13 scavenger hunts and mystery party games

Murder in the dark

Players

6 to 15

Minutes

15 to 30

Ages

12 and up

You need

A deck of cards, and rooms that are safe to walk in with the lights low

1. Clear the floor of anything to trip on. Take one card per player, including the ace of spades and the king of hearts, and let everyone draw one in secret.
2. The ace is the culprit and stays secret. The king is the detective and says so.
3. The detective leaves the room and the lights go down. Players walk about; the culprit taps a victim on the shoulder, who counts to five and screams.
4. Lights on. The detective comes back and questions everyone. Only the culprit may lie.
5. The detective gets two accusations to find the culprit.

Wolves and villagers

Players

8 to 20

Minutes

20 to 45

Ages

10 and up

You need

A role card for each player, and a host who does not play

1. Deal secret roles: two or three wolves, one seer, and villagers for everyone else.
2. Night: everyone closes their eyes. The host wakes the wolves to point at one player, then wakes the seer to point at a suspect and shows a thumb up for a wolf or down for a villager.
3. Day: everyone opens their eyes. The host names the player the wolves chose, and the group debates and votes one suspect out.
4. Players who are out show their card and watch in silence.
5. Villagers win when every wolf is out. The wolves win when they equal the villagers.

Without a printer: Use a deck of cards: face cards for wolves, a joker for the seer and number cards for villagers.

For this game: Printable blank playing cards

Case file logic puzzle

Players

2 to 20, in teams of 2 to 4

Minutes

15 to 30

Ages

10 and up

You need

A printed logic grid puzzle for each team, and pencils

1. Present the puzzle as a case: the people are suspects, and the grid shows who was where and with what.
2. Teams read the clues and mark each pairing in the grid as ruled out or confirmed.
3. The first team to hand in the full solution, with a reason for each match, wins.
4. Read the worked solution aloud so every team sees the chain of deductions.

Without a printer: Show the clues on a screen. Teams draw the grid on squared paper.

For this game: Logic grid puzzles with solutions

Who took the cake

Players

5 to 20

Minutes

30 to 45

Ages

6 to 12

You need

An empty cake plate, three or four grown-up suspects, and planted clues

1. Before the children arrive, the cake goes missing. Plant clues that point to one suspect: crumbs by the back door, frosting on an apron, a torn shopping list.
2. Give each suspect a short alibi. Only the guilty one has an alibi with a hole in it.
3. The children search for clues and question the suspects.
4. They name the thief and explain the clues. The thief brings out the real cake.

Yes-or-no mystery stories

Players

3 to 15

Minutes

10 to 20

Ages

10 and up

You need

A list of puzzling situations with their explanations

1. The host reads a short puzzling situation, such as a driver going the wrong way down a one-way street while an officer watches and does nothing.
2. Players ask questions that can be answered yes, no or it does not matter.
3. The host answers only with those words.
4. The round ends when someone explains the whole situation. In the example, the driver was walking.

For this game: Lateral thinking riddles with answers

Hide the thimble

Players

4 to 15

Minutes

10 to 15

Ages

5 and up

You need

A small object, such as a thimble, a coin or an eraser

1. Everyone leaves the room except the hider, who places the object in plain sight: hard to spot, but not covered.
2. Players come back and search without touching anything.
3. A player who spots it sits down quietly without pointing.
4. The last player still standing gets hints. The first to sit down hides it next.

Riddle clue treasure hunt

Players

2 to 12, alone or in teams

Minutes

20 to 40

Ages

6 and up

You need

8 to 12 riddle clues, tape, and a treasure at the end

1. Plan the route backward from the treasure: its hiding place is the answer to the last clue.
2. Hide each clue at the answer to the clue before it, and keep the first one in your hand.
3. Walk the whole route once to check that every clue can be reached and has only one answer.
4. Hand over the first clue and let the players solve their way to the treasure.
5. For two teams, give them the same clues in a different order so they do not follow each other.

Without a printer: Write the clues by hand and fold them into envelopes or plastic eggs.

For this game: Scavenger hunt riddles and hiding clues

Checklist scavenger hunt

Players

4 to 40, in teams of 2 to 5

Minutes

20 to 45

Ages

5 and up

You need

A checklist and a bag for each team, and a finish time

1. List 15 to 25 things to find, such as a feather, something round, a red leaf or a button.
2. Set the boundaries and the finish time, and give each team the list and a bag.
3. Teams collect each item, or tick it off if it has to stay where it is.
4. Back at the start, check the bags. The most items wins, and a tie goes to the first team back.

Without a printer: Read the list aloud and let each team copy it, or send it to one phone per team.

For this game: Printable scavenger hunt checklist

Photo scavenger hunt

Players

6 to 40, in teams of 3 to 5

Minutes

30 to 60

Ages

12 and up

You need

A list of photo tasks with points, and a phone per team

1. Write 20 photo tasks worth 1 to 5 points, such as the whole team inside one shadow, a sign with your team's initial, or a copy of a famous painting's pose.
2. Set a play area and a return time. Late teams lose points.
3. Teams take the photos and send them to the host.
4. Show the best photos on a TV while the host adds up the points.

Treasure map hunt

Players

2 to 10

Minutes

20 to 30

Ages

4 to 9

You need

A hand-drawn map of the house or yard, and a small treasure

1. Draw a simple map of the house or yard showing the main furniture, trees and doors.
2. Mark an X where the treasure is hidden, and draw a dotted path with three stops on the way.
3. Leave a sticker for each child at every stop.
4. Children follow the map, collect the stickers and find the treasure.
5. Crumple the map or tear its edges to make it look old.

Bring it back race

Players

6 to 30, in teams

Minutes

10 to 15

Ages

4 and up

You need

A list of things most homes have

1. Teams sit in separate spots, with the host in the middle.
2. The host calls an item, such as a spoon, a sock or something that starts with P.
3. Each team sends one runner to find it and bring it to the host.
4. The first runner back scores a point for their team. Everyone takes a turn running.

Homemade escape room

Players

3 to 8

Minutes

45 to 60

Ages

10 and up

You need

A box or bag closed with a combination lock, four puzzles in envelopes, and a timer

1. Set the lock to a four-digit code. Each puzzle gives one digit.
2. Make four puzzles: a word scramble, a logic puzzle, a number hidden in a picture, and a riddle whose answer is an object in the room.
3. Put each puzzle in an envelope. Leave the first one out, and hide the rest so that each solution leads to the next envelope.
4. Start a 45-minute timer. Players may ask for three hints.
5. Players open the lock with the full code and find the prize inside.

Without a printer: Write the scrambled words and the riddle by hand, and read a logic puzzle aloud from a phone.

For this game: Word scramble generator with answer key

Secret code messages

Players

2 to 20

Minutes

15 to 30

Ages

8 and up

You need

Four or five coded messages and pencils

1. Write each message in a simple code, such as moving every letter three places along the alphabet: A becomes D, and HELLO becomes KHOOR.
2. Give players the first message and a hint about how the code works.
3. Each decoded message says where to find the next one.
4. The last message names the hiding place of the prize.