Settle in with some hot cocoa and put on your thinking caps, there’s a mystery afoot at the North Pole and Santa needs your help! In this 18-card escape room style game, up to four Santa sleuths will work together to solve a plethora of puzzles and unmask the mysterious machinator. For most groups, The Kringle Caper can be played in an hour or less. Can you close the case before your cocoa goes cold?

The Kringle Caper was designed by Jonathan Chaffer and published by Grand Gamers Guild. Chaffer, who also designed the card games Filler and Stroop, provided the illustrations for The Kringle Caper alongside Josh Cappel. One might recognize Cappel not only from his illustration work on games such as Pandemic, Belfort, and Scoville, but from his work as a game designer with such games as Haunt the House, Wreck Raiders, or Foodfighters.

In addition to the 18-card deck, The Kringle Caper requires an online app that can be run from either a phone or computer. This app is a crucial piece of the game and is used to check clue answers, guide and progress players through the story, and provide hints to players who get stuck trying to solve the clues. The cards themselves need to be kept face down and in numerical order unless instructed to use them by the app. Once a card has been drawn from the deck, it is available for players to use at any time during the game.

This stocking-stuffer sized game is one that definitely tests your deduction skills as well as works your brain. With the inclusion of logic puzzles, visual riddles, and many more types of brain teasers, there is a lot of content in only a few cards. The recommended age group of 13+ is probably accurate as younger minds may not be able to work out the clues – I know there a few that baffled me at first! While some people are great with certain types of puzzles, they can be stumped by others, so having a well-rounded team will definitely help. It is important to note, that like the Unlock and Exit series games, this is a one-time play sort of game. If you like these types of games and have some experience with them, I definitely recommend The Kringle Caper, but would not propose it be used as an introduction to the genre.

All photos of Grand Gamers Guild products were taken and edited by Krista unless otherwise stated.