Sneaky Sabotage Details

Product: Sneaky Sabotage
Company: Finders Seekers
Website: https://sneakysabotage.com
Recommended Age Range: Box says 14 and up. What is it with these games? My 9 year old LOVED this.
Price Range: ~$30
Amazon Product Page (Affiliate Link)

Review

My family LOVES Finders Seekers. (You can read my full review here.) I think it is such a great way to get kids exercising their brains and having fun at the the same time. When I started receiving promotional emails about their new game, Sneaky Sabotage, I ordered it right away even though 3 of my kids were not even in the recommended age range. I didn’t know exactly what we were getting, but I figured if it was too old, we would just save it until they were old enough. It turns out, it’s a lot of fun now.

This game is sort of a cross between the puzzles within the Finders Seekers boxes and the game One Night Ultimate Werewolf (which is another one of our family’s favorites — my review is here). In this game, the round starts with each player secretly choosing a character card. Most players will simply be “agents” who are trying to solve the puzzle and determine the secret code word. However, one person will be a “saboteur,” who is surreptitiously working AGAINST the team, trying to thwart their attempts at uncovering the secret word. An “insider” has some extra information that will help the team solve the puzzle, but they don’t want to give away their identity.

Just like in One Night Ultimate Werewolf, this game comes with audio that you need to play on a device. Unlike One Night Ultimate Werewolf, the game doesn’t have an app, simply a webpage that has different videos for you to select depending on the length of the puzzle. You can check those videos out here. At the beginning of each round, everone closes their eyes. The saboteur and the insider each open their eyes, one at a time, and read the clue on the back of the puzzle. Then, everyone opens their eyes and tries to solve the puzzle for the duration of the time. Could you play without the device? Yes, but it would be good to play with the videos first, so that the person leading the game knows what to say.

The puzzles themselves are of a decent difficulty level. They range from fairly easy to very difficult, but most of them are in a happy spot in the middle that require just enough out-of-the-box thinking to feel satisfying. The hints we’ve found to mostly be comically unhelpful, like “there is a hidden word,” but then some of the other ones are also maybe a little too helpful. It does not detract from the amount of fun we get from playing, but it does make it really hard to identify the insider, since the information they have is often either not very helpful or obvious.

We’ve had a lot of fun playing this game. My kids really enjoy the role playing aspect and are always hoping to be a sabateur. I really enjoy the puzzle solving and am always hoping to be an agent. The one time I was the saboteur, I saw the answer fairly quickly and then just had to subtly waste time for a few minutes. My daughter is the most obvious of sabateur’s asking us to look at skin irritations and using other obvious distraction techniques. While you might not expect it, somehow this game involves a lot of laughing, which is really my main goal when playing with my kids.

The only downside to this game is that there are a limited number of puzzles (only 24 that come in the box), so our specific family will only be able to work through each of those puzzles once, then we may pass it on to someone else. Each game has 4 rounds and so uses 4 puzzles by default, meaning we can play this game 6 times before we use up all the puzzles. Personally, I am hoping that the company comes out with inexpensive “expansion packs,” but even if not, I still feel like this game is well worth the value.

As someone who regularly buys Finder Seekers and other one-time boxed games like Hunt a Killer, I am no stranger to paying for an experience. It’s cheaper than taking my family of 6 to the movies! Just know that the replayability is limited. However, unlike the Finders Seekers boxes, the items within this game are not “used up” or damaged in any way, so you should have no problem passing it on to a new family when you are done.

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Finders Seekers Mystery Game Subscription Details

Product: Finders Seekers Mysetery Game Subscription
Company: Finders Seekers
Website: https://findersseekers.com/
Recommended Age Range: 10 and up
Price Range: ~$30 per month

Review

I am so impressed by the Finders Seekers games. They are definitely worth $30 in my opinion. We have done 3 boxes so far (random ones, not ones shipped consecutively), and I don’t think we’ve had a duplicate puzzle type. They don’t have a formula that they are following, such that these games get old. The people that are creating them must be so creative, because each of the three games was distinctly different. The first one we did had like a murder board where you had to eliminate suspects by gathering Guess Who style clues. The second one was solving a giant crossword puzzle using a journal and momentos that turned in to it’s own suprising clue. (I won’t give it away.) The last one we did used a Paris train map to gather clues that allowed you to complete a paint-by-number. Even the individual puzzles within the games don’t seem to repeat. I’m assuming they must at some point, but we haven’t gotten there yet!

