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Mystery-focused TTRPGs that I’ve personally checked out

Time Tails

Time Tails RPG is a system (that comes with an adventure in the magazine) focusing on time travel mechanics and sliding in with some 80’s vibes.  It lends itself VERY well to solving mysteries (like in the game we played in the TTRPGkids review) and has a very lighthearted and cartoony feel that makes it great for playing with any age.

The Mystery Business

The Mystery Business is a d100 system that plays off of tropes from shows like Scooby Doo (talking animal buddy included)! You’ll be running from creatures and solving capers as each person on the team uses their own unique strengths (and weaknesses) to solve the case!

Movie Night

Movie Night is made with the intention of capturing the feel of some of the best 80’s movies to have hit the screen, and many of the prompts and movie suggestions lead into mystery-themed adventures that can be adjusted to fit any age.

Nancy Druid

Nancy Druid is a version of the Polymorph system that sets you up for adventures that are part scout troop mission, part druid quest, and part mystery! You’ll be using your connection to nature and your other troop members to uncover clues and save the day!

Monster of the Week

Monster of the Week is very specifically made to be a mystery game that is based on those Saturday morning mysteries or more intense supernatural cases – it lets you adjust the tone to be as serious or as silly as you want.

Cryptid Creeks

At the time of writing this, Crytpid Creeks is in pre-release, but I wanted to highlight it here to keep on the radar for future game sessions – this TTRPG is about tracking down and saving cryptids who are endangered by environmental changes and city development, and everything about it has such an awesome and fun mood to it.

Feathered Adventures

Feathered Adventures is a tabletop RPG with fun and upbeat vibes from Saturday morning cartoons and Sunday comics that focuses on RP and working together to create some awesome adventures!  It has a section devoted to solving light hearted mysteries and is designed for this type of gameplay.

Mystery Snacks

And… I’ve made my own mystery TTRPG too! Using the Breathless system, which is a survival horror game mechanic that’s open for use via the Creative Commons License, I made some tweaks to make it more kid-friendly and wrote some whacky adventures to go with it! Mystery Snacks is my own homage to mystery shows that I grew up with and that my kid now likes too.

Mystery-focused TTRPGs recommended by others

For other recommendations, let me know what you’d recommend to check out! There’s a lot of mystery-themed TTRPGs out there, and I’m looking for ones that are specifically honing in on that all-ages friendly and give opportunities for some spooky-fun shenanigans to ensue. If you have a suggestion for a game to check out, let me know in the comments or by emailing hello@TTRPGkids.com so I can take a look!

Additional reading: mystery books for kids

And… if these mystery games have gotten you and your players into the mystery reading mood, check out this AMAZING list of mystery books currated by Techie Skittles! They’ve done an aweomse job finding mysteries that are great for kids at any age so you can keep with the theme and foster a love of reading! Thank you Techie Skittles!

I hope this list helps you to find some whacky mysteries to solve with your TTRPG groups, and… If you liked this post, make sure to subscribe to the TTRPGkids monthly newsletter to stay up to date on the latest reviews, tips and tricks, game and podcast list updates, and more! Thank you for playing tabletop RPGs with your kids and sharing this awesome hobby with the next generation!