Solve the Mystery in Five Minutes or Less With This Cooperative Family Game

Players Race Against Time to Collect Clues and Eliminate Suspects

Looking for a fun new game the entire family can enjoy? Want a quick cooperative game that doesn’t make anyone burst into tears? If you like playing games but can’t always find the time, grab a 5 Minute Mystery Game.

5 Minute Mystery Game on Amazon

This quick game delivers on the promise. Each round sets a timer, which ranges from three to nine minutes. The game comes with 19 mysteries to solve, meaning kids and adults have plenty of ways to play. 

First, sort the clue tiles into their four colors: red, purple, green, and blue. Place them face down within reach of all players. Then, shuffle the culprit tiles and select one (or in some instances, two or more) and place it face down in the middle of the playing surface. Shuffle the suspect deck of cards, and distribute evenly between all players. Don’t worry if someone ends up with one card more or less. Don’t forget to give everyone their reference card to help them decipher symbols and clues.

Finally, shuffle the large scene cards and place them in a stack face up. Turn the codex to the blank sides for each of the five shapes. Once you have all the pieces in place, choose your mystery. Mystery cards come in three difficulty levels, ranging from easy to difficult. The game will instruct you which one to use for your first challenge, and it gives you nine minutes.

Once the timer starts, players work together to find all five symbols on the scene card. Each scene card contains one each of the square, circle, triangle, plus sign, and star shapes. Each shape has five variations. Choose the variation from the codex that matches the one on the scene card. Once you have located all five shapes and matched them on the codex, flip the scene card over. If you’ve correctly decoded the shapes, you get a clue.

Choose any one of the four colored clue tiles and flip it over. Compare the shaded markings along the edge to the ones on the culprit tile. If it matches, the suspect must have that item or attribute. If it doesn’t match, the suspect does not have that attribute. Each player then sorts through their stack of suspect cards to eliminate suspects based on that information.

After all suspects have been sorted, pass the codex to the next player, and look at the next scene card. Continue decoding scenes for the correct combination of shapes and flipping over clue tiles until you can narrow down the suspect to one offender. Once you have only one suspect remaining, flip over the culprit tile and see if they match. If you can find the correct culprit in less than the time limit, you win!

Did you run out of time? Don’t fret. Not all hope is lost. Choose one of your remaining suspects and flip over the culprit. If it’s a match, you still win.

The first game will take longer to open the packaging and understand how to play. But once you know the rules, set up happens in minutes and completing the challenge takes five minutes or less. One person can also play on their own, or recruit fellow inspectors to help with the hunt to capture the culprit.

This fast-paced game lets kids practice lots of visual recognition skills in finding shapes, and searching for suspect attributes. It also helps them with time management skills, and not jumping to conclusions. Players build teamwork skills as they work together to eliminate suspects and reach the correct conclusion.

If you want a fun game everyone can play, get ready to solve the crimes in this 5 Minute Mystery box.