The Kringle Caper review

The Kringle Caper Review

The Kringle Caper review

There’s been a crime at the North Pole. Can you and your family solve the crime and restore a sense of peace to the happiest village on Earth?

The Kringle Caper is an 18 card mystery that takes around an hour to solve. I’ve got to admit that my initial reaction to this concept was “How can 18 cards entertain me and bend my mind for 60 minutes?” I now sit here after 1 hour and 8 minutes totally convinced by this game.

Gather Your Elves

Since this is a mystery game similar to an escape room or crime solving game, I’ve got to be vague and times so I don’t spoil anything. The game can be played as a solo game or with a family. It seems like a sweet spot would be to play with a mix of kids and adults. Some of the puzzles and tasks may go over the heads of kids if they were playing by themselves.

The Kringle Caper package

In this deck of 18 cards, you’ll find 11 different puzzles that guide you in solving the crime. I was really impressed with the variety of the puzzles throughout the deck. Some of these are perfect for kids to run with and solve while two of three of them really need an adults help.

The Kringle Caper will have you interacting with a simple mobile website. Here you’ll answer the questions on the card and even get clues when you’re stuck. It’s a simple text input box and it did a great job of giving feedback when something wasn’t correct. The site also keeps track of your time and gives you an overall score/rating at the end of the game.

The Kringle Caper cookies

While I did have to use some clues during our time with the game, none of the puzzles felt overly difficult. Reading carefully and looking at each card that was available would lead you in the right direction.

A Christmas Treat

I don’t have many Christmas themed games in our game collection. I think The Kringle Caper is a great fit for this time of year. Like most mystery style games, I can only solve the crime once. Where I see this game doing so well is during those family gatherings during the holidays.

The Kringle Caper nice list

I could see handing this game to my parents and them having a blast with their grandkids while they visit during Christmas. It would be awesome to toss this on the table after Thanksgiving dinner and have the cousins solve the crime together. The Kringle Caper is going to be something that families can gather around and connect with during the holiday season.

The Kringle Caper map

The price point, difficulty level and amount of engagement is going to hit a sweet spot for a lot of families. If you’re looking for a fun activity for the family this holiday season, The Kringle Caper may be just what you’re looking for.

You can preorder The Kringle Caper on the Grand Gamers Guild website. Purchase the Print-and-Play to get this game today.

This game was provided to us by the publisher for review. Read more about our review policies at One Board Family.

Highs

  • Variety of puzzles and tasks kept the game moving with no down time
  • Mobile website integration worked well
  • Hand drawn illustrations are a cute touch

Lows

  • Some puzzles are too tough for kids to solve on their own

Ryan Gutowski

I'm a huge fan of strategy games and pretty much anything that involves "city building". My love of board games goes back to my childhood and passion for building relationships with others.

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