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Printable party gameAges 8 to 122 to 12 players, about an hour

The Case of the Missing Birthday Cake.

A detective party you print at home. Granny Badger's honey cake has vanished from the kitchen windowsill just before her birthday tea. Five helpers were in the garden, and only one of them was at the kitchen window at ten past three. Your detectives hunt for eight clues, crack a secret note with a code wheel and fill in a logic grid until only one name is left.

What you get

Two PDF files of the same 15 pages, one A4 and one US Letter. You print them at home, cut out the cards and play at a birthday party, a sleepover, in class or on a rainy afternoon. Nothing is shipped.

The kit laid out: the title, the code wheel set to a key, five suspect cards (Hazel the Hedgehog, Milo the Magpie, Olive the Otter, Scout the Squirrel, Rufus the Hare), three evidence cards, a detective ID card, the folded top secret letter and two certificates
The real cards from the kit, arranged on one picture.
6.90 €one payment, VAT included

VAT included, nothing added at checkout. You buy the two files once, keep them and print as many copies as your family, party or class needs.

See all 15 pages first

The files unlock right after payment. By paying you ask for them at once, and the 14 day right of withdrawal then no longer applies (Directive 2011/83/EU, Art. 16(m)). Terms

  • download buttons appear on this page right after payment, and the links come by e-mail too
  • A4 and US Letter, both in the price
  • no account to make

How the detectives play.

Four steps, about an hour. A grown-up reads the start page and hides the clue cards; the children do the rest.

How the game goes in four steps: evidence card 2, Footprints in the soil; the code wheel; the empty logic grid with helpers, jobs and places at 3:10; and the reveal with the five helpers
  1. Hunt for the evidence. Eight cards hide around the room, and each one rules somebody in or out.
  2. Crack Dot’s code. Three warm-up codes first, then the code wheel decodes the secret note.
  3. Fill in the grid. Cross out and tick until one helper is left at the kitchen window. Four hint tickets help a team that is stuck.
  4. The reveal. Read the top secret letter aloud and everyone goes to find the cake. The letter says it is in the pantry, so hide the real cake under a big bowl there, or wherever you keep it.

What is in the kit.

Fifteen pages, the same in the A4 and the US Letter file. Every picture on this page is cut from the real pages.

The five suspect cards, each with a drawing and what the helper wears, their tail, feet and what they like, and the witness card
Five suspects and a witness. Hazel, Milo, Olive, Scout and Rufus, each with a card to compare against the clues.
Evidence cards 1, 2, 7 and 8 with drawings and a detective tip on each, and a list of the names of all eight clues
Eight evidence cards. Four are shown here; the other four stay a surprise, so the case cannot be solved from this page.
Two certificates of detective work signed by Granny Badger and four detective ID cards with space for a name, number, skill and a self portrait
ID cards and certificates. 8 ID cards the size of a bank card to a page, and 4 certificates to a page.
  1. 1Start here: a 3 step guide for grown-ups, what to print for a party and what you need
  2. 2Case file with the story and a map of the garden
  3. 3 and 4Five suspect cards, a witness card, an evidence table sign and 4 hint tickets
  4. 5 and 6Eight evidence cards to hide around the room
  5. 7The detective grid (a logic grid) with a summary table
  6. 8A code wheel to cut out, with 3 warm-up codes
  7. 9Detective reports for the teams
  8. 108 detective ID cards, the size of a bank card
  9. 114 certificates, signed by Granny Badger
  10. 12The no scissors version: all 8 clues on one page and a decoder table
  11. 13Party plan, hints, a one hour plan at a glance and a party day checklist
  12. 14A top secret letter that reveals what really happened
  13. 15Full solution for grown-ups, step by step, with the finished grid

All fifteen pages, before you pay.

The secret letter and the solution are blurred, and the clue text on pages 5, 6 and 12 is replaced by grey lines, so nobody at your party can peek.

All fifteen pages of the A4 file side by side with a label under each; the letter and the solution are blurred and the clue text is hidden
Tap the picture to open it large and zoom in.
Page 2, the case file: the story of the missing honey cake and a map of the garden
Page 2. The case file with the garden map.
Page 3, suspect cards with a drawing of each helper and what they wear, their tail, feet and what they like
Page 3. Suspect cards to cut out.
Page 8, the code wheel to cut out with three warm-up codes
Page 8. The code wheel and warm-up codes.

