Electronic Talking Mystery Mansion (1995)

About this game

While this may have intended to be just an electronic update of the earlier Milton Bradley game, Electronic Talking Mystery Mansion ends up being a very different game. Instead of a modular board, the board is fixed but the content of the rooms is variable. Gone is the need to collect the right Search cards. Instead players can search any item they like. The electronic organizer tells the players what clues they find. Some information is given to everyone, other information is just given to the active player. Players deduce the location of the money based on the clues they find, and have to collect the correct clue cards (one item, one person) out of the 12 possible in order to obtain the money and win the game. The changes from the earlier board game: no search cards, no chests to drag out of the house, fewer hiding spots, and fewer clue cards, makes this version play much quicker and feel quite a bit lighter.

Does it fit your group?

• Group size. Works with 2 to 4.
• Rules load. At 1.4/5 this is a light game — explain it in a few minutes, good for a table that has not played much.
• Age. The publisher suggests 8 and up. That rates the rules rather than the artwork, so judge the box yourself for younger players.