There's a mystery to solve - or rather there are no less than 18 different mysteries to solve - in this limited communication deduction game from Jumping Turtle.
The 3-6 players are clairvoyants. Each views a card and describes it to the others as if it is what they are seeing in a message from the spirit world. The card will show an object in a crystal ball that you must not specifically name but which you can describe. The example in the rules shows a card with a candlestick in the crystal ball, so you are forbidden from saying the word candlestick but you might refer to 'something made of gilded metal and wax'.
The idea is that everyone takes a turn as a clairvoyant drawing a card and describing what they see. Once described, the clairvoyant places the card face down. When all the six cards for your mystery have been placed out, players can question each other and they must then collectively place the still face-down cards in what they think is the correct order. The cards are then flipped and the symbols on the sides will indicate which ones are in the correct position in relation to the other cards.
Silly Seance then is a fully cooperative game, and it's at its best with a full complement of six players; with fewer players then one or more will have to be the clairvoyant for two cards. Players aren't allowed to peek at their card after they've placed it face down, so you'll need a reasonable memory. And you mustn't let the forbidden word slip out during the questioning and discussion; in the example given in the rules, if someone asks 'was the woman in your vision holding a candlestick' you still mustn't confirm that detail so you're expected to respond to such direct questions with a unconfirmatory 'That's difficult to see'. You may well find tho' that other players may well have seen your object on their card, albeit in their case not in the crystal ball, so your 'forbidden word' is likely to be uttered by others; in which case you really ought to keep shtum.
The all-important card artwork is from Vera Ellisy and, despite its title, the game designed by Ally Steven Severi really isn't at all silly. It's a captivating deduction party game; it's just that several of the 18 murder mysteries have a comical element.