Detective Calling – Whodunnit ESL Mystery Game | Yes/No Questions, Prepositions, Past Simple | Classroom Team Game + Printables

Who took the birthday cake? Who painted the school cat blue? Who stole the golden banana? Detective Calling is a funny whodunnit mystery game for English learners. Inspector Pip the Penguin needs your class to find the clues, talk to the witnesses, ask clever yes/no questions and catch the culprit – then explain why!

It opens in any web browser and works offline on computers, tablets, phones and interactive whiteboards. No PowerPoint, no app store, no sign-in and no internet needed. You can also play online at https://detective-calling.pages.dev.

What's inside

• 12 kid-friendly mysteries (nothing scary!) in 3 levels, with 6–12 cartoon suspects in every case
• A1 Junior Detective – is / has got: Has the thief got glasses? Is the thief tall?
• A2 Detective – present continuous and prepositions: Is the thief wearing a cap? Look behind the rock!
• B1 Senior Detective – past simple and comparatives: Was the thief in the hall at three o'clock? The thief was taller than Mrs Honey.
• Scene search: read the tip (under, on, behind, in, next to, between) and tap the right place to find the clue
• Reading witness cards and listening witnesses with comprehension questions
• Yes/no elimination questions with a question builder (choose Is / Has / Was / Did) – suspects are crossed off as you go
• Accuse the culprit, then build the "It was … because …" sentence
• Kind feedback: a wrong guess is explained gently and you try again
• Every built-in sentence is read aloud with clear British English audio (works offline)
• Detective Notebook, hint button, stars, 6 detective badges and a printable Detective Certificate
• Team Mode for 2–4 teams: turns, live scoreboard, optional turn timer and teacher hints – perfect for the whiteboard
• Case Maker: create your own mystery with suspects from the library, your own story and clues. The game checks your case has one answer. Save, export and import your cases
• Original cartoon artwork, music and sound effects (switch them on or off)
• Printable 19-page A4 teacher companion (PDF): how to play, classroom ideas, suspect cards and clue cards for every case, question bank, detective notebook sheet, answer key and certificate

Perfect for

• ESL / EFL classrooms and language schools (ages 6–14, A1–B1)
• Speaking, listening and reading practice, question forms, describing people, prepositions and past simple
• Whole-class whiteboard games, team competitions, small groups and tutoring
• Homeschool and end-of-term fun

How you get it

This is a digital download. Nothing is shipped. After purchase, download the zip file and unzip it. Double-click index.html – the game opens in your browser. No installation and no internet needed once downloaded.

On a phone or tablet: open https://detective-calling.pages.dev, or unzip the download and open index.html in your browser. Press Play (one player) or Team Mode, choose a case and start investigating. Print the companion from the yellow button at the top right of the game.

Please note

Works in Chrome, Edge, Safari and Firefox on Windows, Mac, Chromebook, iPad and Android.

Stars and your own cases are saved in the browser on your device.

For personal and single-classroom use. Please do not share or resell the files.

You can also open the web version at https://detective-calling.pages.dev.

Richard Sim ©