Santa’s mittens are missing! In our new Christmas mystery game Who Stole Santa’s Mittens you get to dig out your sleuthing skills. We love mystery games around here. For Thanksgiving we created our Who Burnt the Turkey mystery game and it was so popular that we thought we would change things up and make it a Christmas themed. And now we get to share Who Stole Santa’s Mittens with you!
You can play this game the whole holiday season long. Each time you play is different with a different solution. It’s so fun that it will keep you laughing as you sleuth. Let’s get to how you play.
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Who Stole Santa’s Mitten Story
First, you need to know the story about his mittens. It’s Christmas Eve and it’s almost time for Santa to leave in his sleigh that’s packed with presents. But when he looks on the sleigh’s seat, he sees that his mittens are missing! He needs them to drive the sleigh and without them he won’t be able to fly the sleigh and that means that he can’t delver all the presents to all the children of the world! He needs your help to figure out who stole the mittens, where they hid them and what was the motive behind the theft.
Setting up the Who Stole Santa’s Mittens Game
This game is similar to other mystery games like Clue, but it has its own twists and turns that make it unique but easy to learn.
There are six suspects. First there’s Bob the Polar Bear. Then there is Edith the salty elf and Peter the slippery penguin. Then again there’s Randy the rambunctious reindeer, and Sami the half melted snowman. And of course there’s Jack Frost who is always looking for trouble.
There are six motives as to why they stole the mittens. Could it be that they had cold hands and they took the mittens to warm their hands? Or were they trying to use the mittens softness to wrap a delicate gift? Using the mittens to hold a cup of hot cocoa is an option as is wanting to use them as a pillow for a quick North Pole nap. Then again, the guilty party would have been playing a prank. Or was the thief trying to be nice and trying to keep them safe for Santa?
But where are the mittens now? There are eight hiding places where they could be. They could be in the North Pole cave, or in the Elf workshop. Or they could be in the stable, the candy room, the music room or in the gift wrap station. They could also be hiding under Santa’s chair or be on the fireplace.
As is common, these category cards are shuffled and then one from each is hidden under the sleigh card for safe keeping as players try to figure out the solution.
The Fun Twist
After hiding the answer cards, the rest of the cards are shuffled and then dealt to the players who will record their cards on their answer sheets. Now for the fun twist, each player will also get three “You’ve been jingled” cards. These cards will be used as decoys when players don’t have the cards that they are asked for. Players will also keep track of how many times they each jingled as they play.
Playing Who Stole Santa’s Mittens
Players are trying to figure out who stole the mittens, what their motive was, and where the mittens are hiding. They will keep track of the cards they see on their score sheet, eliminating options as they play.
Something that is unique to this game is that on your turn, you will roll a dice that will tell you what you get to do.
There are six options:
1 – you get to ask one player one option
2 – you get to ask one player for two things
3 – you get to ask one player for three things
4 – you get distracted by Christmas cookies and you miss your turn
5 – you dropped your candy cane on the floor and you get to roll again
6 – you get to ask two different people one item each
Once you’ve rolled the dice, you follow the chart. When you ask someone for options, you can choose any of the options. It could be for two suspects or two hiding places. When they pass you the card, you will record the finding on your score sheet.
You’ve Been Jingled
When a player doesn’t have the card for the item that they been asked, they get to pass a you’ve been jingled card. If you get this card, you will mark a tally mark at the bottom of your score sheet for some fun at the end of the game. This also keeps other players from guessing what the card was.
Play moves to the player on your left and keeps going until someone thinks they have the mystery figured out.
Making An Accusation
When you think that you have the mystery solved, on your turn you will announce who you think is the thief, what the motive is and where the hiding place is so that all players can hear. You will now get to look at the cards that are hiding under the sleigh card. If you have guessed correctly, you win!
On the other hand, if you have guessed incorrectly, you will place the cards back under the sleigh and play moves to the next player.
From here, you still get to play, passing cards to others when you are asked. On your turn you still roll the dice, but instead of asking for cards, you will pass cards to other players. For example, if you have rolled a three, you will pass three of your cards to another player. The cards can’t be jingled cards. Once you have only jingled cards left, you are out of the game.
Winning Who Stole Santa’s Mittens
The player who correctly guesses who stole the mittens, why and where the mittens are hiding is the winner.
You’ve Been Jingled Twist
After the winner is announce, all players add up the amount of times that they were given a you’ve been jingled card. The player with the most times now has to stand up and dance like Santa.
Warm Hands and Hearts
Now that you’ve solved the Christmas mystery Christmas has been saved. Santa can climb into the sleigh and tell his reindeer to take flight. Christmas has been saved!
This game is perfect for kids, parents and grandparents to play together. You will laugh, maybe cry, and will certainty fill the season with the best kind of memory-making time spent together.
For more holiday fun visit our Big List of Christmas games, Santa’s Sleigh dice game, Christmas Crazy 8s, and our Christmas Eve Game Box. Be sure to visit our Family Game Shelf shop for even more fun with our Christmas Whacky Putt mini golf dice game, Reindeer dice games and our Christmas Escape rooms!
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