Casefile Daily asks for very little: twelve seconds of narration, one grid, one correct answer, about five minutes total. But the first case is where most new players either lock in a habit that lasts or stall out by guessing their way through a grid that was never built for guessing. Here's exactly how to get from first launch to closed case — and how to make the daily ritual stick after that.

What You'll Have When You're Done

What You'll Have When You're Done

In about ten minutes of setup, plus the five-minute daily ritual from then on, you'll have solved your first case from narration to grid, understood how the deduction logic actually proves an answer, and set up a way to keep your streak going without spoiling it for anyone watching over your shoulder.

Before You Start

  • Casefile Daily installed on your iPhone
  • Headphones or five quiet minutes — the narration carries the clues you'll need
  • A finger for the grid, nothing else required
  • Notifications allowed, if you want a nudge when the new case drops
  • A window of five uninterrupted minutes, ideally the same time each day

The Checklist

Step 1: Install and open today's case

Download Casefile Daily and open it. You land straight on the day's case — there's no onboarding tour standing between you and the detective's voice. Every case ships pre-recorded with subtitles, so if you're somewhere you can't play audio, you can read instead of listen.

Step 2: Listen to the full narration before you touch anything

Press play and let the whole twelve seconds run before you look at the grid. The narration isn't just atmosphere — it's where the case states its facts. Skipping ahead to the grid is the fastest way to miss a clue you'll need by minute four.

Step 3: Read the grid like a map, not a quiz

The deduction grid lays out suspects, weapons, or locations across two axes. Scan it fully before marking anything, so you know what every row and column represents. You're not guessing an answer yet — you're confirming the shape of the puzzle.

Step 4: Mark your first certain deduction

Find the one clue from the narration that rules something out completely, not partially, and mark that cell first. Every case is verified to have exactly one valid solution, so a confirmed elimination is never wasted — it will matter by the end.

Step 5: Work outward by elimination, not by hunch

Follow each confirmed mark to what it forces elsewhere on the grid. Clear a suspect from one location and you often free up a slot that locks in a different answer. This is where most of the five minutes goes, and it's also the satisfying part — the grid does the proving, you do the following.

Step 6: Submit and close the case

Once every row and column resolves to one answer, submit. You'll know immediately whether you're right — there's no ambiguity built in, because the puzzle was designed from the start with exactly one correct solution. For a deeper look at why that matters, see this guide to how daily logic mysteries actually work on iPhone.

Step 7: Share your streak, not the spoiler

Right after you submit, use the share action to post that you closed today's case without showing anyone the solution. Here's exactly how to do it without ruining it for a friend who hasn't played yet.

Step 8: Set your daily ritual time

A new case drops at midnight UTC for everyone, so pick whatever time fits your own day — coffee, commute, lunch break — and let notifications remind you. Consistency, not speed, is what turns one case into a streak.

The Mistake Everyone Makes First

Common Questions

Common questions

What happens if I mark the grid wrong?

Nothing is lost — you can correct a mark before submitting. The grid is a working space for elimination, not a one-shot guess, so adjust freely as new deductions open up.

Do I have to solve every single day to keep a streak going?

A new case drops daily at midnight UTC, and your streak is built on closing cases consecutively, so missing a day will break it. If you want strategies for keeping it alive, this first-week checklist covers the habit side in more detail.

Can I play a case I missed?

Yes — the optional case archive unlock lets you replay any past case, not just today's, so a missed day doesn't mean a missed story.

Is the narration generated or pre-recorded?

Pre-recorded. Every case ships with a hardboiled detective voice and subtitles baked in — nothing is generated on your phone at runtime.

Where can I read more about how the logic and grid actually work?

This Q&A on the app and the full Casefile Daily article archive cover the mechanics case by case.

This article was drafted with AI assistance and reviewed by a human editor before publishing.