All together, this game takes our family about 2 to 3 hours. There are typically about 10 to 12 individual puzzles that need to be solved, though unlike other escape rooms, such as the ones by ThinkFun, they do not need to be solved sequentially. Multiple people can be working on separate puzzles at the same time. While our 9 and 11 year old do not often solve puzzles on their own, they are frequently able to contribute in some way and our 11 year old has cracked a few.

The individual puzzles themselves are frequently based on creative concepts like menus, postcards, photographs, even a fortune cookie. Some of the games require the use of a device in some way, either to read a webpage or use a QR code, but for the most part, the screen aspect is small if present. All the boxes provide hints if you get stuck. Our family really tries hard not to use them, but we do still usually do at least one or two hints per box. Often they are things that I think, “yeah, I literally never would have thought of that,” but the hints have been sufficient for us to get the answer with just a little help. Tip: don’t forget to use EVERYTHING in your box. At first I thought they were sending us some novelty items like an apron, then realized they were actually clues too.

In terms of price, Finders Seekers boxes definitely beat in-person escape rooms and the Mail Order Mystery boxes. In-person escape rooms are arguably more fun, but they are typically shorter and cost a LOT more. We do them at most once a year due to price. Mail Order Mystery boxes are also nearly 3 times as expensive and not as great at promoting critical thinking as there is actually very little puzzle-solving. They may be a better choice for kids who are under the age of 8, but Finders Seekers actually makes a junior version of their boxes as well for kids under 10. Since all but one of our family members has aged out of this group, we haven’t tried the junior version, but if they are similarly designed, they are probably really great as well.

My 15 year old enjoys Finders Seekers as much as the rest of us, but has said that he still slightly prefers Hunt a Killer boxes. They are similarly priced and include similar material. Those take a bit longer, but then again, I don’t think we’ve ever used a Hunt a Killer hint, so maybe that’s why. Honestly though, I think the material is actually slightly better in Finders Seekers and they promise that their kits are always family-friendly (no murder or violence), which definitely can’t be said of Hunt-a-Killer. One disadvantage of Finders Seekers is that the kits can’t be reused. The clues are definitely meant to be destroyed as part of solving the puzzle (which honestly makes it a little more fun, in my opinion). When we’ve done Hunt a Killer and Think Fun escape room boxes, I’ve repackaged them when we’re done to pass on to other people. Not a deal breaker, but something to know.

One other slight disadvantage compared to Hunt a Killer is that Hunt a Killer feels more realistic. You are looking through evidence that really could be clues in order to put everything together. Finders Seekers is more like an in-person escape room in that you are solving a bunch of random puzzles to move closer to achieving your goal. They do a good job building each box around a theme, but you have to suspend disbelief to interpret any of these clues as “evidence.” No criminal is going to leave a trail like this for you to follow. This matters very little to me, as we have so much fun playing the game and solving their puzzles, but it’s just something else to be aware of.

One advantage of Finders Seekers, particularly if you have kids and even more so if you’re homeschooling, is that there is some educational value. It’s not a ton, but each box is tied to a place. So far we have done Prague, San Francisco, and Paris and we have learned a little about landmarks and the culture in each location by doing these boxes. It’s sort of like watching the Amazing Race (which our family also does and calls educational). What you learn of the place and culture is superficial, but in my mind, it is still valuable, because connections are being built in kids brains that they will be able to draw on in the future.

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Escape Room: Can You Escape the Museum? Details

Product: Escape Room: Can You Escape the Museum?
Company: Kane Miller Books
Author: Gareth Moore
Illustrator: Beatriz Castro
Copyright Year: 2021
Website: www.kanemiller.com
Recommended Age Range: There is not an official range, but my kids aged 5-12 all enjoyed it.
Price Range: ~$30
Amazon Product Page (Affiliate Link)

Review

The best feature of this book is that it is unique. It allows your kids to have a hands-on experience that is completely unlike something they would get from a book or a board game. Its novelty is its biggest selling point, in my opinion. There is also a nice variety of puzzles. With 6 rooms, each containing 4 puzzles, you would think that there might be some repetition, but there really isn’t. We even have the companion book, Can You Escape the Video Game?, and that had completely distinct puzzles from this book as well.

