Mystery Mansion (1984) came out the same year as Black Morn Manor — there must have been something in the air compelling board game designers to make tile-based house exploration games. Mystery Mansion isn’t an RPG, nor does it have any real connection to RPGs, but I had it as a kid, adored it, and the components are extremely cool and at least RPG-adjacent. So here we are.

Like Black Morn Manor, players build the mansion as they go, adding tiles as they search for treasure chests (and the keys to open them). The object of the game is disappointingly monster-less: just get the treasure chest with the real treasure out of the mansion and you win. You can only open the chests outside, though, so there is a lot of moving back and forth. It isn’t great.

What is great are the room tiles, all of which feature clean art that is super evocative of murder mysteries or perhaps older horror films. There are eight of each type: basement, first- and second-floor rooms. The basement tiles are flat, but the first-floor rooms are folded up into little half-inch orange boxes, while the second-floor rooms are about an inch deep, so there is a nice sense of height. Different floors are connected by little plastic staircases; there are also little plastic trap doors that mark secret passages, and little plastic chests for the treasures (which are little cardboard chits you stick inside). The components are absolutely delightful; it’s a shame the rest of the game isn’t quite so much.