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While there are a myriad of issues
that we could unpack given the current state of the world, sometimes it’s nice
to just unplug from the Drama Queen that 2020 has become. You know, find a
hobby and decompress. Read a book. Binge a Netflix series. Hunt murdering
psychopaths.
Ok, let me back up a little.
It started about a year ago. I was
suddenly seeing ads on my social media for these monthly murder mystery boxes,
the latest I thought, in the new subscription box fad. Since I love mysteries,
and because curiosity killed the cat, I clicked on the ad to get a better
idea of what it was all about.
Oh boy. Probably shouldn’t have
done that. (Cue the virtual stalkers.) AD!!! DIFFERENT AD FROM ANOTHER COMPANY
WITH THE SAME PRODUCT. FIRST COMPANY BUT DIFFERENT AD! THIRD COMPANY AD! ADD
ADS! AND ADS! AND ADDITIONALLY…THESE ADS! ADDY AD AD AD AD AD!
OK! FINE! I’ll subscribe to the
%$^*ing thing and see what it’s all about.
Turns out it’s pretty freaking
cool. The premise is that a fictional (I hope!) someone is killed and you have
to find out who did it. Each month they send you new clues and evidence and you
rule out another suspect until, after the sixth box, you figure out whodunit. Since
I have a bunch of weirdo family members
who love board games and murder mysteries to boot, it became a family activity.
Each month we looked forward to uncovering a new piece of the puzzle. Gathering
new clues. Solving new puzzles. (Finding out how many different kinds of
ciphers there are!)
You really get to dig in there and say
cool things like “You can’t handle the truth!” and “Book’em Danno!” No, none of
that was really necessary, but we are big goofballs who apparently can’t even solve fictional murders without a grain of humor mixed in.
Yet….in the back of my mind I
remember those *other* companies. That were doing the hard sell when I clicked
on the first company’s ad. I began to wonder what those ones were like. Were
they different? Were they more murder-y? More puzzle-y? I began to cast my
wandering eyes toward these NEW, FRESH companies and wonder what they might
bring to the table.
So like any good nerd, I put my
research hat on and do a search for the top rated mystery boxes. WOW! There are
even more than I anticipated. (Also, escape room boxes and mystery boxes are
considered pretty much the same thing I guess.) Luckily, some obsessive sleuther with
OCD (other than me!) has already compiled this list, complete with a small
overview to help ascertain if it’s something you’d like. Right away I see that
the one we have is ranked the second best box in the bunch. (Yeah buddy!) After
looking at the others, I decide that the third one seems pretty cool and order
a box.
Yeah, THIS box is amazing. Who ranked
that list? This one should be number one. Not only do you solve the murder, it
uses QR codes which makes it easier than the online method used in the other one.
Plus, there were a lot more puzzles to solve which upped our fun factor. The
icing on the cake is that each box was a single mystery. No waiting for the
next month to say, “Freeze You Murdering Son of a Biscuit!”
For my birthday/Mother’s Day (which
are only a few days apart from each other), my oldest son (who was aware of my
need to try ‘em all) sent me two boxes from yet another company. These were
different in that they had a journal to read and evidence envelopes that to
open at certain points during the reading. At the end you solved the case based
on what you find in both. This seemed more “old school” detective and although
I did Sherlock Homes my way through both, I missed the puzzle-y parts from the
others. (To my chagrin, I do enjoy the varied forms of ciphers!)
At this point you’d think that I’d
had a good sampling and didn’t need to continue, right? WRONG!
The top rated box had to be number
one for a reason, right? So I tried that one too. This one was like a mix of
the first and second boxes but a lot of heavier use of online interaction. The
puzzles I was missing from the last box are back, which is a plus, and it’s a
single part mystery so yay for instant gratification! But this one made me feel
a little like a dunce since I had to click on the “Need a hint” buttons often.
(And then feel like an idiot when I realize I was just overthinking it.)
Now I’m a junkie who needs their
next murder mystery fix. Do you know a mystery that needs a good solving? No?
Just an itty, bitty one even? How about something missing that needs finding?
No? Any sleuthing needs at all? Fine. I don’t need you to scratch my solver’s
itch. I’ll do it myself! There are still six more boxes from the top 10 list
that I have yet to try, but I will eventually try them all! And when I do, I’ll
be ready to take over the world! And no one can stop me! (Insert good-girl-turned-evil-villain
laugh here)
I can also be found on the
Instagram thingamajig (modernmommayhem)
Want to share your stories, dirty
limericks, or just say hi? Send me an email to: modernmommayhem@gmail.com.
