Of Spooky Mansions and Hidden Treasure

 This week I have another (sort of) Halloween themed board game with an interesting twist- there's no board! The game is Mystery Mansion from 1984, and while it's a little later than my Baby Boomer focus, I played it with my daughter, so it counts, dadgummit!

Mystery Mansion is a search game that challenges you to actually build the mansion as you go! During game play, players add room after room to find a treasure chest. They then can search each room by looking in and under items. Cards show you what to search. BUT, there are fake chests as well as the one with the treasure. And you have to drag the chest out of the house to open it! Trap doors and Secret Passages make things even more interesting!

Here's the game...

And inside the box...

The different colored rooms are different levels. 

The cards control much of the play.

There are stairs, secret passages, treasure chests, and player tokens to round out the parts.

The instructions are pretty involved, but easy once you get going. Here are the most important ones...

The game play is actually pretty exciting! There is a good blend of  strategy and luck, which is difficult to design into a game. The random elements of "building" the mansion mean you never get the same house twice.

There really isn't much spookiness involved, although the box makes it look like there would be. Still, it's a fun and unique game!

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!