There's a never-ending supply of crime shows and podcasts, serial killer documentaries, and more. People can't get enough of hearing about mysteries and crime, solved and unsolved, fictional, real, or merely inspired by true events. Nothing compares to watching a movie with a murder mystery and calling the murderer way before they get revealed.
This morbid fascination with crime has led to the creation of a whole new market catering to armchair detectives. If you want to get presented with a mystery and be the one to solve it, try a mystery subscription box. Here are some worth checking out.
1. Hunt A Killer
The Hunt A Killer subscription box provides you with clues that you have to piece together and solve the mystery you get. It's one of the most well-known murder mystery boxes, and its fame is well-deserved.
The box doesn't give you an easy-to-solve crime and call it a day. Instead, you get presented with a case of a serial killer based in a fictional town, and the mystery usually lasts for six boxes. You get six months of playing detective, so you can try to prepare by watching some true crime documentaries on Netflix.
The Hunt A Killer box gives you various evidence, clues, police records, newspaper clippings, and you're expected to use all that to discover the serial killer committing the murders. You also get a detective's notebook to jot down any theories or ideas like they show the real detectives do in the serial killer documentaries we love to watch. By the sixth box, you should have enough information to accurately solve the mystery and find the killer.
It's a pretty immersive subscription box that's as realistic as you can get it. So, if you want to play detective, give it a go. Hunt A Killer offers three subscription plans. There's a monthly, six-month, and twelve-month plan. They are $30, $165, and $300, respectively. Bear in mind that if you choose to get the monthly subscription, you'll have to set aside six payments if you want to get to the bottom of the mystery.
2. The Deadbolt Mystery Society
The Deadbolt Mystery Society box offers you a standalone crime to solve each month, so you don't have to invest months of your time and money to get to the bottom of a single mystery. Instead, you get everything you might need to unearth the truth about the case in the box. That includes evidence, interviews, and puzzles, and you might need a QR code reader, meaning you need access to a phone or tablet.
You can do the mystery-solving alone, or add a group of up to four people to do the sleuthing with you. The Deadbolt Mystery Society box turns the crime-solving into a sort of board game with an immersive storyline.
Each box costs $25, and you have a choice between several subscription plans. You can get a monthly one or sign up for three, six, or twelve months. Prices are $25, $70, $135, and $260 respectively.
3. Finders Seekers
The Finders Seekers mystery subscription presents you with different cultures worldwide and challenges you to solve puzzles, decode cryptic messages, and uncover underground cultures. You get a standalone box that helps you immerse yourself in local customs, traditions and explore the culture altogether.
What sets Finders Seekers apart from other mystery boxes is that it doesn't provide you with everything you need to uncover the secret in the box itself and expects you to do additional work outside of it. It's not a murder mystery, but only a mystery, so it's safe for the whole family. Supposedly it takes between two and four hours to solve, but subscribers share that they often exceed that estimation.
Finders Seekers is among the more challenging options you can get, so if you're up for it, get the box. It costs $30 per month, or you can get a three, six, or twelve-month plan for $87, $162, and $300.
4. CosyKiller
CosyKiller offers up an interactive murder mystery game for you in the form of a cold case. You get vintage memorabilia and keepsakes, complex ciphers, puzzles, suspects, and backstories, and not everything is cut and dry as you also get false leads.
You can tackle the CosyKiller mystery yourself, or include a group of people to help you. And, if you get stuck at any point, you can turn to Facebook groups dedicated to helping with that.
It's important to note that after you pick your game, the storyline lasts for a whole year, meaning you'd need twelve boxes to have all the clues needed to solve the case. You can choose whether to get the boxes monthly or all at once. CosyKiller sets you back $35 per month or $385 to get all the boxes and not have to wait for the story to unfold slowly.
5. Madmen And Heroes
Madmen And Heroes caters to history buffs. It centers its mysteries around historical figures and events, providing you with photographs, letters, artifacts, ciphers, and puzzles, to get you on track to uncover the truth. You can choose to get a folklore story or one based on real life. Each box you get is standalone, so you won't have to worry about investing too much of your time and money into a single story.
The Madmen And Heroes subscription expects you to do additional research outside of the box and doesn't give you everything you'll need to solve the mystery. So, bear that in mind. You might need to do some online sleuthing.
A Madmen And Heroes box costs $29.50/month for a single box, $28.50/month for three boxes, and $27.50/month for six. And, you're free to cancel any time if you change your mind or don't have the time to solve mysteries.
6. Escape The Crate
Escape The Crate's subscription gives you various challenges relating to codes you need to crack or riddles to guess to escape a virtual scenario. You get letters, puzzles, and other objects that you're expected to use to aid your escape. The subscription focuses more on the mystery part rather than the crime and murder, but that makes it great for family game night.
Escape The Crate sets you back $29.99 for one crate per two months, $57.98 for two crates per four months, $83.98 for three crates per six months, and $159.00 for six crates per twelve months. If you're a fan of escape rooms, Escape The Crate is for you, since it's essentially an escape room in a box.
So, Are You Up to the Challenge?
Every so often, when you watch one too many crime shows, you start to fancy yourself a detective. Why not get one of these mystery boxes and see if you really have what it takes?
These subscription mystery crates offer an excellent way to entertain yourself, either alone or with friends. Make your selection, and have a crack at a mystery and see how it goes!
