14 May Embrace the Mystery in May
In celebration of National Mystery Month we’ve tracked down a selection of mystery games to keep the kids entertained and to bring out your inner detective. Whether you play as a family or the kids play with friends — these games are guaranteed to make you think twice. Read on to discover some favorites from KidsActivities.net!
Cat Crimes
Cat Crimes is a board game made by ThinkFun, a world leader in brain and logic games, that combines increasingly difficult challenges with a quirky, fun theme. This game is a single-player, mysterious deductive thinking board game and is suitable for those aged 8 and over. Included in the box are the game board, 6 cat pieces, 6 crime tokens, a well-written, clear instruction manual and 40 challenges, along with their solutions. The scenarios on the challenge cards range from beginner to expert level, so as you progress, so does the difficulty.
The aim of the game is to identify the culprit of the crime. The six suspect cards feature different cats with varying characteristics and the board game supplies supporting evidence to help you figure out who the cat criminal is.
The Secret Door
The Secret Door, made by Family Pastimes, is an award-winning co-operative mystery game that has been constructed to be suited for ages 5 and over — perfect for the entire family! It can be played with between 1 and 8 players but it has been stated that 2 to 5 players are best for maximum enjoyment. Included in the box is the full-color game board, rule book, clock cards, set of valuables and the elusive secret door.
Valuables have been stolen from the mansion and your task is to find them. You and your family will absolutely love playing this game, as each time it brings fresh and exciting mysteries to work together to solve. Not only will it promote teamwork, but it will also encourage creative thinking, decisive reasoning, and memory usage — a brilliant, fun tool to promote cognitive growth in your children.
Betrayal at House on the Hill
Betrayal at House on the Hill is a board game for those aged 12 and over. It is a perfect game for parties and family gatherings as it is designed to be played with 3-6 people. This has been carefully crafted for those who love the build-up of suspense and excitement, as players create their spooky version of the game every time.
It is a tile game that enables you to make your own very own haunted house, each room at a time. Along the way, you will come face to face with spirits and terrifying tellings of your fate — Wizards of the Coast, the company who produced this game, has achieved the thrill of real-life haunted houses exceptionally well. Each player will be acting as one of the 6 possible characters and, without knowing it, one of your circle will have betrayed everyone and the aim for the innocent ones is to figure out who the traitor is before time runs out.
Escape the Room Stargazer’s Manor
Another game by the brand ThinkFun! This time it is for 3-8 players who are age 10 and over, rather than a single-player gig. Not only does this provide hours of fun, but it also develops children’s critical thinking and decision-making skills which will set them up well for the future. In the box, there is everything you will need to play including the clear instruction booklet, scene card, 5 sealed envelopes with secret items hidden inside and the solution wheel.
The storyline takes you on a journey where you were, at one point, employed by the famous astronomer but were unfortunately fired after many years serving him. In the present day, your old employer is a recluse who has been holed up in his mansion with nothing but odd noises and alien-like lighting escaping from the windows. You and your team of investigators will enter the manor in the hopes of uncovering the secrets that have been held behind these doors for so long.
Jumanji Escape Room
Jumanji Escape Room was developed by Cardinal Games and has been designed to be suited for anyone aged 10 and above. It has been made to be enjoyed by between 3-5 people at any one time and cooperative focused game.
Inside the box, you will find an electronic Chrono Decoder that provides sound effects and the timer function, a 15-minute intro game (named The Drumming Closet), two 60-minute adventures (named, The Search for Jesse and Break the Curse), hint card decoder, 8 keys, 2 sets of 8 hint cards and the rulebook. The aim of the game, as you might imagine, is to escape the room within the allotted time frame.
Outfoxed!
Now, for those of you who have younger children who want to be a part of a mystery game, Outfoxed! is for you. It has been designed to be played by those aged 5 and above and can be played with no less than 2-4 people at one time. The game lasts for around 20-30 minutes so is fantastic for those children with shorter attention spans.
In this game, you will need to catch the fox before he escapes with Mrs. Plumpert’s award-winning pot pie. You will all be working together to solve the mystery by eliminating suspects one by one until you catch the naughty guy!
Spy Alley
Spy Alley has won 12 national awards including Australian Game of the Year and MENSA Select. The game was made to be played by 2-6 people aged 8 and over — it truly is fun for everyone. You and your family will be deceiving and second-guessing all your friends and family with this one! Both the children and adults in your party will be using their deductive reasoning, body language reading and logic skills to become the best spy in the world.
Everything you need to play is included with each of the games. All you have to do is supply the fun! Let us know what your favorite mystery game is in the comments below!