BlueMatter Games (Published by MindWare) - "Dig It Up! Crack The Crate: A Dragon's World"

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Company: BlueMatter Games (Published by MindWare)

Game: Dig It Up! Crack The Crate: A Dragon's World

Country: USA 🇺🇸

Language: English

Type of Game: Puzzles By Mail 📬

Genre: Fantasy

Date Played: December 20, 2021

Difficulty (based on 1 player): 2/10

Size of Team: Unlimited (Recommend ages 8+)

Time: Unlimited (Suggested 1+ Hours)

Price: $34.95

The Kingdom of Valoria is facing a terrible Darkness spreading across its land. Without the dragons, there is no hope. An ancient prophecy has been shared across the land about a series of hidden orbs that provide the secrets to bringing back the dragons and defeating the Darkness. You’ve heard whispers that Darkness has its sight set on dragon eggs and you need to find and solve these orbs before they do…or else the world will be consumed!

"A Dragon’s World" consist of three boxes, a series of 10 ice raven cards, an amulet, a

prophecy page, a book of dragon lore, digging tools, a solutions book, and answer

cards. Each box contains a mystery item that players must dig into once instructed to gain key information.

What stands out with these games is the physicality of core game pieces. This game

really wins over young players by rewarding them throughout the experience with a fun digging adventure between puzzling.

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In "A Dragon’s World" you begin with reading the instructions off the envelope inside of the box which gives you’re the premise, a tip to listen to the ice ravens, and a few things they recommend gathering. In particular, they mention you will need scissors and a large bowl of water. I highly recommend getting a big bowl as it will make the game experience easier. I also recommend playing this on a large table or floor and spreading out paper to help catch the mess.

Once you have prepped, the game will direct you to read a raven card which provides

the story and instructions on how to move forward. This game follows a "rinse and repeat" function where you must solve the puzzle on the outside of the box, then a puzzle to open the orb, and another puzzle to move onto the next location. The answer cards offer four options and once you have the answer, you scratch out the spot under the word you believe is the answer. If you are correct, it will give you a number for which card you will need next to read. If you are incorrect there will be an "X".

If you run into any trouble while playing or your kids need a bit of help, the solutions guide will highlight how you get the answers. This is not a hint system and will spoil answers, so I recommend adults looking before handing it to children. As a kid’s game, this game does an excellent job giving a good structure for players to follow and a nice ratio of challenge and reward.

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Puzzles for this game range from cipher, pattern identification, tracking, searching, and logic. These puzzles are quite light for an experienced player but for younger groups I think this is a good level of challenge as it encourages players to really look at things closely. I recommend not rushing through as some puzzles do require you to notice key things on items to piece together solutions. The cards themselves also tell you what you need to solve puzzles while given you a nudge so use those to guide your experience. This game also lends itself to a less text heavy experience which benefits those who struggle to read large stories and, yet, at the same time, still delivers a good story where the puzzles help break things up. I found my favourite puzzles ended up being the ones

to open the boxes because it was such a delight to scratch the solution card and know that I am now being rewarded with what's inside.

Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

"A Dragon’s World" created a fantastic adventure that truly draws players young and old into lore and prophecy of this land. The puzzling is light enough to engage children but has a well-structured story and premise that makes it enjoyable to older audiences as well. I recommend this experience for people wanting to get their children involved in puzzles using a hands-on approach or for adults looking to experience the nostalgia of digging into eggs while solving some cute puzzles. Now, are you ready to take on Darkness and find the egg?!?!?

** PLEASE NOTE: This game cannot be replayed or reset as items are altered during playthrough.

Check out our interview with the creators to understand more on the development side of these game :

(If you do decide to try this experience, give us a shoutout or tag us on social media so we know you heard it from "ESCAPETHEROOMers"!)

Disclosure: We thank BlueMatter Games & MindWare for providing us with a sample of their game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever.

#JillianRaymond #AtHomeGames #PuzzlesByMail #OneOffs #Fantasy #BlueMatterGames #MindWare #USA