Mystery Mansion is the name of a series of board games in which players search furniture and other objects inside a mansion to locate a hidden treasure or stash of money. The first version of the game was released by the Milton Bradley Company in 1984, the same year when Hasbro took over that company. Instead of a standard game board, the original Mystery Mansion features a modular board where players build the mansion by adding new rooms drawn at random. Hasbro then released an electronic talking version under its Parker Brothers brand in the 1990s. In this version, game play is guided by a computerized talking "electronic organizer", providing clues and other information to players during each game. Also, the modular board design was scrapped in favor of a fixed board, loosely similar to the one for Cluedo. However, the content in each varied from each game.
Original 1984 version
Equipment
The original Mystery Mansion featured a modular board consisting 24 cardboard tiles representing different rooms in the mansion: 8 First Floor rooms, 8 Second Floor rooms, and 8 rooms in the cellar. Each room has different doors and objects that come into play during the game. The Foyer is positioned face up as the starting room of the game; all the other rooms are shuffled face down and set to the side. A card representing the mansion's outside front door entrance is then placed next to Foyer so that the staircase leads up to the double doors of the Foyer. Those double doors are the only way out of the mansion. Each player is represented by one of the 4 plastic pawns, and they are placed on the front door entrance card at the start of the game. Also before the game, 7 cardboard treasure tokens are randomly placed in one of the 7 plastic treasure chests. Each treasure chest has a label on its bottom with two numbers on it, representing the two keys that will unlock it. The treasure chests are then mixed up so no player knows which two have the real treasure, or knows which keys will open those two real treasures. Other items include:
A six-sided "door" die, with either the words "open" or "locked" on its faces.
A deck of 72 "Search" cards and a deck of 56 "Clue" cards. Each player is only dealt 5 Search cards at the start of the game. Once the cards are used up, one player must shuffle them and put them back to be "reused".
Rules
Players take turns in order, with the initial player determined by a consensus before the game. During a turn, a player takes 3 "actions". An action can be one of the following: ;Rolling the "door" die ;Play a Search card ;Play a Clue card ;Travel through an existing secret passage
Winning the game
Once a player successfully moves his/her claimed treasure chest outside the mansion, he can now open it. Before opening it, the player must show the other opponents both the numbers on the bottom of chest and the key card that unlocks it for verification. If it is one of the two "real" treasures, then he wins. If it is one of the false treasures, that chest is then removed from play, and the player must head back inside the mansion.
Variations
Instead of picking rooms randomly, a pre-determined order or floor plan can be used instead.
1990s electronic version
Equipment
The 1990s electronic version features a battery-powered, hand-held, talking "electronic organizer" to guide game play. A number of different scenarios are pre-programmed into the computer. It also has the ability to save and restore an existing game, as well as restart a new game. The 35 plastic pieces representing different types of furniture each piece has a number imprinted into it. This is the particular code number of that piece that is entered into the electronic organizer during game play. The game also comes with a small magnifying glass to help people read off the code numbers from the furniture pieces. The playing area consists of a three-dimensional board, with cardboard walls, representing the mansion. Each room is also represented by a number that is entered into the electronic organizer. Among the eight player pieces that are included, four are shaped as boys and four are modeled as girls. A stack of ten "Clue" cards consists of 2 key cards, 4 person cards, and 4 item cards. In addition are 2 dice and an optional stack of 9 "Turn" cards. It is also recommended that players have something to write down all the clues that the electronic organizer gives out during the course of the game.
Rules
Like the original version, players start the game outside the mansion. And like the original, a player takes 3 "actions". An action can be one of the following: ;Move into another room ;Look at a piece of furniture ;"Let's talk"
Winning the game
Using both the audio and visual clues provided by the electronic organizer throughout the course of the game, players need to discover the piece of furniture that the money is hidden in. When a player searches that specific piece of furniture, the electronic organizer will first ask if he has a particular item Clue card. If the answer is yes, it will then ask if the player has a specific person Clue card. If the answer is also yes, then that player wins.
Optional "Turn" cards
There are nine optional "Turn" cards: three marked "Move", three marked "Look:, and three marked "Let's talk". These can be used by a player as flash card to keep track of their three actions during their turn.
Other Uses
In 2015, finalist Ryan Keebaugh selected Mystery Mansion as the secret ingredient for his piece during the Iron Composer competition.
