Inspector Mouse: The Great Escape Board Game Review

Inspector Mouse: The Great Escape

Play Time: ~15 minutes

Players: 1-4

Ages: 5+

Video Overview:

Review:

Gotta love a versatile kids game! This one can be played cooperatively, competitively or with a more challenging variation. Now, I will say that the cooperative mode tends to be VERY easy. You have multiple people all keeping track of the order of the criminals and you can say them out loud as they go by in the windows. We also came up with silly nicknames for each of the criminals to help us remember (lollipop, hedgehog, rabbit, then cookie). You can scaffold it a bit in how much help you give your kiddo in remembering, though. Playing competitively is a bit more challenging, because everyone is trying to remember for themselves, without reminding everyone else. You'll have to decide as a group whether you will spin through the old criminals quickly or slowly when you are spinning in the opposite directions, to make it harder or easier (we definitely spin slowly so we can see the criminals pass by each time).

For the challenge mode, you have to try to use some deduction to figure out which of the criminals is driving the getaway car.

The components on this game (as with all our Haba games) are great. We love the way the mouse is the spinner and the criminals go behind the doors. Also, the little insert at the bottom is adorable. There are little "offices" where you put your gold stars as well as the "underground tunnels" from where the criminals are digging their way out. The alarm is super simple but effective.

I think this game works well as a kids game. I can't see my 13 year old ever choosing to play it, but he could totally play with our 6 year old and still enjoy it. The ability to chose how you play for different challenge levels will also help extend its lifespan in our collection.

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