NEW! DIY Detective Party Game

How to set up your own Detective Mystery Party Game!

Our printable teens/ kids detective mystery party kit makes it easy-peasy to create your own detective mystery game. It is a lot like an at home teen/ kids Escape Room game, except instead of trying to escape the room they are trying to get the code to unlock the " mystery box" full of goodies / prizes. The game itself has 8 different challenges that once all solved will lead players to discover the four digit code they need open the lock on the mystery box.

Below we describe how each puzzle is set up and what kind of additional items you need, other than the printable kit. This helps you decide if this is the perfect game for your group before you purchase.

AGE RANGE: 9 - 16

TIME RANGE: 45 - 90

Detective Mystery Party Game Description

To set-up the game you will need to print out the game file and you will also need the following list of additional supplies to set-up the game:

4 digit choose your own combination lock. Buy one locally or here from amazon.
Pair of gloves
Pair of Shoes
Cotton swabs
small bottle / container
lemon juice
grape juice
baking soda

12 black balloons
hole punch
scissors
waste basket
Mystery box - a box that you can lock with the combination padlock.
Goodies / Prizes of your choice to put in the mystery box.

PREMISE: The players are given 8 color coded clue cards and must use them to find and solve the puzzle of each clue. Each puzzle has a numerical answer that they enter onto their CodeBuster Card. Once all 8 puzzles are solved they can do the math to determine the four digit combination they need to open the Mystery Box to retrieve the goodies inside.

Setting up the 8 Puzzles

Printable Detective Mystery Party Game
GREEN CHALLENGE

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

Green Clue Card (included)
Top Secret Decoder (included)
Pair of Gloves

For this puzzle players will have their green clue card, which has coded message, and along the outside it contains a riddle that leads to a pair of gloves in which when they look inside will discover the decoder. We provide two different decoders for you to choose from - both are for the same code, but one is really basic to read, the other is an additional challenge to figure out how to use it. You can choose which best fits your crowd and age range.

Once they have the decoder they use it to decode the message which is a fun math trick that reads:

take your age
double it
add ten
cut that in half
take away your age
this number is your
green code number

No matter what number you start with, the final answer will always be five. This is the green code number, that they write on their CodeBuster Card.

Print & Play Detective Mystery Party Game
RED CHALLENGE

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

Red Clue Card (included)
Fingerprint poster (included)
Crayon or marker

In this challenge you have a fingerprint poster hanging somewhere in the room. The kids red clue card features one fingerprint and a note to find and color in all eleven matching fingerprints to discover your red code number. When they color in all the matching fingerprints the number 2 appears. This is the number they right on their CodeBuster card in the red box.

Printable Detective Mystery Party Game
ORANGE CHALLENGE

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

Orange Clue Card (included)
Six Photo cards (included)

For this challenge the players orange clue card features a picture of six blank polaroid pictures hanging from a string. They are given the clue

If you're interested in winning,
you must start from the beginning

Somewhere in the playing area you have placed these six picture printable clues.

The beginning is the key word here, if you put together what each pictured item starts with and put them in the order listed you will get T-W-E-N-T-Y. 20 is the number players will write in the orange square on their CodeBuster Card.

Print & Play Detective Mystery Party Game
PURPLE CHALLENGE

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

Purple Clue Card (included)
Private Eye Bottle Label (included)
grape juice
baking soda
cotton swabs
small bottle or container

This is the invisible ink challenge. You dip a cotton swab into a mixture that's half water and half baking soda then write the number 11 on the blank space on the purple clue card. Once it dries it will become invisible until the area is rubbed with the revealer juice. To create the revealer juice put some grape juice in a small bottle or container, attach the private eye printable to it and leave some cotton swabs near it. Baking soda and grape juice react with each other in an acid-base reaction, producing a color change in the paper. The players must determine from the clue:

The purple code is right before your eyes
a private eye will help reveal the surprise

Players write the number 11 in the purple square on their CodeBuster card.

