Crime lab	The Swab Tray Every swab was handled the same way.	Evidence distribution	Data & problem solving	R	D	tray (swab readings)	3
L3	Crime lab	The Match The match makes the suspect 99.99% likely to be guilty.	Probability of a match	Data & problem solving	R	CF	lab_screen (trait frequencies, two-way table)	3
L4	Crime lab	The Dose She took the pills after 10 p.m.	Exponential decay	Advanced math	RT	CF	lab_screen (tox report), phone	3
H1	Apartment (the body)	Time of Death Which visitor was there when he died?	Exponential cooling	Advanced math	RT	D	thermo (body, room), cctv (hallway), clock	4
H2	Apartment (the body)	The Thermostat No one touched the heat after 8 p.m.	Linear rate	Algebra	RT	CF	thermo (logged series)	3
H3	Apartment (the body)	The Last Call He was on the phone until he left at 11.	Time reconstruction	Algebra	T	F	phone, access_log (building door)	3
O1	Security office	The Frames She was walking, not running, when she passed the cameras.	Rates from frames	Algebra	RT	CF	cctv, map	3
O2	Security office	The Towers His phone was nowhere near the warehouse.	Circle intersection	Geometry & trig	R	D	map (tower ranges)	3
O3	Security office	The Headcount Everyone had left the building by 9.	Records reconciliation	Algebra	T	C	access_log (badge)	3
O4	Security office	The Growth Curve The counterfeit bills entered circulation last month.	Exponential growth	Advanced math	R	CF	lab_screen or ledger chart	3

Mix against the SAT

Domain	SAT share	Bank share
Algebra	35%	37% (14)
Advanced math	35%	18% (7)
Data & problem solving	15%	18% (7)
Geometry & trig	15%	26% (10)

Outcomes across the bank: contradiction 43%, confirmation 33%, discovery 24% (target 45 / 30 / 25). Variant types total 124; with two or three sets of numbers each, the bank reaches 248–372 questions.

Changes from Sarah's notes

Repeated stories replaced. The Delivery That Never Happened became The Low Clearance (a truck under the fire escape), because The Turn already covers turning. The Unreachable Window became The Fire Door (a door's swing), because The Impossible Escape covers ladders. The rooftop's Hidden Camera became The Scatter (debris statistics), because The Camera Angle, The Blind Spot and The Photographer cover sightlines.
Evidence scenes added: the crime lab, the apartment with the body, and the security office, from Sarah's follow-up. The tower map is a component of the office, not a scene.
Advanced math added, which the notes left thin: The Skid (speed from skid length, a radical equation), The Spoiled Batch (bacterial growth) and a quadratic sag for The Cut Cable.
Components added: the car, phone, CCTV frames and the rest travel between scenes.
The Fall keeps to horizontal offsets on the grid and states its assumptions; it doesn't model a trajectory.

Engine additions

Readings and records. A measurement that is read off an object or a record, with units, instead of measured between two points. The distinct-value rule applies to them too, so a wrong reading never produces a right number.
Components. An object that opens a card: a hotspot on the plate, a card layout, and the data it shows. In evidence scenes, hotspots are drawn in plate pixels; no calibration is needed.
Discovery findings. A finding whose answer is new information: a point, a region, a quantity or an identification. It is revealed on the scene: the intersection appears, the blind spot shades, the visitor's frame lights.
Coordinate grids. Axes drawn on overhead plates and maps, and answers given as coordinate pairs. The overhead plates are calibrated, so the grid is exact.
Exponential operations. Powers in the quantity expressions, for cooling, decay and growth. Students evaluate the model at given times or compare it with records; no case asks them to solve with logarithms.
Choice answers. An identification graded after the number, per Q6.

Final review

Pros. Evidence scenes reach the algebra and advanced-math domains that make up 70% of the SAT, at the cost of one uncalibrated plate each. Components multiply variety without new scenes. Every case still runs on the engine the parking cases use, extended rather than replaced.
Cons. Six engine additions come before most of this bank is playable. Four measurement scenes still need plates, and their upright props wait on Q3.
Where it could fail. Evidence scenes can read as worksheets; distractors, conflicting records and a visible reveal are what keep them investigations, and the first prototype has to prove that. Probability and exponential cases need careful wording to stay at SAT level and avoid implying certainty.
Worth considering. Draw each scenario's numbers from real SAT items of the same type, so the game trains on the question shapes students will meet.

Confidence that this bank and its build order are right (bottom)

What would raise it:

Q1: Your choice of the first evidence scenes +4
A playable evidence-scene prototype (one case, cards and reveal) that reads as an investigation +8
Q3: The 3D prop test on the alley ladder +5
Each model checked against real SAT items of its type, so the numbers and wording match what students will see +6
Q2: The kitchen prototype, once readings exist +3