There is a correct answer and a false answer on each card, but the player asking the question (the host) is allowed to invent a false answer of their own to replace the one on the card before the game begins. Three points are scored if a player answers the question posed correctly without hearing the correct and false answers first as prompts. One point is scored if a player gets the correct answer, having heard both the correct and false answers (a 50:50 chance). The host can also score two points from each player who chooses their invented answer as the correct answer. The game is relatively simple at its heart, both for good and for bad. Overall, we enjoyed the game but I doubt it will make it to the table regularly. There just isn’t that much to it and it just doesn’t have that wow factor. Having said this, the more we played, the more we settled on the idea of James O’Brien’s Mystery Hour having all of the ingredients for a fiery Christmas Day family gaming experience. For a start, all of the question cards could be quite easily distributed before dinner to allow players to invent clever false answers in good time. As our group played, it became clear that some of the cards are very subjective in their wording (“Does mixing drinks get you drunk faster?” If you’re a pedant, surely a yes or no should be enough to get points here, as it doesn’t ask you to justify anything). Answers can be wide open to interpretation too. On the plus side, the game is very educational, albeit dealing in quite obscure but interesting tit bits of knowledge. For me, the discussion generated following the reveal of a correct answer is where the true value of the Mystery Hour Board Game lies. Interaction reaches its pinnacle as ideas on why an answer may or may not be true are exchanged, which can often lead players along odd and exciting tangents. Things can be quite slow to get going - this will frustrate some but please others. Each player is encouraged to look through the cards they have been dealt, familiarise themselves with the text on each card and think up their own false answers (if they wish) before the game begins. Our gaming group approached this with varying degrees of application - some were burning to get going, whereas I was keen to take my time to come up with alternative but plausible false answers, but felt under pressure from the others to start playing whilst doing so.

Questions can come from the world of science, literature, language or be as bonkers as “Why do pigeons have manky feet?” or “Do birds get jet lag?” The rules are simple: Googling is forbidden, and, if giving an answer, callers have to state their credentials. A caller may have a degree in a particular area of expertise, work in a specific field, or have seen a documentary on the subject. The whole thing is wonderfully random and a real breath of fresh air, often at the tail end of a typically turbulent week in British politics. A palette cleanser between Prime Ministers, if you will. The Mystery Hour Board Game won’t change the world but for fans of trivia or those simply looking for a casual family game that will teach you interesting things and ignite discussion, this game certainly deserves a round of applause. Just maybe not the rapturous round of applause that Mystery Hour fans may have been hoping for.