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Writer's pictureMike Schnurr

Vortex Events (Formerly Fantasy Escape Games) - "Monsterville"

Updated: Apr 29


Photo above is property of Fantasy Escape Games


Company: Fantasy Escape Games

Game: Monsterville

Country: USA 🇺🇸

Language: English

Type of Game: Digital Escape Game W/GM 💻

Genre: Sci-Fi, Fantasy

Date Played: December 6, 2023

Difficulty (based on 3 players): 5/10

Size of Team: 1-8 Players (Recommend 4 Players)

Time: 30/45/60/75/90 Minutes

Price: Varies based on group size


🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈

Awakening in a dimly lit jail cell, you find yourself accused of committing heinous acts within the peculiar town of Monsterville. True to its name, Monsterville is inhabited by monsters of various ages and types. Recent crimes have tainted the usually peaceful atmosphere of the town, with your group unfairly pegged as the prime suspects. Now, it's up to you and your friends to escape the confines of the jail cell and unravel the mystery behind these unprecedented crimes in Monsterville. The urgency intensifies as you realize you have until dawn to piece together the puzzle and restore peace to this typically tranquil town.


🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈

"Monsterville" unfolds as an audio escape room experience, emphasizing a captivating "theater of the mind" dynamic. Interactions within the game revolve around imaginative engagement, painting vivid scenarios through sound. At the game's commencement, your team faces a crucial decision: whether to embark on the werewolf or vampire path. Each choice guides you down distinct routes, shaping the gameplay. Opting for the werewolf path, we were granted unique werewolf-specific abilities, adding an extra layer of intrigue to our experience.


The initial stages involved tackling smaller puzzles, allowing us to grasp the game's narrative mechanics while establishing our motivations for escape. The game master then assumed the role of storyteller, vividly describing the evolving environment. Simultaneously, we navigated a website offering visual cues, enhancing the overall immersive experience. This interactive synergy between audio storytelling and visual prompts required us to communicate our decisions based on the unfolding narrative, creating a dynamic and engaging gameplay experience.


Within the game, individual preferences come into play, with some players leaning towards a puzzle-centric experience rather than full immersion in a narrative role-playing setting. Fantasy Escape Games adeptly tailors its experiences to cater to the diverse preferences within a party. Recognizing that certain individuals may be more comfortable focusing on solving puzzles rather than engaging in spontaneous role-playing, the game accommodates these preferences seamlessly. "Monsterville" strikes a balance, allowing players the freedom to choose their preferred approach—whether that's delving into puzzles for a more cerebral challenge or opting for a dialogue-centric strategy to navigate the game's scenarios. This flexibility ensures that players of varied inclinations can all find an enjoyable and accommodating experience within the immersive world of "Monsterville".


🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂

The puzzles in this game exhibited a remarkable variety, engaging players in diverse modes of thinking. From captivating audio-based games to clever utilization of the Telescape platform, the puzzles showcased a spectrum of challenges. Some required a keen ear and attentive listening, while others made full use of Telescape's interactive features, involving tasks like clicking on items and manipulating elements within the virtual environment. These actions, though seemingly straightforward, contributed to a dynamic and immersive puzzle-solving experience.


The game's demand for note-taking emerged as crucial; scattered throughout were items, skills, and fragments of information. These seemingly disparate elements often proved instrumental in later stages of the game. While the puzzles didn't necessarily rank as the most formidable, they succeeded in presenting a collective challenge to our group, appealing to both experienced puzzle enthusiasts and those seeking a moderately challenging yet thoroughly engaging gaming experience.


The game featured a commendable blend of physical puzzles alongside logic and word challenges, all intricately woven into the overarching storyline. The thematic alignment of these puzzles added depth and cohesion to the gaming experience, seamlessly integrating them into the narrative fabric. A standout aspect was the adept guidance provided by our game master. Their communication was not only effective in indicating when health might be a factor but also in offering subtle nudges when needed. This dual function not only ensured our progression within the game but also adeptly avoided any sense of being hopelessly stuck, maintaining a dynamic and engaging flow throughout the experience.


🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂

Fantasy Escape Games has crafted a highly enjoyable and inventive audio choose-your-own-adventure escape room game. Opting for the 90-minute version, our team successfully escaped with a comfortable 30 minutes remaining on the clock. The game's pacing was well-structured, and the game master skillfully managed the flow, ensuring a seamless experience for our team.


A particularly delightful aspect of the experience was the game master's adept handling of unexpected player actions. When one of our characters deviated from the script, the game master adapted seamlessly, rolling with our choices to create a narrative that seamlessly integrated with the game world. This flexibility not only enhanced our immersion but showcased the game master's ability to dynamically respond to player interactions, adding an extra layer of excitement to the overall adventure.


The 90-minute version of this game offers a plethora of activities, and I would wholeheartedly recommend it, as it aligns with the creators' intended design. The incorporation of specific powers for the chosen race (werewolf or vampire) adds an intriguing dynamic to the gameplay. However, our team, having selected the werewolf path, wished for more opportunities to fully utilize our werewolf powers. While these abilities surfaced sporadically, a more immersive integration would have heightened the experience, allowing us to feel more authentically connected to our chosen race within the game world.


In essence, "Monsterville"  is not just a game; it's a delightful adventure tailored for every occasion. Whether connecting with friends worldwide, fostering team spirit in a corporate setting, or seeking a charming puzzle escapade, Monsterville stands out as a well-crafted delight. Its universal appeal ensures a good time for all, making it the perfect choice to turn any moment into a memorable and fun-filled experience.


Photos above are properties of Fantasy Escape Games

 

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


Video above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

 


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


Disclosure: We thank Fantasy Escape Games for comping our tickets for this game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever.



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