Who Killed Mia?
- Michael Harrowing
- 31 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Who Killed Mia? is published by the creators behind What Do You Meme? with a focus on a broader market than those who would usually engage with board games or indeed escape-room type games.
‘Detectives’ must be 17 or over, and not only because of the thematic content but because players MUST have a phone/tablet on internet connection in order to participate. Indeed, on opening the box one is presented only with a QR code (so computers are redundant here) which will then lead one to register a ‘detective name’ of your own imagination before presenting video ‘evidence’ and ‘objective’ guidance.
The quality of the online videos and the physical materials is very good, creating a genuinely immersive experience for detectives to get into. There is, however, not much in the way of puzzle in Who Killed Mia? but more a series of problems and queries to navigate, which reduces its challenge as a deductive experience. With the focus on smaller device screens also, I would recommend this as a solo or two-person experience.
By the end, I was frustrated by the given ‘tips’ in the game: before opening box one the covering text reads 'every piece of evidence is important…we mean it when we say every piece' which, frankly, was not true and wasted much of our time as we read and re-read evidence only to come to conclusions we’d have reached without reading them. Furthermore, players are encouraged to 'use the hints instead of guessing' which, on reflection, could be understood as code for, ‘its too easy to game the game’. Both issues combined to me to give a sense of something that was trying to hit a time QUANTITY target, rather than a time QUALITY target.
Essentially Who Killed Mia? boils down to a nearly-but-not-actually-broken concept, that's a passable home experience for fans of murder-mysteries and modern media.
(Review by Michael Harrowing)