Who it is for, and what you need.

What you need: a printer, pencils, scissors or the no scissors page, and an envelope; how long it takes and how many can play
Age
8 to 12. Younger brothers and sisters join a team with an older child or a grown-up.
Players
2 to 12, or 1 child with a grown-up. With 5 or more children, play in teams of 2 to 4. Print one ID card page for every 8 children and one certificate page for every 4.
Time
45 to 60 minutes of play, plus about 20 minutes to print and cut, or about 5 minutes with the no scissors version.
You need
A printer, pencils and an envelope for the secret letter. Scissors and one paper fastener (split pin) for each code wheel, or play without scissors.
Good for
A birthday party, a sleepover, a classroom, a club or a rainy afternoon at home.

Two files, the same 15 pages.

FilePaperPagesSize
A4 PDF210 x 297 mm15 pages0.76 MB
US Letter PDF8.5 x 11 in15 pages0.77 MB

Print at 100 percent or actual size rather than fit to page, so the ID cards come out the size of a bank card and the code wheel turns cleanly. Single sided is best: the secret letter folds into thirds and goes in an envelope.

Before you buy.

What age is it for?

Children aged 8 to 12 can play it on their own in teams. Younger brothers and sisters can join a team with an older child or a grown-up: nobody is hurt in the story and there are no scary scenes.

How many children can play, and how long does it take?

2 to 12 players, or 1 child with a grown-up. With 5 or more children, play in teams of 2 to 4. The game takes 45 to 60 minutes, plus about 20 minutes to print and cut, or about 5 minutes with the no scissors version on page 12.

Has it been played at a real party?

Not yet, and we would rather say so. Every page was checked at print size by our own check script, which measures every page and makes sure no text runs off a card or the page, and the logic grid was checked by a computer solver. If anything does not work at your table, write to andrej@arling.sk and we fix it or send the money back.

What happens after I pay?

Stripe sends you back to this page, the page checks that the payment went through, and download buttons for the A4 and US Letter PDF appear in place of the buy button. The same links are sent by e-mail to the address you paid with. The links on this page work for 7 days and the ones in the e-mail for 30 days; after that, write to andrej@arling.sk and we send fresh ones.

The unlock is remembered in this browser, so you can come back to this page later on the same device. Keep the files once you have downloaded them.

How many copies may I print?

As many as you need for your own family, party, classroom or club. Please do not share or resell the files.

Who made it?

ARLing s. r. o. in Bratislava wrote the story and the puzzle and drew the pictures, with the help of AI tools. The drawings are simple shapes drawn in code, and our own program typesets every page.

Do I get a receipt?

Yes. Stripe handles the sale through Managed Payments as the merchant of record, and ARLing supplies the files. At checkout you will see “Sold through Link”, your bank statement will show LINK.COM* ARLING, and Link sends you the receipt.

Can I get my money back?

By law, no, and we would rather say it before you pay. Digital content delivered immediately with your consent carries no right of withdrawal: in Slovakia that is section 19 paragraph 1 letter m) of Act No. 108/2024 Coll. on consumer protection, and across the EU Article 16 letter m) of Directive 2011/83/EU. Clicking the payment button is that consent, because the files are shown at once.

That is the law, not our customer service. All fifteen pages are shown above so you can decide before paying. If a file is broken or never arrived, write to andrej@arling.sk and we will fix it or send the money back. Terms and withdrawal form.

Colophon

Publisher
ARLing s. r. o., Ivanská cesta 32E, 821 04 Bratislava, Slovakia. Company ID 56583486, VAT ID SK2122352100.
Who makes it
Andrej in Bratislava looks after the products and the support and answers at andrej@arling.sk. The story, puzzle and drawings were made with the help of AI tools; our own program typesets every page.
Payment and delivery
Stripe handles the sale through Managed Payments as the merchant of record, and ARLing supplies the files. Your download links appear on this page as soon as Stripe confirms the payment, and the same links are sent by e-mail to the address you paid with. There is no account to make.

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