Photos above are property of Rain Projects Software Developers
Company: Rain Projects Software Developers (Author: Dimitris Chassapakis)
Game: Journal 29 & Journal 29: Revelation
Country: Cyprus 🇨🇾
Language: English
Type of Game: Tabletop Games 🧩
Genre: Adventure, Thriller
Date Played: February 19, 2023
Difficulty (based on 1 player): 8/10
Size of Team: 1
Time: Unlimited (Approx. 3-4 Hrs.)
Price: "Journal 29" - $17.27 / "Journal 29: Revelations" - $15.99
🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈
“The first 28 weeks went smoothly. And then, the 29th week happened.”
As part of an expedition team, you, the scientist of the team, find yourselves at an archaeological site where another team has been sending you information for the last 28 weeks. When no news came the next week, your leader expressed concern. And when the team finally reached where last contact was made, only a journal was found. With no one else in sight and only this one journal to go off on, will you be able to find out what happened to your other team members?
Video above is property of Rain Projects Software Dvelopers
🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞
"Journal 29" and "Journal 29: Revelation" are the first two books in a series of three. The sleek and simple covers and binding are made distinct with the title, the series symbol and motifs on the cover, and sometimes, secrets embedded on the spine, back, and within the pages. While it appears to be a simple paperback puzzle book, the darker colours and inky interiors add a sense of mystery and immersive to the overall mood.
One thing to note would be the ability to see the growth in lore as the books progressed. Journal 29 was mostly a puzzle book, while Revelations included bits of prose to tie the puzzles and the lore together.
Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers
🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈
The short answer for this section would be - Scan the QR Code, and enter the answer in the answer box on the Journal 29 platform, based on the page on the right of the said QR Code.
The more accurate description of this game play runs deeper and with greater immersion. As instructed in the first few pages (and before the tutorial puzzle), players not only need to concentrate on the puzzles that lay before them, but also look around the book in its entirety for certain puzzles. If that did not feel like what an immersive journal would feel like, I could hardly find another great example.
The only challenge I could think of with these couple of books would be the hint system. Unlike many ‘play-at-home’ games and books, the hint system here takes the form of forum threads with spoiler filters. Therefore, instead of getting a straightforward hint for a particular puzzle, one would need to comb through each corresponding puzzle’s threads should you get stuck.
Not to worry though, Journal 29 has a dedicated bunch of followers who have your back!
Photos above are property of Rain Projects Software Developers
🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂
Be prepared for full immersion. While most of the puzzles can be figured out with that single page on the right side of each QR code, or through a quick Google search, the puzzles can get complex as the book progresses. Some of them require you to search for clues on the spines or pages of the book, while others need you to fold the pages.
Whether you do this solo or as a team, be sure to have a notebook, a tablet / phone / laptop with internet access, and this book with you. If you are worried about destroying the book, be rest assured that there will be ways around solving the more spatially-related puzzles.
Given the complexity of the puzzles and how each page is pared down to only present essential information, I believe these books have a decent level of replayability. Be sure to make full use of the hint forums!
e puzzles in this game are light hearted and great for newcomers or young minds wanting to dive into puzzles. The range for pattern recognition, riddles, logic puzzles, maths, and observation. Once you understand the puzzle it is quite easy but I will say it can be tricky to get started as there is no “do this puzzle first.” I would have liked a little more sign posting as sometimes I took a hint to figure out my path. You may find yourself trying to work on puzzles that you actually can’t solve as a result. That said, the non-linear aspects play well into group work as you can divide things up for a short period before coming together to review what clues you unlocked. The clue pieces are essential for some puzzles so make sure to keep them handy! This game encourages keeping a keen visual eye on the board so have good lighting and a flashlight handy so you can get clear visuals when needed. I really enjoyed how well they integrated some clues as they created fun “ahas”!
I find the story promising but I feel like I don’t know a lot. There is a unique mystery around peculiar family members and stolen items but the progression doesn’t feel all that vast. I enjoyed how the story is presented with diary pages and scribbled notes but I wish the ending would have provided a little bit more reward in the story.
🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂
It has been a while since I “read” or immersed myself in a book from end-to-end, in close to one sitting. Apart from the structural immersion, tight themes, and the twists and turns in each coming puzzle (or across puzzles), what kept me interested to find out more was the lore of this storyline. What really happened to the team that disappeared? What was their purpose there in the first place? And are we dealing with something otherworldly? In what sense?
Perhaps we have to play more to find out!
Journal 29
Journal 29 Revelation
(If you do decide to try this game, please remember to let them know that you heard it from"ESCAPETHEROOMers"!)
Disclosure: We thank Rain Projects Software Developers 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.
#JoelynAlexandra #AtHomeGames #TabletopGames #PuzzlesByMail #RainProjectsSoftwareDevelopers #Journal29 #Adventure #Thriller #Cyprus