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

We picked this game up as two adults for a games night. First thing to say is that there is a lot of material here. There's all kinds of things including photos, articles, journal entries, police statements, newspaper clippings, e-mails, brochures, and so much more besides. Each item is carefully crafted to look like what it's supposed to be. The quality here is genuinely amazing. The game itself starts off being very, very difficult. There is minimal instructions, but that is sort of the point. You have to imagine that you've just stumbled across this file full of documents and your job is to piece things together and pick up the subtle clues that other people have missed. I would say that you should be up for A LOT of reading. I think that each player will need to read everything. My advice would probably be to read all the materials included in the file and then access the e-mail material (which you access via a phone/laptop/tablet) last of all. This is because if offers stronger clues that the rest of the materials and I think it might lead you to a solution sooner that you might like if you read it first. It took us around 3 hours to go through all the materials, read back over some of the bits, and then form our conclusions. I think that it's important to mention that when you access the e-mails there is a 'step-by-step' hints section and these hints are actually more like 'guides' and so if you get really stuck you can read these without spoiling the whole game for yourself. Overall, I loved this and will definitely pick up more in the future!

Very intricate! Could not have done it honestly without the clues, took two evenings around 5 hours total. The creators have some brain! Everything was included that was on the list. Recommend

We really enjoyed this immersive game! It was well structured, with an interesting plot. The quality of the evidence made us feel like real crime investigators. Highly recommended. This was the first game in the series that we’ve played, and we’d definitely be willing to try more. The evidence was clear enough for us to solve the case in a couple of hours.

We've completed 3 of these games no as a family of 4 (2 teenagers) with the others being Millionaire and Miami. This one definitely sits in the middle. Takes a decent bit of time to sift through the clues but slightly obvious quite quickly who the murderer is. Still enjoyable hence the 5 stars, not a patch of Miami which is the best so far but maybe a decent one to start off with to get used to the style. Took us 2-3 hours to complete. Once solved you're given a full breakdown of the timeline and what happened which we hadn't full appreciated when we first started playing these games. Now we make sure we solve all the clues and understand fully what happened before submitting our answer. You get a good sense of satisfaction knowing not only that you identified the murderer but that you completely solved the case.

Fun good quality lasts a long time

The Cryptic Killer files are so interesting. The evidence is all there and really well written. A lot of people think they could be a detective and now you can have a go! I thoroughly enjoy Cryptic Killers and finding who the killer is is very satisfying!! I really recommend Cryptic Killers.

We really enjoyed this and it took us a couple of hours as a family of 6 - grandparents to kids. This is the second whodunnit game we've done; the other was a Cases & Clues one. They are different in the amount of online interaction, with this having less online content but with more actual paperwork to read through. This isn't to say one is better than the other - both are great and this benefits from having a case type folder to keep everything in. We really enjoyed the broad range of sources to work through and interpret and will absolutely be buying another to do for our next family games night. As with the other game we played, the start is a bit slow as we all read the different documents and then start to create timelines etc but this is all part of the fun of these challenges. A key difference of this game vs the other we played is that this goes straight to having to input the killers name whereas the other has an intermediate online step that then led to more information to refine your suspect list - hence my comment about Murder at Merival Manor requiring less (but still some) internet interaction.

This is such good value and quality. After doing a few of there types of things this is the best quality wise I’ve come across. The attention to detail and level of effort that’s gone into making the “evidence” is amazing. I love that you are essential left to get on with investigating without having to add info in or check in. You are just investigating the evidence, piecing it together gradually and working on it as a case file, then when you think you’ve solved it submit your answer. It’s really clever and interesting. Things are put together well but not so easily it all connects straight away, you do dig and have to prove the theories you think before submitting the answer . We really enjoyed this one and will be doing more!

Classical principle „cross out all other suspects and who is left is the killer”, no additional envelopes, case is linear, and too overwhelmed with texts you need to read, much of which has nothing to do with case

Our family with grown kids and significant others did this cold case after Christmas this year. We are a diverse group with very different interests and participation levels. In a nutshell, this was a blast. Everyone participated reading through the materials provided and summarizing info to get the important facts. There were photos - very period appropriate taped on the walls and all the materials spread all over the table. The quality was exceptional. Newspaper articles looked authentic. Witness statements, etal were very realistic. It is necessary to logon to get “updated” evidence to be able to solve the mystery. We were able to solve it but it took a full 3 hours and was a fun challenge. The kids asked when we could do another one - always the sign it was good. I would highly recommend to anyone who would find this activity fun. Well worth it.

Loved this game - my 13 and 15 year old dove right in with me, and we had a blast solving it. High quality "evidence", challenging but not impossible. Highly recommend and will be doing more!

Such a fun and unique date night game! My husband and I absolutely loved going through all the evidence and trying to solve the mystery together. The case file feels super immersive with photos, newspaper clippings, notes, and different pieces of evidence that make you feel like real detectives. The storyline kept us engaged the entire time, and it was challenging enough to be exciting without being frustrating. We ended up talking about theories for hours 😂 Perfect for couples, friends, or anyone who loves true crime and mystery games. Definitely worth the price and would love to try more cases from this company!

very tricky but great end would recommend