Disclosure: Meeple Mountain received a free copy of this product in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. This review is not intended to be an endorsement.
The MicroMacro franchise is ideal for families. It’s cooperative, which means nobody is going to get upset. The rules load is non-existent, so even the youngest can join without issue. The game has a sense of humor, it plays quickly, and it involves creative storytelling. MicroMacro is, in many ways, a perfect family game. But for a minor detail—some cases involve murder, infidelity, etc.—it would be.
Not that that’s a deal-breaker. MicroMacro introduced a rating system after the first printing, so you can avoid the less savory cases in inappropriate company, but the behaviors in question are still depicted on the map. You may not be looking for a flasher, but that doesn’t mean you won’t find him.
Enter MicroMacro: Kids – Crazy City Park, which feels inevitable in the most positive possible sense. Here we have mysteries that center not around breaking and entering, felony manslaughter, and premeditated homicide, but rather “Hey I think that cat stole my fish.” It’s still the same friendly map, still the same adorable illustrations, and still the same sense of discovery, but the stakes have come way down.
The adjustments to the content are perfect for purpose, but the most inspired decision here is the presentation. In previous volumes, MicroMacro has presented its cases in a series of tiny wax paper envelopes. Here, it’s a giant spiral bound book that guides the players through the experience. It tells you where to start, what to look for, what questions need to be answered, and includes illustrations from the map.
The book lends the entire experience a kind of magic, borrowed from bedtime stories and hours spent reading alone. MicroMacro: Kids doesn’t just feel like an experience for families, it feels like an experience for kids, all on their own. You can set one or two kids up with the book and leave them to explore, to discover. It’s a wonderful thing.
MicroMacro: Kids isn’t as “challenging” as MicroMacro, in so much as “challenge” is the point of that experience, but I’ve come to prefer this. There’s something about that book that brings the whole thing together. It’s joyous, even to sit there as you let the kids lead, to watch them work through the mystery themselves.
MicroMacro: Kids - Crazy City Park details
- Designer: Johannes Sich
- Artists: Daniel Goll, Johannes Sich, Tobias Jochinke
- Publishers: Blackrock Games, Edition Spielwiese, Lucky Duck Games, MINDOK, SD Games
- Release Date: 2025
- Player count : 1 - 4
- Age range : 6+
- Time range : 15 - 45 minutes
- Mechanism(s): Cooperative Game, Deduction, Scenario / Mission / Campaign Game, Solo / Solitaire Game
- BGG Geek Rating: 7.83483 - converted to Meeple Mountain scale: 4.0.
- More articles about MicroMacro: Kids - Crazy City Park.
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