Mystery games are a fantastic way to develop deductive reasoning and problem solving skills while encouraging cooperation, organizational skills and communication skills.
This collection of thrilling murder mysteries, escape room challenges and popular board games are sure to become a welcome addition to any family game night!
1. Mystery Detective Party Game
This mystery style game is not based on murder but on the premise of a thief who has stolen party items. Kids are sure to have fun discovering the real culprit among the five suspects.
Age group: Primary, College
Learn more: queen of theme party games
2. Find the secret message printable puzzle game
This printable puzzle game challenges kids to unscramble a sentence and write it in the correct order to claim their hidden prize.
Age Group: Elementary
Learn more: Blimey box
3. Interactive Mystery Series
This series of printable, interactive mysteries guides children on a hunt for clues around the house. Each kit includes coloring pages, activities and games to entertain players while developing critical thinking skills.
Age group: Primary, College
Learn more: Tiny Mysteries, Inc.
4. Detective theme
This illustrated detective game contains ten clues that players must solve to catch the real culprit. It includes colorful item cards containing suspicious files, certificates, and even a detective’s notebook.
Age group: Primary, College
Learn more: Printable Adventure Games
5. Cooperative detective game
This thrilling mystery game combines decisive reasoning and visual perception skills to solve the detective’s fingerprint puzzle.
Age group: Primary, College
Learn more: Growing game
Kids love pretending to be a real Sherlock Holmes while spying on people and completing top secret missions. This tough challenge will test their budding critical thinking skills!
Age group: Primary, College
Learn more: Growing game
7. Classic Murder Mystery Board Game
No list of mystery games would be complete without Index, the original murder mystery board game that has been a family favorite for decades. With six game markers, various weapons, and challenge cards, this is the perfect game for older students to develop deductive reasoning skills.
Age group: Primary, College, High School
Learn more: Ultra board games
8. Mystery games for rainy days
This mysterious rainy day activity includes secret messages, fingerprint analysis, logic puzzles and a fun invisible message to decipher.
Age Group: Elementary
Learn more: Teachers pay teachers
9. Mystery at the Lux Museum
Kids will love solving the clues in this escape room-inspired mystery game. Mystery at the Lux Museum. Featuring a full-color game board, tricky challenges and a series of secret messages, it’s also a great game idea for a birthday party.
Age group: Primary, College
Learn more: board game geek
10. Who murdered the Ginger Bread Man?
This fun game features a series of clues, detailed character descriptions and a detective checklist. It is sure to become a favorite addition to family game nights.
Age Group: Elementary
Learn more: drama notebook
11. Educational Escape Game
This escape game challenges kids to solve math problems to eliminate suspects and identify the real culprit. It’s a fun game that’s sure to keep kids busy for hours.
Age Group: Elementary
Learn more: Teachers pay teachers
12. Cat Crimes Logic Game for Kids
This award-winning cooperative mystery game challenges kids to solve increasingly difficult puzzles, making it a wonderful way to develop logical deduction and critical thinking skills.
Age group: Primary, College
Learn more: Amazon
13. Make Your Own Holiday Escape Game
This DIY Escape Room guide shows you how to create your own set of challenging logic puzzles.
Age group: Primary, College
Learn more: Learning hypothesis
This classic mystery game for 3-6 people challenges players to find Mr. X as he travels through the city of London.
Age group: Primary, College
Learn more: Amazon
15. Top secret spy mission
In this fun spy game, kids are tasked with solving ten clues to recover their stolen candy from a group of thieves.
Age group: Primary, College
Learn more: fun idea
16. Ancient Egypt Themed Mystery Game
This hands-on CSI-style game challenges children to examine archaeological and modern DNA evidence to solve the lingering mystery of King Tut’s death.
Age group: Primary, College, High School
Learn more: 123 Homeschool 4 months
17. Easter Egg Math Mystery Pictures
This creative approach to mystery pictures is a great way to introduce young learners to a hundreds chart while practicing number recognition.
Age group: preschool, primary
Learn more: Inspiration Labs
18. Spy School Activities
Kids are sure to love completing their training missions and earning their spy badges in this DIY secret spy school that can be run from the comfort of your home.
Age Group: Elementary
Learn more: Coffee cups and pencils
19. Plan a Classroom Crime Scene
This crime scene classroom setup idea is an exciting way to teach students inference skills, which will also build their reading comprehension skills.
Age Group: Elementary
Learn more: Poet prints
This series of seven inventive missions featuring key boxes, invisible ink and a homemade laser maze is sure to keep kids captivated for hours.
Age Group: Elementary
Learn more: Exploring domesticity
