Mysterium Kids - A Family Review

Who says haunted houses have to be scary?! We loved this unique, sound-based ghost game, and we bet your kids—seven and under especially—will love it too. It was the perfect cross between eerie themed for our spooky kids and cute for our less spooky kids.

Mysterium Kids is a simple game to learn and play, and after watching just one round, even our four-year-old understood the concept and was able to participate.

4yo: “I got to drum drum!”

This is the first game we’ve played where everything revolves around sound. Not talking or singing or imitating, but making sounds with an instrument. Our kids loved trying to puzzle out how to make common item sounds with just the ghost tambourine. This, however, doesn’t make it a very inclusive game for people with hearing impairments. If you’ve spent years going to loud concerts, the kids might have a leg up on you.

The gameplay was quick, and we played in under 25 minutes—including explaining the rules. Plus, unlike the original Mysterium, everybody gets a turn as the ghost in a single game. Which is important because everybody wanted to play the tambourine.

We also loved that we were on a team and that we could increase difficulty for future games. One downside of the cooperative play? Getting consensus on our group answer. We recommend figuring out fun ways to break voting deadlocks for your family (rock paper scissors anyone?!).

9yo: “We had to think about what we heard and how that was a picture.”

We loved that this game worked for players of different ages. Our older kids are pretty unlikely to choose this to play with their friends, but to get the whole family involved and having fun when there’s seven years between the oldest and youngest, it was perfect! Plan to walk your kids through all the steps the first few rounds—helping them close their eyes at the right time and move voting along—but after learning the game, older siblings could certainly manage this on their own.

So, if you’re looking for a short, fun game that will include your littles on game night, before you break out the big games for you and the older siblings, Mysterium Kids is an excellent pick.

Helpful Hints:

• Be prepared with a fun way to break voting ties.
• Use this as a first game to include the younger kids on game night.