Mystery Date Board Game: Rules for How to Play

Objective

The objective of Mystery Date is to be the first player to assemble a complete outfit that matches the date that you are going on.

Set Up

Place the gameboard in the middle of the table.
Set the die near the gameboard.
One player takes all of the cards and shuffles them.
Deal two cards to each player face down. You can look at your own cards, but you shouldn’t show them to the other players.
Place the rest of the cards on the board to one side of the door. These cards become the draw pile.
Take the top card from the draw pile and flip it face up on the other side of the door. This pile is the discard pile.
Each player chooses a playing piece and places it on the corner Open the Door space closest to where they are sitting.
The player to the left of the dealer starts the game.

How to Play Mystery Date

You will begin each of your turns rolling the die. The number you roll on the die determines how many spaces you will move your playing piece. Move your playing piece the corresponding number of spaces clockwise around the gameboard.

Rolling the die and moving two spaces — The current player rolled a two on the die. They will move their playing piece two spaces. They will land on the “Take 1 Card from Draw Pile” space and will take the corresponding action.

While moving you can land on and move through spaces occupied by other players.

After you have finished moving, you will take an action based on what space you landed on. See the corresponding section below for details on what each space does.

Once you have completed the corresponding action, your turn ends. Play passes to the player on your left/clockwise.

Spaces of Mystery Date Board

Take Cards From Draw Pile

There are two different types of take cards from the draw pile spaces. Some spaces allow you to take one card from the draw pile, while others allow you to take two cards.

When you land on one of these spaces, you will take the corresponding number of cards from the top of the draw pile. You will add the cards to your hand.

Drawing a 1 parka card — After landing on the Take 1 Card from Draw Pile space, this player drew the 1 parka card. They will add the card to their hand.

You may only have six cards in your hand at a time. Should you ever draw a card(s) that puts you over six cards, you will have to discard cards from your hand until you only have six remaining in your hand. You can pick which card(s) you want to discard. Any cards you discard are placed face up on the discard pile.

Have too many cards in hand so have to discard one — This player has seven cards in their hand. They have to choose one to discard. They likely will want to get rid of the bowling bag and bowling shoes card since they already have two of it.

If the draw pile ever runs out of cards, take all of the cards from the discard pile except for the top card. Shuffle all of the cards and place them face down to form a new draw pile.

Swap Cards

When you land on a swap space, it will say that you will swap a card with the player on your left, right, or you can choose who to swap with.

You will choose one card from your hand and place it face down in front of the player that is in the direction printed on the space. For example if the space says to swap with the player on your right, you will place the card face down in front of the player on your right.

Swapping a card with the player on the left — After landing on the Swap 1 Card with Player on Left space, the current player chose one card from their hand to pass to the player on their left. They will now randomly take one card from the player on their left’s hand.

Next the player to the left/right holds their cards in front of you so you can’t see what is on them. You then randomly draw one of the cards. Add the card you chose to your hand, while the other player adds to their hand the card that you placed face down.

In some newer versions of the game (2009 for sure), both players get to choose which card they would like to swap. Both players swap their cards at the same time.

Take 1 Card from Either Draw or Discard Pile space

Take One Card From Either Draw or Discard Pile

Should you land on this space in Mystery Date, you have a decision to make.

First look at the top card on the discard pile. If you could use the card since it matches the other cards in your hand, you can choose to add it to your hand. This counts as your action for the turn.

Take a card from the discard pile — This player already has the one and three blue cards. After landing on the Take 1 Card from Either Draw or Discard Pile space, they decide to take the blue two card from the discard pile.

Otherwise if you don’t want the card on the top of the discard pile, you can take the top card from the draw pile and add it to your hand.

Should the discard pile ever run out of cards, you will take the top card from the draw pile and flip it over to form a new discard pile.

Open the Door

When you land on the Open the Door space, you will look in your hand to see if you have a complete outfit. To create a complete outfit you need to collect cards one through three of the same color. For example to create the outfit for a beach date, you need to have an orange one, two and three cards.

Creating a complete blue skiing outfit — This player has acquired the blue one, two and three cards. They have created a complete skiing outfit.

If you should not have a complete outfit, your turn ends and you do not get to take any additional action.

Should you have a complete outfit, you will play the corresponding cards face up so the rest of the players can see them. If you have two complete outfits, you will choose one of them to play this turn.

After you show the other players your outfit, you will turn/spin the handle on the door. Before you start turning the handle, you need to make sure the door is completely shut. You can turn the handle as much as you want. Once you are done turning the handle, you will slowly open the door to reveal who is behind it.

Spinning the door handle — After revealing a complete outfit, the current player spins the blue door handle to randomize which character shows up behind the door.

Compare the outfit of the character in the doorway with the outfit that you played in front of you. If the two outfits do not match, you will close the door and your turn ends. For example if your outfit is for the beach, and the date is wearing a suit for the formal dance. You should spin the handle some so the next player doesn’t know which date is currently selected. Return the outfit cards you revealed to your hand. You can use them on a future turn.

Outfit is not a match — The current player opened up the door revealing a date dressed for a beach date. Since the player chose a skiing outfit, the player did not find a match. The player returns the skiing outfit to their hand. They will shut the door and turn the handle some to randomize it. Their turn then ends.

If you open the door and the “Dud” (is dressed look they aren’t going on a date) is visible, you will immediately discard the three outfit cards you revealed to the other players. Draw three new cards to replace the cards you just discarded. Your turn then ends.

Revealing the Dud — The player opened the door and revealed the “Dud”. The player loses the beach outfit that they created. They will draw three new cards and their turn ends.

Winning the Game

When you are opening the door you are hoping for a date whose outfit matches the outfit you played. If their outfit matches your revealed cards, you win the game.

Winning Mystery Date — This player created a bowling outfit and revealed a bowling date behind the door. Since their outfit matches their date, they have won the game.

Mystery Date FAQ

If you have any questions about how to play the game, leave a comment below on this post. I will try to answer any questions asked as best and as quickly as possible.

Components

Gameboard
Mystery Door with five different dates (attached to board)
48 cards (12 of each color)
4 Playing Pieces with Bases
Die
Instructions

Year: 1965 | Publisher: Hasbro, Milton Bradley, Winning Solutions | Designer: Marvin Glass

Genres: Children’s, Roll and Move

Ages: 7+ | Number of Players: 2-4 | Length of Game: 30 minutes

Difficulty: Light | Strategy: Light | Luck: High

For more board and card game rules/how to plays, check out our complete alphabetical list of card and board game rules posts.

Written By:

Eric Mortensen

Eric Mortensen is an owner and head writer on Geeky Hobbies since 2014. He is an avid board game player and collector with over 3,000 board and card games in his collection. Since 2014 he has written more than 1,100 board game how to play guides.