🔍 Printable mystery games for ages 5–12

A real detective mystery, set in your own home.

Your family are the suspects. Your pets have motives. The clues are hidden under your sofa cushions. Sleuthhouse builds a one-of-a-kind case for your house and your people, ready to print in five minutes.

Try it right now:
Build your free case → No sign-up. Free Rookie cases forever.
🏠 Set in your real rooms 🐶 Pets & toys can be guilty 🧠 Logic-checked, one true answer 📵 No screens while playing ♾️ A new mystery every time

From “I’m bored” to “Case closed!” in 3 steps

1

Tell us who lives there

Add the detectives, the suspects (Mum, Grandpa, the cat, that suspicious dinosaur) and the rooms in your home.

2

Print & hide the clues

You get a mission letter, suspect cards, a detective notebook, clue cards and a secret parent sheet saying exactly where to hide each one.

3

Let the hunt begin

Detectives crack codes to find each hiding spot, cross off suspects with each clue, and name the thief. Then the culprit reads their confession!

Every clue is true. Every case has exactly one answer.

Most printable mysteries are written once and sold to thousands of families. AI-written ones can contradict themselves. Sleuthhouse works differently.

  • A logic engine builds each case. It invents what really happened, then chooses clues until reasoning alone points to one thief.
  • No clue gives it away early. The engine removes every clue the solution doesn’t need, so detectives need every card.
  • Parents get the proof. The secret sheet walks through the solution step by step, so you can give hints without spoiling it.
  • Private by design. Cases are built in your browser. Your family’s names never leave your device.
From a real parent sheet

    Grows with your detectives

    Rookie Detective
    Ages 5–7

    Picture riddles lead to each hiding spot. Suspect cards show everything, and each clue crosses someone off.

    “I have a tongue but cannot talk, and I go with you when you walk.”
    Junior Inspector
    Ages 8–10

    Emoji codes and scrambled words guard the spots. Some facts are hidden and must be worked out.

    🐧 🍦 🍋 🍋 🐙 🐋
    Master Sleuth
    Ages 11+ & grown-ups

    A full logic grid, shift ciphers and pigpen code. Grown-ups get stumped too. Great for mixed-age families.

    🎂

    Birthday parties

    A detective party for 1–6 kids, starring the birthday child’s own family.

    🌧️

    Rainy days

    An hour of running around, thinking hard and not looking at a screen.

    👵

    Grandparents

    Make Grandma the prime suspect at the next visit. She will love it.

    🏫

    Classrooms

    A built-in classroom preset: school rooms, school hiding spots, and the principal as a suspect. Try it →

    Simple pricing

    Rookie
    Free
    • Unlimited Rookie cases (ages 5–7)
    • Up to 5 suspects
    • 2 crimes: Vanished Cookies & Missing Remote
    • Full printable kit with parent sheet
    Start free

    Less than one store-bought mystery kit, and you can play a different case every weekend.

    Questions

    What do I need?

    A printer (black & white is fine), scissors, a pencil and about 10 minutes to hide the clue cards. No app, no account.

    Can a grown-up who is a suspect still play?

    Yes! Nobody really did it. The suspects are just characters. The parent who hides the clues should keep the secret sheet to themselves.

    Can we play again?

    Every case number makes a completely new mystery with a new thief, new clues and new hiding spots. Roll a new number and play again.

    How do you know it’s solvable?

    Each case is checked by a deduction solver before you see it. It only reasons the way a person can, so if the solver can name exactly one thief using the clues, so can your detectives. We also test thousands of cases by brute force.

    Are the hiding spots safe?

    Our built-in spots avoid ovens, washing machines, medicine cabinets and high shelves. You can also add your own.

    Is my family’s information uploaded?

    No. Cases are generated entirely in your browser.

    Somebody in your house is hiding something.

    Open the case file →