The Deadbolt Mystery Society - "Down the Rabbit Hole"

Photo above is property of The Deadbolt Mystery Society

Company: The Deadbolt Mystery Society

Game: Down the Rabbit Hole

Country: USA 🇺🇸

Language: English

Type of Game: Tabletop Game 📬

Genre: Murder Mystery

Date Played: September 29, 2023

Difficulty (based on 4 players): 6/10

Size of Team: Unlimited (Recommend 1-4 Players)

Time: Approximately 2-3 Hrs

Price: $28.99 USD

Your grandfather, Edgar Mirkowsky, has been living at the Abernathy Retirement Community. After an odd string of deaths occurred at the community, your grandfather who is a former private detective himself, has reached out to you to help him investigate. Remembering the tall tales that your grandfather used to tell you, you head over there not expecting too much. When you get there though, you realize that maybe there is something more hidden behind these walls.

Opening up the art printed box, we found all we need to play through the game. There is a "start here" document as well as an initial briefing, lots of high-quality print items to go through and a few other envelopes that tell us not to open them until instructed to do so.

Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

To get the game started, we began by reading the beginning brief that introduced us to the story as well as some points of interest on the documents and items. How DMS games work is there are typically QR codes on different cards that we will scan and input our answers. If we are correct, a document will open that will progress the story or give us a piece of information needed to solve something else.

The story behind “Down the Rabbit Hole” was appealing. It built up through the different sections as we progressed and introduced us to different characters along the way. This one made us feel like true detectives as we had to learn about people along the way and see how they all fit together. There were also some great references to Alice in Wonderland sprinkled throughout the game that are recognizable even without knowing a lot about "Alice in Wonderland".

Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

There was a diverse blend of puzzles, which we all got involved into solving. The puzzles were made up of ciphers, deduction and more. The signposting was on point, and we never questioned if that was something we needed to look at.

To access the hints, you can scan a QR code that will take you to a hints document and a solutions document. One change from previous DMS games is that the hints are more spaced out on the page and labelled to avoid accidentally reading the next line of the hints. Some of the hints are also more built out and thorough in explaining what you should look at. This was a welcome change for us.

Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

"Down the Rabbit Hole" was a fantastic mystery game with lots of fun references to "Alice in Wonderland". The story kept us guessing throughout and captured us more as we played through. The puzzles were diverse and blended in beautifully with the story adding in just the right amount of difficulty. We played with 4 people which seemed like the perfect amount. We found there was plenty to pass around but allowed us to see everything. Any fans of detective games or Alice in Wonderland would like this game. This game is worth venturing down the rabbit hole for a great mystery experience.

(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 The Deadbolt Mystery Society for providing us with samples of the game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever.

#MatthewLui #AtHomeGames #TabletopGames #PuzzleByMail #SubscriptionGames #Murder #Mystery #ColdCase #USA #TheDeadboltMysterySociety