Printable Detective Mystery Party Game
GOLD CHALLENGE

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

Gold Clue Card (included)
Detective Poster (included)
Pair of shoes
Piece of paper with 3 written on it

Somewhere in the room you have displayed a picture featuring detective gear, that players will notice has a gold trim to match the gold in their gold clue card. On the clue card are nine detective icon images with a clue that reads:

One image doesn't belong,
it's presence is a blunder.
But if you discover it,
you'll find the code number under.

To solve this puzzle players must realize that all of the icons are visible in the poster except one, the footprints. Players must then look for shoes and on the bottom the shoe you have taped a piece of paper with the clue number three ( you could instead place three items on the bottom of the shoe such as stickers or gum). Players then write the number 3 in the gold space on their CodeBuster card.

Print & Play Detective Mystery Party Game
GRAY CHALLENGE

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

Gray Clue Card (included)
3 clue images (included)
waste basket

In this challenge the clue card only offers four words: WASTE NOT, WANT NOT. Players must then discover the three wadded up pictures in the waste basket and determine what they are trying to say. Two of the images are those of evidence collection, one has the number 3 in it, the other the number 4. The third picture is a guy touching the addition symbol. Players must realize to add 3+4, and get seven. Seven is the number they write in their gray box on their ClueBuster card.

Printable Detective Mystery Party Game
BLUE CHALLENGE

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

Blue Clue Card (included)
7 puzzle pieces (included)
Hole punch

In the blue challenge players must put together the seven piece puzzle correctly to reveal the code number underneath. To prepare the clue you cut out the seven blue puzzle pieces and use a hole punch to remove the white circle on each. Now you hide the seven pieces throughout the playing area for player to discover. Once they do the next challenge is to fit them properly on the board, it is trickier than it looks, but luckily one pieces outline (the basic triangle) is already on their blue clue card. Once completed you will be able to read the hidden code number which is T-W-E-N-T-Y-E-I-G-H-T. Players write 28 in their blue box on their CodeBuster card.

Printable Detective Mystery Party Game
BLACK CHALLENGE

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

Black Clue Card (included)
12 letter cards (included)
12 black balloons

In this challenge, players have to diffuse the bombs (pop the balloons) to discover the black code number. You will need 12 black balloons fold up and place the a colored letter squares into the balloons before you blow them up. Players must figure out the challenge on the clue card to determine which color will spell out there black code number. The clue reads:

Look up, down, left, and right
Find the color that goes in white.
This is the color of the fuse,
the only bombs you must diffuse.
Pop, pop, pop, to take a peek,
Inside is the black code you seek.

Players must figure out that on each column and each row there is one color with two in a row. The first row has two blues next to each other, the second row has two blues next to each other again. The third row has two reds, the forth row is the one with the missing color, and the fifth row has two reds again. Players must figure out that for the forth row to have two of the same color side by side the missing color must be green - this goes the same for all the vertical rows of circles.

Once they do this they will know that its the green letters that will spell out there code number - the green letters spell out the word FOUR. 4 is what players write in the black code square on there CodeBuster card.

What if players need help?

That is why we added three of these hint cards to your game printables. They can be hid around the playing area and when players find one it entitles the to one hint on the challenge of their choosing.

Winning the Game!

Once players have completed all 8 challenges and filled in their CodeBuster card all they have to do is use the four digit code to unlock the padlock on the Mystery Box and claim their prize!

Get Your Printable Detective Mystery Party Game Kit Now!
Instant Download $12.99

Your printable game will arrive within minutes in printable PDF files. This is a digital purchase - No physical product will be mailed. If you do not see it in your email please check your junk folder before you contact us - that is the usual culprit. See our Printable FAQ to learn more about how our printables work. If you have any questions or feedback we would love to hear from you! Contact us at: HappyPartying@gmail.com

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