Last updated on December 16th, 2025 at 12:48 am
Mystery Box: Hidden Secrets – Trivia Game Review
Mystery Box: Hidden Secrets is a Trivia/Puzzle/Lifestyle game from XSGames di Franchini Francesco, first launched in 17th August 2021.
It’s rated 9+ and currently has 186+ ratings on the App Store.
What Makes Mystery Box: Hidden Secrets Stand Out
Crack enigmas and discover the history of the world's most popular inventions!
To unlock the boxes you have to interact with objects, handles, buttons, and wheels on each side. You can find puzzle pieces on a side of the boxes as well.
• REALISTIC GRAPHICS
It feels like you're handling a real box in a dark room.
• DISCOVER INVENTIONS
Once you open all 8 boxes of a level pack, you'll be able to compose a puzzle and find out a brief history of the discovered invention.
• AMAZING PUZZLES
Think outside of the box to solve all riddles, it's not always an easy job!
• THRILLING BACKGROUND MUSIC
Play the game with your headphones to get totally immersed in it!
• HINTS
Got stuck on some level? Tap the bulb button to get a helpful hint!
XSGames is an independent solo startup from Italy.
Find out more at xsgames.co
Follow me @xsgames_ on both Twitter and Instagram
This Trivia game offers engaging gameplay and regular updates for mobile players.
Player Feedback
As a newer release, Mystery Box: Hidden Secrets is building its player community. Early feedback suggests .
Recent Updates & Development
Latest Update: 17th September 2025
Recent improvements include:
Thanks for your awesome support with the Mystery Box series! I've fixed some minor bugs in this version
Download & Availability
Mystery Box: Hidden Secrets is available through the official App Store for iOS devices.
Get Mystery Box: Hidden Secrets on App Store
Requirements: Requires iPhone 5s / iPad Air / iPad Air (Cellular) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina, Cellular) / iPhone 6 / iPhone 6 Plus / iPad Air 2 / iPad Air 2 (Cellular) / iPad Mini 3 or later.
Compatible with iPhone and iPad devices.
Player Experience Highlights
Community Insight:
Well worth the cost. As a very casual gamer we like games like this that you can do at whatever speed you want with no timers or other pressure.
We're finding that Im having to get help on some because there are some buttons that are missing in the game (for example, we just had to look at the walk through for the wooden box because we could not figure out how to move the round pieces; turns out the walkthrough had buttons not shown in game). It's not the first time finding missing components that the walkthrough had, or had differently than what is shown. The game is pretty. There is no storyline, though. The boxes, once you understand the general premise, are fairly simple to solve. Would like more challenges, additional layers, and more parts to discover, then use later, etc. It's a good start; it feels like a college kids first try at this type of game design.
Everything was fine and we were up to the Pearl Box Pack when there was an update and all our progress was lost. We restarted at the Metal Box and even though all levels are 2/2, the game says we are missing a tile. Of course it doesn't say which one. One more try and that is it for us. Nice game otherwise.
We really enjoy the puzzles. Some are hard and challenge us, some are easier but still challenge us some.
There is a puzzle on the side, moving gears. You have to get the ball bearing from one end of the puzzle to the other on this level. Every time you hit the gear, it bounces out of the box and on top and you have to exit out of the game and come back into the game that is the only problem our phone otherwise this game is a wonderful game.
Started out good but we guess someone decided to mix things up. Either you got simple visuals as clues, or you had to figure out why only certain symbols were the correct ones with no clues at all. We got tired of the trial and error method of solving. Guess thats a good thing as the game stopped working on level 5 of the black box level. Reloading didnt help.
The levels feed you a couple simple ones, but then you reach puzzles where there is no way to know what to do without a hint. We are an escape/puzzle veteran. We have been playing this type of game since before this App Store existed. This isnt even moon logic, this is no logic at all.
Only the developer can possibly understand the ridiculous, illogical reasoning behind these devious puzzles. Even watching the clues helps bot a bit to get the reasoning. Im sure the developer is quite pleased with themselves, BUT most players will NOT get it. We have way, way too many more important things to do than waste hours trying to decipher this game.
Most puzzles dont make logical sense. Dont waste your time watching ads to get hints- Youll just get a walkthrough without any explanation.