The primary reason why I am glad I purchased this book is that it made my kids feel like a team. When you have kids of wide-ranging ages (mine are 5 to 12), it can sometimes be hard to find activities that will appeal to all of them. I want them to have memories when they grow up of fun things they did together. This at-home escape room is one of those memorable experiences. I like that the younger kids had to ask the older kids for help. I appreciate that the older kids were relatively kind and helpful in giving tips to the younger kids.

My biggest complaint with this book/game is that it comes with several sheets that need to be punched out and folded to make all the components necessary for the game. Some of the paper is thin and rips easily, so I couldn’t let the kids help me with those. The pieces have paper tabs, which theoretically should stay together without tape. However, we found that in handling them, several of them fell apart, so we needed to add a little tape temporarily. Some of the pieces are incredibly small (like fingernail size), so they can get misplaced easily.

The other downside of any escape room is that the same people can’t really do it more than once. However, you can pass it on to someone else. A nice feature of this is one is that even though the paper all folds into different three-dimensional shapes, in the end, it all unfolds and can be stored nicely in the envelope attached to the book.

All in all, if you have kids in middle school or older or if you don’t mind being heavily involved in the puzzle-solving, I recommend a boxed kit more like Escape the Room: Stargazer’s Manor instead. However, if you have elementary-aged kids and you would like them to be able to work independently or with each other, then this Kane Miller book might be the perfect fit.

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Nancy Drew Hunt a Killer Details

Product: Mystery at Magnolia Gardens
Company: Hunt a Killer
Website: www.huntakiller.com
Recommended Age Range: Box says 14 and up. However, if you are willing to play with your kids, it is appropriate for anyone who can read. You can even find ways to include your youngest children if you read all the material aloud.
Price Range: ~$30
Amazon Product Page (Affiliate Link)

Review

We actually did not start with this game. When I discovered the Hunt a Killer line of party boxes, I first chose Death at the Dive Bar, because it is considered “Light” instead of “Medium” and is only supposed to take 45-60 minutes instead of 60-90 minutes. It also said 13+ instead of 14+. I figured we would start off as easy as we could since we didn’t know how hard it would be. Some elements of this first game we played were not as kid-appropriate. For example, 2 of the suspects were having an affair. However, since I’m okay with having those conversations with my kids, I am glad we started with the easier version. It took us about 90 minutes to complete and we didn’t have to look at any of the hints.

For this Nancy Drew version, we tried to let the kids do as much as possible, so it took a couple of hours. Also, in order to not have it take longer than 2 hours, we did end up looking at a couple of the hints provided online. I’m not sure we would have gotten those without the hints, but the website was very helpful. First, it gives you a little hint. Then progressively bigger hints. Eventually, if you want to just know the solution, you can see the solution for just one part of the whole puzzle.

The solutions involved decoding ciphers and looking through reference material to determine alibis and motives. We had to find the passcode to open a locked box. We reassembled ripped-up papers. I think the older kids (12 and nearly 10) enjoyed this more than the younger kids (5 and 7), but everyone shouted out ideas and worked to solve these puzzles.

The one downside of these boxes is that they cost about $30 which is comparable to the price of a board game. Essentially, they have zero replay value. As someone with an overflowing game closet, personally, I don’t mind passing these games on to other families when we are done. Since they are a bit costly, we saved both of the boxes we have done for special occasions. The first one we did on New Year’s Day. The second one we did to fill an evening at an AirBNB during a family vacation. Both experiences left us with positive memories.

All-in-all, I think these Hunt a Killer boxes are an enjoyable way to bond as a family. They don’t take an extraordinary amount of time and involve no prep work. They are fun, exciting, and memorable. I only wish there were more of these smaller boxes as I’m not yet ready to commit to one of the much bigger subscription kits!

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Mail Order Mystery: Treasure Hunt! Details

Product: Treasure Hunt!
Company: Mail Order Mystery
Website: https://www.mailordermystery.com/
Recommended Age Range: 6 and up
Price Range: ~$100 for all 6 installments

Review

I was imagining this “experience” to be more about solving puzzles than it actually turned out to be. There were a few codes to decipher, but that was it in terms of puzzle-solving. Also, they all used the same solution method and the information needed to break the code was provided in the second letter. Additionally, it wasn’t actually necessary to solve the codes in order to get the treasure. Unlike escape rooms and Hunt-a-Killer boxes, solving puzzles is clearly not the point of this mystery.

