Nancy Drew

My daughter (15) and I wanted a semi-easy mystery game to try out since we’ve never done one before. We’ve done one real-life escape room that did not go so well logistically (due to technical errors on the company’s part), so I wanted to make sure that this wouldn’t start poorly either. I did a thorough search and looked for these criteria: 1) easy for first-timers and/or younger adults, and 2) under $20, 3) didn’t involve murder, and 4) didn’t have a lot of reading materials that it would tire us out. Since this was on a Black Friday sale and fit my criteria, I went with this one, and I’m glad I did!! We had fun putting our timeline together, figuring out the puzzles/codes, and collaborating on who we thought could be ruled out. The storyline was well thought out and I just loved all the details. The materials were of high quality and were all needed to solve the mystery. As first-timers, we felt it wasn’t too easy yet not too hard either. We did have to use the hints though. As one reviewer stated, however, the website they listed in the game brochure to get hints if you’re stuck brought us to a non-working godaddy website. I decided to check out the huntakiller.com website, searched “Mystery At Magnolia Gardens,” clicked on “Player resources: Hints & recaps”, provided the code that was listed in the game brochure, and provided my email (to subscribe). From there I was able to see all the hints. We were able to solve the mystery in 4 hours. It was a fun bonding activity for me and my daughter. Aside from the wrong website, everything was perfect! Totally recommend for beginners and younger players who are looking for some quality bonding time.

Mystery at Magnolia Gardens follows the same format as the other stand alone Hunt A Killer games in that you basically start with a letter (in this case from Nancy Drew) then you can continue your investigation with any of the clues/materials. The world-building is at the same high level as other HAK games and the materials are very good. There is only one true (and dead simple) cipher in this game, so if you are not a fan of cipher puzzles, this is a good game for you. There are a couple of easy to moderately difficult puzzles that are well designed. You will need to solve a puzzle to get the combination to the locked tin to unearth more clues in order to solve the mystery. Building a timeline is a must as it will eliminate some suspects. Having played a number of Hunt A Killer games (Death at the Dive Bar, Body on the Boardwalk, and two of the full seasons) there isn't much here that is new, but I think that the story and puzzles are well done. I think this game did the best job of maintaining a complete narrative. With other HAK games (especially the standalone games), I feel like you spend a lot of time discussing motive and the storylines/actions of the characters only to receive a very brief solution that states murder's name and little else in the way of the story. Mystery at Magnolia Gardens has two solution documents that fill in a lot of the background, plus there is an optional email that provides more details. We did not need to access any hints while playing this game, but it's probably worth mentioning that the hints are hosted online, so if might want to have an Internet connection while playing in case you get stuck. I don't know anything about Nancy Drew other than she is a teenage detective. Outside of the initial letter being from Nancy, I don't know that anything else ties in to the Nancy Drew universe. The game should be accessible to young adults and there is no violence or graphic imagery. The game took my wife and I about 3 hours to complete, with a puzzle requiring the reassembly of two letters taking the longest to complete. If you're looking for an easy to moderately challenging mystery, then Mystery at Magnolia Gardens is a very good option.

My husband and I enjoyed puzzling this out together! I originally bought this to play over several days while visiting family, but we didn't get to it until we came home. Although it is not especially serious or mature, we got sucked in and did not stop until we finished. We liked that it had reasonable "mini-ciphers" that related to the crime you were solving as opposed to being an abstract part of game play. We also appreciated that the main task of the game was examining evidence, which led to a definitive solution. AGE: It would not be inappropriate to play with younger children around since none of the materials or content is especially graphic. However, those playing need to be able to focus on details and consider multiple elements simultaneously, so it would be best to play with adolescents and adults. EXPERIENCE/SKILL: Mystery at Magnolia Gardens was the first game of this kind that we have played. It was challenging enough to be fun, but not frustrating. NUMBER OF PEOPLE: Two people seemed like the perfect number, but it could be played solo or with more people. Although you could play it with a larger group, I personally would limit it to 4-6 people depending on who you're playing with. TIME: We solved this in about 90-120 minutes with a relaxed - yet intentional - approach. We spent more time considering the culprit, reexamining materials, making a timeline, and taking notes than was really necessary. Once you get far enough, you will have a pretty good idea of who did it, especially since there are a few ways of figuring out who it was. However, it was fun to eliminate other suspects and talk about all possibilities. If you want to go through all of the materials at an average pace while discussing possibilities with someone, 60-90 minutes is pretty reasonable. MATERIALS: The materials were clever and seemed to be well-made with one exception. The lock was a bit finicky, so we thought we had the wrong combination at first, but it eventually worked. Also, we took notes using our own paper, so we can pass the game on in "like new" condition. PRICE/REPLAY: It was more expensive than I would have liked, especially for a game you would not want to play again, but it gave us a nice "night in" that was a comparable price to an outing and gas. Since we can give the game to someone else to play, I see the price as being $30 per purchase, but not $30 per play. I'm glad I bought it.

Daughter loved the game.

Pros: standalone box with no commitment for subscription. Quality material just like Death at the Dive Bar (I got that and also Body on the Boardwalk). Also standalone boxes like this one offers varied case scenarios to work on instead of working through a single storyline over different sessions. Plus these come with puzzles and deductive reasoning so makes for both mystery investigation and escape room fun! Meh: Photos are cartoons instead of realistic photos. Con: Price point! Depending on when and which you buy, a full seasoned box set may be cheaper. Right now, Unsolved Case Files and Hunt A Killer are the 2 main brands I go to for such armchair mystery investigation games ;-)

El juego es hermoso y de muy buena calidad Todo corresponde a la descripción del producto

I love anything like this so 90% was perfect. However there was one puzzle that in my opinion was not solve-able. It contained different colours where two were so similar with one completely different to how it should be. To me it felt like a really bad graphic print error and meant I couldn’t solve that final clue without the reveal. Also the culprit was way too obvious and I spent longer trying to work out the extra clues that had nothing to do with the culprit. There’s one piece of evidence that gives it away really quickly once you get to it. Would have been better if it was staged that you couldn’t find that till finding everything else or the evidence was scattered through out rather than an obvious piece of evidence. I’d try another one but parts of this let it down.

I thought of getting escape room tickets for the whole family for the holidays but I decided to try this game instead. It proved to be enormously entertaining and really had the 4 of us thinking hard to come up with the solution. All the clues are in the box and you really have to read between the lines