MicroMacro: Kids – Crazy City Park
MicroMacro: Kids – Crazy City Park Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Components
- 1 game board (park scene), 75 x 55 cm, that folds out
- 1 case book with 22 cases
- 20 detective markers
- 1 rulebook
Note printed with the components: don't start flipping through the case book at random — doing so risks spoiling cases for yourself.
Before You Start: A Few Tips
- Good light matters. Play under a bright lamp or in daylight, so even small details on the board are easy to spot.
- Give everyone a clear view. Lay the board so every player can lean over it freely and see it from every side.
- Keep the board completely clear. Move anything off the table that could get in the way, and keep the case book beside the board, never resting on top of it.
- Watch your hands and body. Don't accidentally cover part of the board — you might end up hiding the very scene you're searching for.
- Look out for each other. Make sure everyone is having fun and gets to take part in solving the cases, especially when younger children are playing too.
Setup
To play MicroMacro: Kids, grab the case book and unfold the board. Set the detective markers down next to the board.
The case book holds 22 cases in total, each built around puzzles and small mysteries to work out on the board. Near the front of the book is a list of every case; stars next to each one show how difficult it is — more stars means a longer case.
Players are free to pick the order in which they tackle the cases. Anyone new to the game should begin with the introductory case, "The Helmet," which walks the group through play step by step.
How to Play
Choose a game leader. The game leader's job is to read the texts aloud (and they're welcome to join in puzzling out the answers too). The group can also take turns reading, or ask an adult to read everything so the players can focus entirely on investigating.
Each case starts on its start page. This page gives the case's title; its back gives a short summary of what the case is about; and the page facing it holds the first task.
Read, then look. The game leader reads the text aloud and shows everyone the pictures, so the whole group knows which puzzle to solve, who to help, or what to look into. The leader then reads out the task on the page facing the case's current spread — without turning the page yet. The page can only be turned once the task is solved.
Investigate on the board. Now it's time to detect: search the board for the answer. This means following characters, cracking puzzles, and combining clues cleverly. To solve a task, point to the matching scene on the board — a bare guess, a hunch, or random luck doesn't count as proof; only pointing out the correct scene does.
Check the answer. Once the group thinks they've found the solution, the game leader turns to the next page — the answer page — and looks at the pictures there alone first. If more detail is needed, the leader reads the accompanying text silently.
- If your answer is right, the game leader reads the answer page's text aloud.
- If your answer is wrong, no problem — just keep searching. Since the leader now knows the answer, they can join in and hunt too, and may offer a hint if needed.
The group then moves on to the next task on the opposite page, and repeats this loop until the whole case is solved.
A note for the game leader: make sure everyone can hear the text clearly and see the pictures well — otherwise the rest of the group won't know what they're looking for.
Using the detective markers: the included detective markers can be placed on the board to flag characters or important scenes, which helps the group keep track of everything.
End of the Game
Play for as long as you like. A case always ends once you've solved it — at that point, just decide together whether you want to play another case.
That's it. Have fun!
More Puzzles
Solved every case and still want more? Visit the publisher's companion website (www.micromacro-spiel.de/kids), which offers extra puzzles and search challenges for MicroMacro: Kids — there's more to find hidden on the game board than the case book alone covers. The site also has bonus content such as printable coloring pages, plus information about other games in the MicroMacro series.
Credits
Game development, illustration, and design: Hard Boiled Games (Johannes Sich, Daniel Goll, Tobias Jochinke). Realization/publisher: Edition Spielwiese, Berlin. Distribution: Hutter Trade GmbH + Co KG. First published 2025.