The main point of these boxes is for kids to get cool stuff in the mail. There were a lot of novel items, like letters from various people, a treasure map, a newsletter, a key, and eventually an actual treasure chest which I will describe in more detail below. The newsletter in particular was full of fascinating factual information making this experience somewhat educational. However, all in all, I would say each letter provided about 20 minutes of entertainment most of which was just me reading aloud to the kids from the contents.

I chose to purchase the kit as a whole and then disperse the letters one at a time on our family vacation. This sort of took away from the “getting something in the mail” thrill, though none of my kids would have believed it was real anyway. It might have been fun to try and pretend this was real, but I don’t think my older two kids would have bought it, plus I have a weird hang-up about any sort of lying. I’m not even a parent that does Santa Claus. Needless to say, my kids all knew it was just for fun.

One thing that I wish the letter to parents would have said is that you should hide the treasure chest. I do wish I had known this, but I didn’t. I think part of me thought we would get the treasure chest with the first letter, then the point would be to solve puzzles to figure out how to open it, but that was not the case. The first letter informs you there is a treasure and sends the key. You get letters from a series of interested parties, then in the end they send you the treasure box whether or not you solved any of the ciphers. Also, one of the letters asks you to make a call. It is worth calling and hearing the answering machine, but you do not need to leave a message. No one is getting back to you.

My kids were over the moon when they were able to open the treasure chest. There was basically a collective gasp when they were able to see the treasure. I could see how this would be a particularly joyful moment for single children. However, my kids immediately broke into squabbling over who got what. In the end, this is how they divided it and everyone was satisfied:

12-year-old: All the old-looking coins, which were actually pretty neat looking and are made of metal.

10-year-old: A squid or Kraken necklace, a couple pretty shells, and the lock and key to the treasure chest.

8-year-old: The coveted metal necklace with neat symbols on one side and a skull and crossbones on the other. Everyone initially wanted this. After the agreement was made, he also asked for and received the treasure map from one of the letters, which only caused mild grumbling.

6-year-old: The treasure box with a shark tooth necklace that seemed to be made of plastic and a metal ring. He also got all the remaining shells in the treasure box.

I am too embarrassed to admit how long it took them to come to this agreement, but in the end, everyone was satisfied.

Overall, I do not think I will be buying any more of these mysteries unless they are significantly discounted. Personally, I think the escape rooms from ThinkFun and Usborne and the Hunt-a-Killer experiences offer more family fun for less money. However, if you want a mail order experience like this that is extremely kid-friendly, I don’t know of any better options. The company clearly works hard to put out quality material. It might make a great gift to ask for from indulgent grandparents.

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Details

Product: Mystery at the Lux Museum
Company: Clever Kids Mysteries
Website: https://www.etsy.com/listing/673224080/mystery-at-the-lux-museum
Recommended Age Range: 6-12
Price Range: ~$10

Review

First, please note that this is not a sponsored post. Our family paid for this game with our own money. (Though I bought the Print and Play version, not the shipped version linked to above.) I will not make any money if you choose to try out this game. However, the creator of this game did offer me a free copy. I declined, because I don’t like feeling beholden to anyone when I write a review. However, I looked into the product and I was very curious.

My kids and I have played escape room style games before and had a ton of fun. It is so great for developing their minds and getting them thinking critically. They are having such a good time, they don’t even know they are exercising their brains. (However, note that as with all escape room games, it can only really be played with the same group of kids once.)

A couple days ago, I decided to give it a shot during dinner. (We frequently play games over dinner, though usually more along this style.) I had already printed and assembled everything and read through all the material myself. I thought it would be a fun family dinnertime activity. It did not disappoint.

My kids (ages 9, 7, 5, and 3) had a blast trying to figure out all the clues on their own. With the hint sheet, I was able to solve most of the clues relatively quickly beforehand and then guide them gently in the right direction. Overall, it took about 90 minutes for them to complete the puzzle. I helped them less and less as time went on, because they were clearly having so much fun they didn’t want it to end.

All of the 8 puzzles they had to solve were completely different. They had to use their brains in different ways for each one. Probably my favorite clue involved shining a light through a set of statues. Seriously, how unique and clever is that?

