Codebreaker HQ
Spy agency: crack intercepts and decrypt the secret message
- Letter Codes
- Letter Analogies
- Letter-Word Codes
- Number-Word Codes
16 intercepts · about 4 min
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11+ Verbal ReasoningIn the full 11+ Arcade
Detective Agency: a logic and shuffled-sentence game for the 11+
Crack three cases at a detective agency, one clue at a time. Each right answer types up a note or slides a fact card onto the evidence board, and three in a row sets off a Breakthrough that doubles your points.
Included in every Prep4All plan. Codebreaker HQ is free to try first.
A round3 cases · about 5 min
LevelsFirst Case · Tricky Case · Baffling Case
Daily challengeA new challenge every day
Unlock: Fog Street, 1890Earn Master Detective to unlock
About Detective Agency
Detective Agency turns two 11+ verbal reasoning question types into a mystery. Each round is three cases, picked at random from six mysteries such as The Missing Jewel and The Stopped Clock. In every case your child unscrambles three notes (reordering words), then reads the numbered facts on the case file and makes a deduction (explore the facts). The last question is the Final Deduction: harder facts, ten extra seconds and triple points.
A wrong answer is a wrong lead: the trap is explained and the clue is pinned up smudged, but the case goes on, and no question ever times out. Questions get harder after a streak and easier after misses. The case review at the end shows each trap that caught your child, with a worked answer. Earn Master Detective to unlock Fog Street, 1890, an office of gaslight, fog and a ticking clock tower.
How to play Detective Agency
- Choose a starting level: First Case, Tricky Case or Baffling Case.
- Read each scrambled note or set of case facts, then tap the answer you think is right.
- Answer quickly for a bonus, and get three right in a row for a Breakthrough that doubles your points.
- Crack the Final Deduction at the end of the third case for triple points.
- Open the case review to see how each trap works, then take new cases.
What it practises for the 11+
- Reordering Words
- The words of a sentence are jumbled, and your child puts them back in the one sensible order to answer a question about it, such as which word comes first or which word is not needed. For example, ‘park we the to cake went’ makes ‘We went to the park’, so ‘cake’ is not needed. Learn the topic →
- Explore the Facts
- Your child reads a few short facts about some people, such as who scored higher or who plays which instrument, and works out what must be true, choosing ‘Cannot tell’ when the facts leave a choice. For example, if Amy is taller than Ben and Ben is taller than Cal, Amy is the tallest. Learn the topic →
Logic problems like these case files are one of GL Assessment’s 21 verbal reasoning question types, and spotting the extra word in a shuffled sentence is a CEM-style question.
Try Detective Agency questions
Questions from the game, for you to try together. Have a go before opening the answer.
Question 1 · Reordering Words
One word is not needed. Leave it out and rearrange the rest to make a sensible sentence. Which word is not needed? violin / plays / cousin / my / sings / the
- cousin
- my
- plays
- sings
- violin
Show the answer
sings — My cousin plays the violin. ‘sings’ has no place in the sentence.
Question 2 · Explore the Facts
Ben, Esme, Hugo and Ola take a spelling test, and no two get the same score. 1. Esme scores lower than Ben. 2. Ben scores lower than Hugo. 3. Esme scores higher than Ola. Who has the lowest score?
- Ben
- Esme
- Hugo
- Ola
- Cannot tell
Show the answer
Ola — Draw a line and add the facts one at a time. From highest score to lowest: Hugo, Ben, Esme, Ola. Ola has the lowest score.
Question 3 · Explore the Facts
Bilal, Hana, Omar and Seren each play a different instrument: the flute, the guitar, the trumpet and the violin. 1. Hana does not play the flute or the trumpet. 2. Bilal plays the guitar. 3. Omar plays the trumpet. Which instrument does Seren play?
- Flute
- Guitar
- Trumpet
- Violin
- Cannot tell
Show the answer
Flute — Draw a table: people down the side, instruments along the top. Tick what you know, then cross out the rest of each row and column. Bilal: guitar, Hana: violin, Omar: trumpet, Seren: flute. So Seren plays the flute.
More verbal reasoning games
Island Hopper
Island voyage: five channels, changing weather and the Storm Channel
- Synonyms and Antonyms
- Word Pairs
- Complete a Word Pair
- Odd Ones Out
- Word Connections
5 channels · about 4–5 min
Archery Arena
Archery tournament: four ends, wind challenges and a podium
- Letter Equations
- Equation Balancing
- Complete the Sum
- Number Sequences
- Related Numbers
4 ends · about 5 min
Play Detective Agency and every other game
Every game, every level and the daily challenge are included in every Prep4All plan, with lessons, practice tests and mock exams. Every plan starts with a 7-day free trial.