Bought the Premium pack for all four games thinking less money and easier to move through games. WRONG. Finished first set and when we got to the second set could only play first two boxes then wants us to pay $4.99 to keep playing! Tried to Restore Purchase but just has the screen blink on and off. On a good note, we contacted support and they promptly replied, twice, but after showing them the problem they said it was an Apple Store problem (within the app??). Said if they (Apple) charged us they would refund on PayPal. Ok but what happens on the third set, then the fourth. What a pain. Repeat and request refund wait and track. Repeat. What a pain. The game is ok and nice time waster. Nothing too deep. We want to keep playing and would not give 1 star except for the restore purchase problem. Another issue is that the game does not remember your progress (except completed ones). If you start a box and are part way through and stop you need to start all over. Also does not even translate that over to a different device, start all over for all. Used to be games connected through Apple and always remember but not here. They said the last two games of the series do have a memory of progress but not the first two. Seems like they would fix that. Not sure what we are going to do for this second set just dont want to pay and wait for a refund. Especially to have to repeat that for two more. Frustrated.
Like the design and feel to the game. Still trying to figure out the logic in some but its a fun challenge, not a dumb challenge.
Im enjoying this game but when we complete level 8, it isnt registering and still marks it as 0/2 so we cant continue to the final puzzle. Other than that frustrating glitch, Im enjoying the game and would give it 4.5-5 stars rather than 3.
We really like this type of game and bought the premium pack after the first level. However, some of the hints are missing and there doesnt seem to be any way to make them show up. We click on hint and nothing happens. We go to a different level and it works. Then another level and it wont work. Very frustrating.
Mystery Box Hidden Secrets, Evolution and the Room as well are all enjoyable games. Most puzzles moderately difficult, but a few required the built-in hint to solve. We wrote developer for advice to solve one of the last boxes in the final stage of the room received response w/in a day! (ty). We look forward to the next app in the mystery box series! Peace.
Tried to get a hint. Watched 2 ads and was given the hint of after you solve the puzzles, push the big button. Yeah, real helpful there – THAT PART WAS OBVIOUS. Next ad gave a hint, but it flashed on the screen and disappeared before it could be read. Hints must stay long enough to read. Next ad-watching revealed the same hint as the first time of pushing the big button. Seriously, all this developer did was rig the game such that youre watching ad-revenue more than actually playing it. And dont ask for a hint or youll be in an ad loop that you cant escape from. This needs to be fixed. Im deleting this one. There are too many good puzzle games out there that dont do this.
Hints dont work only in the second box. Works on all the other boxes. This really is a lot of fun.
Fun, addictive puzzles. Worth the purchase price. Looking forward to playing the rest of the series.
We like this game so far. The puzzles are challenging and you really do have to think outside the box. However, we agree with other reviews that the hint does not help you understand how to solve the puzzle, it just shows you the answer. It would be nice to have some text to explain the reasoning behind the answer so you understand what you should have done. Or any system of better hints than just a walkthrough that shows how to pass the level. Too many ads, although we know you can pay to remove them. Why cant the ads be limited to asking for a hint? Would make the game less frustrating. Otherwise beautifully designed game, well done devs.
Some of these boxes had us thinking for a while how to solve. Super addictive though. Great game.
This one sets a standard for the shear number of them.
Such a fun thing to solve. Some challenging others just enjoyable. What more are you looking for.
Like the title says, this game is pretty good! We play a lot of similar-type puzzle games, and this one has an overall fun user experience between the regular box puzzles and finding all the hidden clues. One big critique is that there's no real "hint" system, just the video that shows you what to do. It would be nice to get smaller hints that don't give away the entire puzzle.
Really like the fact that there is some easy puzzles and some crazy one that makes feel out of world.
As soon as we started the first level it crashes every time.
Does nothing but crash after starting.
This game is a great combination of fun and being a bit challenging on some levels. The tutorials and hints are really helpful.
An interesting game to keep your brain sharp.
Yeah, we're obviously a moron because even with the hints we've no idea how to solve metal 3 or 4. Looks fun but we're just not picking up on the riddles and puzzles. 392458 with Roman numerals 397259? The hint gives us nothing but what we already know – they're connected somehow. And 3:50. Literally did exactly what the hint shows and – nothing. We're sure it's us but it's frustrating and made what seemed like it could be a fun game not fun at all. We even paid to get rid of the ads. Maybe we'll give it another shot at some point but right now meh. That you reached out is awesome. And as we've played we're getting it but some of them…! We will reach out. TY.
Reminds us a lot of the game called The Room.
Some puzzles are easy, some are crazy difficult and the hints dont always help because its hard to see what buttons are being pressed in the hint video. Overall though, its a fun way to pass the time if you enjoy puzzle games.
Its good at first but there isnt enough hints to the puzzles and will get very frustrating to have to watch a walkthrough on most of the puzzles.
User feedback from Apple App Store
App Details
- Version: 1.88
- Size: 99.15 MB
- iOS: 13.0 or later
- Languages: EN
- Content Advisory: Infrequent/Mild Horror/Fear Themes
- Developer: XSGames di Franchini Francesco
Last updated: 17th September 2025 | Genre: Trivia, Puzzle | Developer: XSGames di Franchini Francesco