🕵️ Mystery Bureau — a free maths game for kids
Search the school, collect clues, rule out suspects — and notice which clues prove nothing at all.
Every case is built from a fact that can be checked with mathematics — a shoe length in centimetres, a camera timestamp against a walking distance, a count that does not match. Children practise reading numbers inside sentences, comparing them, and telling the difference between evidence that eliminates a suspect and evidence that merely sounds suspicious.
How to play
- 1Tap a location on the map to search it — each search turns up one clue.
- 2Read every clue in your notebook. Some are measurements, some are times, some are red herrings.
- 3Cross out suspects that a clue rules out.
- 4When one suspect is left standing, name them and close the case.
Frequently asked questions
- What age is Mystery Bureau for?
- It is built for ages 5–11. Kindergarten cases turn on simple counts and sizes; Grade 4 and 5 cases use elapsed time, multi-step reasoning and clues that deliberately prove nothing.
- Are the cases always the same?
- No. Every case is generated fresh — the culprit, the clues, the suspects and the locations are picked at play time, so a child can replay it indefinitely without memorising an answer.
- What maths does it actually teach?
- Comparing measurements, reading and subtracting times, matching counts, and eliminating possibilities with logic. It is the applied end of the number curriculum rather than drill.
- Is Mystery Bureau free?
- Yes — free, no signup, no ads, and it runs in the browser on phones, tablets and computers.