Free Online Mystery Games to Solve

By Nicholas Robbins

Mystery games allow players to solve a series of challenging puzzles, often to find a lost artifact or solve a crime, using their wits and deductive abilities. Many mystery gamers consider themselves "detectives" and constantly seek out new and exciting challenges. There is a wealth of games online for these Sherlock Holmes protégés.

Games for Children

Child games stress creative problem solving and often have less macabre or dangerous themes than those directed at adults. The Fin, Fur and Feather Bureau of Investigation website offers a wide variety of mystery games created for younger sleuths. The training games include "FFFBI Academy" which lets young detectives test their mettle against seven different challenges as well as trivia and quiz games for children. There are also story-based missions available that follow a "choose your own adventure" format that stresses deductive reasoning and research techniques.

Adult Games

Murder, death, and betrayal are common themes in adult mystery games. The human element becomes much more prominent in the creative challenges posed by these games. Many great free online mystery games are available for adult players at MysteryGameCentral.com. These games feature deeper characterization and far more challenging situations for players to overcome. Mystery Game Central focuses on thrilling and difficult games for enthusiasts and delivers with games such as "CDX" and "Homicide: The Game." Games are hosted on external websites and some require free registration to play.

Games for Everyone

The web gaming portal Kongregate.com offers no fewer than 1,000 free adventure and RPG games that focus heavily on mystery and problem solving. This great variety of options ensures that there is something for everyone. Novice or young players may find "Hero's Arms" and "Feudalism" to their liking. The hardcore detectives will seek out the challenge posed by "Gateway" and "The Visitor." Kongregate also offers many games from other genres with mystery backgrounds in many categories. This is a great general online gaming site that has no lack of games for puzzle solvers and detectives.

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