Unsolved murder mystery game - Cold Case Files Investigation - CRYPTIC KILLERS - Detective Evidence & Crime File - individuals, date nights & party games- "Murder at Merivale Manor"

We play a lot of these games and this one was pretty high quality. The clues are mostly paper based, with some audio and digital content. The paper clues are nicely done and look relatively authentic for the decade (fake carbon copies, sepia photos, and magazine and newspaper articles). I enjoyed the 1920’s theme, complete with an Egyptology professor, lady race car driver, and Gatsby-esque Long Island mansion. The historical accuracy isn’t perfect, but I have a pretty high bar having worked with authentic documents from various historical periods at different archives and historical societies. Digression aside, I appreciate the effort! The game play is enjoyable and the clues build as you read through everything. There’s at least one code to crack and more than one mystery to solve, which is more than just a straight read through and point a finger at a suspect like most of these games. We did find it surprising that it was 4/5 difficulty, being that we solved it without using any hints, however we have done many of these and are expert level at this point. Overall super fun time and we will definitely buy more of this brand.

Highly detailed, a lot of work was put into these. Well worth what you pay. The size is amazing it has a ton of pages. It's challenging and not super easy to figure out. It's fun and I will be getting more

SO MUCH FUN! This was the best purchase ever. It is such high quality, very well thought out, so thorough & so affordable. I kept thinking it was so cheap for how much we got. will be buying more in the future.

This is the third game I have played. But this time I only played with one other person. This game was rated a 4 out of 5. I think that's the right level of difficulty for people who have these games before. We solved it in about 8 hrs. In my opinion, it was just the right amount of time to process the evidence and yet still be a challenge. We missed some key points and pointed the finger at the wrong suspect until we read the online emails, etc. Next time, we will use all the available resources. Overall, it was great fun. Can't wait to do a 5 out 5!

Excellent! I have done a couple of murder mystery games with my family, but it’s so hard to get everyone together at the same time when everyone is in the mood- it can be a struggle. I decided to try one by myself. I looked at a few different brands, and this particular story stuck out. I loved it being a cold case from the 1920’s, and I couldn’t wait to get started. It says the estimated playing time is about three hours, but as I was playing by myself (while taking a ridiculous amount of notes) during my lunch break at work, in the short amount of time after work and dinner and family time- but before bed, and that short span in the mornings on weekends before everyone else wakes up- I stretched it out over 4 days. This story is so in depth- you really need to familiarize yourself with all the evidence and pay attention! The price for entertainment I received was beyond worth it. If the idea of spending money on a game you only play once bothers anyone, or you feel reluctant, I can honestly say (for me) that I was captivated by the story. When I wasn’t working on it, I was thinking about it- constantly turning clues over in my mind and asking questions. It is SO detailed, you learn so much about every character! Even the size of the game is perfect. It comes in a folder inside a clear evidence bag that fit right into my backpack so I could take it with me to work. There is some online content that is crucial to the story- which I loved, and I absolutely did not expect it to be as in depth as it was. It was very cool with the different mediums that were involved. And solving the murder… You always hear about the rush detectives get when they finally have that, “AH HA!” moment and solve the case, I can truly say that that high is real. When I figured it out, I got stuck for a minute thinking, “no way… omg that’s it!” Once you figure it out they lay out every clue and every alibi so you can see if you missed anything. The difficulty is rated 4/5, and with the amount of information you go through, can confirm. Murder at Merivale Manor was SO FUN, and I can’t wait to try another one by Cryptic Killers, I might get another one right now. 10/10 would recommend.

This was so much fun! My best friend and I did this on our girl trip. It was a great way to spend our evenings instead of scrolling on our phones! Highly recommend.

My husband, and our two nieces (14 & 16) had so much fun with this on their snow day! It was just the right amount of challenge (and my husband is extremely good at solving puzzles), the tips very well laid out, and most of all I appreciate the evidence experience. The quality and variation of pieces of evidence, along with the immersive feeling of the online components is exactly the kind of experience I am looking for in games like this. We will definitely be purchasing more of these!!

I usually run through games like these in an hour or 2, I was able to spread this out over a few days. I found it to be compelling and challenging. I was happy to see that there was not 1 clear suspect from the beginning, I could have done with more codes to break but overall this was a great game. I look forward to trying more!