It’s 1997, and I’m in my brother’s room, poring over one of his Where’s Waldo books. So much red and white! Where could he be hiding? Will I ever find him? Then, there he is, peeking out from behind that elephant. Mystery solved! We humans are drawn to those “Ah-ha!” moments—the simple reward of having our efforts produce the desired outcome, no matter how small.
MicroMacro speaks to this drive by presenting the seek-and-find experience in board game form. The one complaint about the original game was that it seemed geared toward kids, but not all of the content was something parents were comfortable exposing their children to. MicroMacro: Kids- Crazy City Park is the designer’s response. The game is for 1-4 aspiring detectives, ages 6+, and has a playtime of 15-45 minutes.
Gameplay Overview:
A map of Crazy City Park, depicting one big search-and-find scene, is laid out on the table. Players choose a case from the Investigator Book, which has 22 cases of various difficulties, then follow the prompts to solve the mystery, finding consecutive images that will tell a story. The game includes several transparent green discs you can place to help track your discoveries.
The cases in the book can be played in any order, though the game recommends starting with an easy “one star” case. Cases will involve multiple prompts, with spoil-free presentation in the book; simply turn the page to see if you were correct. Once you find the final clue, all players win. Either put the game back in the box, or choose another mystery to solve.
Game Experience:
This game delivers on its promise. The simple, evocative imagery will draw kids into the story and keep them invested the whole time. Every time we played, my kids wanted to do multiple cases back-to-back. Naturally, the harder mysteries will take a little longer to solve, with the easiest being easily solvable in 10-15 minutes, and the longer falling into the 30ish minute range. As a family activity, this works really well, but rather than playing along, I usually read the prompts to the kids and let them find the pictures. Only when they were getting stumped on some of the more difficult scenarios would I step in to help.
My kids are at an age where they play both kids’ and advanced strategy games, with some kids games getting boring to them, and while the rules for MicroMacro kids are simple, the gameplay is deep enough to hold their attention really well. It also feels appropriately kid-friendly without being cheesy- the cases typically involve finding something that has gone missing or catching thieves.
One concern I had was replay value, since we solved the first case quickly, but the harder cases do take more time, so the overall playtime in the box is pretty good. However, once a case is solved for one group of players, it’s solved. The good news is, when my youngest is older, it will all be new to him, and I could see some kids returning to the game even after finishing it, simply for the fun of it or because they’ve forgotten some details.
Final Thoughts:
While the biggest downside here is finite replay value, I don’t feel MicroMacro: Kids- Crazy City Park cheats you on content: there’s enough in the included 22 cases for hours of puzzle-solving joy. It held my kids’ interest, and they were excited every time I asked if they wanted to play. This is easily the best kids game we’ve played this year, and I hope to see more from this line in the future. If your kids (or you!) enjoy hidden picture puzzles, I absolutely recommend giving MicroMacro: Kids a try.