There were also 2 decoders that worked in different ways. My kids were so close to finished, I refused to give them any help on the puzzle with the pattern of masks. It was great, because even my 5 year old was working hard trying to figure out the pattern and making progress. I love any activity that gets my group of 4 working as a team.

I don’t think I’ve ever purchased a self-published game before, but after this one, I will definitely be more open to it. My family had a great experience. There are not many escape room style games on the market for kids as young as mine, so this was a great find.

My one suggestion is that I feel the PnP (print and play) version should be a little cheaper than the shipped version. It was a lot of work to get everything printed, cut out, and assembled. It probably took me close to an hour. In retrospect, I probably would have just paid the shipping cost given the price difference.

If you are looking for a fun family bonding experience, I definitely recommend this game. I solved the puzzles in advance to be sure I could help my kids if they got stuck, but I think it would have worked well to do it all together. This game would also be fun as an independent activity for a small group of kids in the 9 to 12 year old range, maybe for a co-op or a birthday party. (Younger kids can definitely play, but they will need more help.)

Happy Sleuthing!

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Product: Escape the Room: Mystery at the Stargazer’s Manor
Company: ThinkFun
Website: www.thinkfun.com
Recommended Age Range: 8+
Price Range: ~$20
Amazon Product Page (Affiliate Link)

Review: My son first learned about “escape rooms” when he went to a birthday party at the Escape Room in Los Angeles. I’m sure that was way more fun (and probably a lot harder) than this boxed “escape the room” experience. However, it seems like both the in-person experience and this boxed set involve the same sort of brain teasers. I didn’t experience the real thing, but my 7 year old and I had a great time working on the boxed game together.

The game is meant to be played at a party with 3 to 8 players. If there are 3 to 5 players, you are supposed to set a timer for 2 hours. If there are 6 to 8 players, the time limit is supposed to be 90 minutes. I basically let my son work on this by himself, but I read all the clues to him since he’s not a strong reader yet. Also, I figured out what he needed to do, so that if he got stuck, I could give him some extra clues.

Between working on his Detective Club books and reading the entire series of Nate the Great, my son is really into detectives right now. He was very motivated by the way this game was set up, so that he had to solve puzzles in order to find more clues (to solve more puzzles). He felt like a real detective trying to solve a mystery.

My son did not complete the game all at one time, so I’m not entirely sure how long it took. I think it probably took him close to 3 hours total though he worked on it in 30 to 60 minute intervals. He was willing to work for longer stretches, but we kept interrupting him for meals and other life activities.

Obviously, the main difference between this boxed game and the in-person experience is that you are not ACTUALLY locked in a room and the clues are all paper. Another big difference is that the clues in this boxed game need to be solved sequentially. In other words, you cannot do the puzzles out of order. In some ways, this probably makes the solution easier, as the solution path is more straightforward.

In my opinion, 2 to 3 kids working together is probably ideal, as it means those children get to experience all aspects of the game. I was thinking about doing this game with my homeschooling co-op class of eleven 8-10 year olds, but I don’t think that will work well. A couple children who are quicker at solving the puzzles would likely take over and the others may feel left out. I might try buying a second box and splitting the class up.

There are a few aspects of this game worth noting that I did not initially realize. First, there are hints online if you get stuck. Since there are no answers in the box, I thought we were on our own when I did it with my son. Overall, the puzzles are fun, but not extraordinarily hard, so we didn’t need the clues, though there was one in the “bonus round” that took me about 5 minutes to figure out what we were supposed to do.

Also, this game CAN be reused. However, it would probably not be very much fun for the same person to redo it in a short period of time, since they’ll remember the answers to all the puzzles. If you plan to reuse it, you can make a note of what is inside each envelope, or just refer to the manufacturer’s reassembly instructions (which I was grateful to find).

Lastly, the box says ages 10 and up. I completely agree with the “up” part of this age range. I think most adults would enjoy this game. However, I think the “10” is a little high. My 7 year old definitely needed some help, but he could do more than half of the challenges on his own. Even the parts he couldn’t figure out on his own, he was able to share my enthusiasm the whole time and all the clues made sense to him, once I explained my thinking.

Altogether, this was a really enjoyable bonding experience for my son and I that also promoted critical thinking skills and persistence in the face of a challenge. And we saved the city from certain destruction. What more can a person ask? I will definitely be purchasing more of these games in the future.

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