Mystery Board Games for Kids

Clue

• Clue is a classic board game centered around a murder mystery. Players assume the identity of guests at the Tudor Mansion, where Mr. Boddy was found murdered. Each player holds cards that represent a murder weapon, a suspect, and a potential location of the murder. While the cards are known to the player holding them, they are unknown to other players. Three cards that represent the actual murderer, weapon and room are held in a confidential envelope, unknown to all players. A die is rolled to allow players to move their playing pieces through the game board, which represents the mansion. When a player's piece lands in a room, they are able to make a guess as to who committed the murder, with what, and where. Other players can refute the guess by showing that cards corresponding to the guess are in their hands, not the confidential envelope. Memory and deduction, via the process of elimination, are used to determine the actual contents of the envelope, and the player who guesses correctly wins.

Guess Who?

• Guess Who? is a two-player game where each player must ask questions to determine the identity of a mystery person. Each player has a board that contains 24 faces that can flip up or down, and the boards are set up so that players cannot see the faces on the opponent's board. At the beginning of game play, each player chooses a card to determine their mystery identity. Each player then takes turns asking yes or no questions to learn details about his opponent's mystery identity, and eliminates faces from his board. The game is won when a player successfully identifies the opponent's mystery person.

221B Baker Street

• 221B Baker Street is a game based on the exploits of famed fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. The game includes 20 Sherlock Holmes mystery stories written especially for the game. Players assume the role of detective and move playing pieces around a game board that represents the streets of London. When players land on certain squares, they can ask questions or receive clues. The first player to solve the mystery must move his playing piece to Sherlock Holmes' apartment at 221B Baker Street to announce the solution.