Thames & Kosmos - "Exit The Game: Advent Calendar - The Intergalactic Race"
- Dave Bristol
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
Photo above is property of Thames & Kosmos
Company: Thames & Kosmos
Game: Exit The Game: Advent Calendar - The Intergalactic Race
Country: USA 🇺🇸
Language: English
Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬
Genre: Sci-Fi
Date Played: August 1, 2025
Difficulty (based on 2 player): 5/10
Size of Team: 1+ Players (Ages 10+)
Time: Approximately 5-15 minutes per day
Price: $49.95
🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈
For months, the talk of the cosmos has been the epic 24-day Le Mond space race…and somehow, you’ve landed a spot on a quirky racer’s team after a chance encounter at a space bar. (Lesson learned: never underestimate the networking potential of interplanetary happy hour.) The stakes are high: fame, glory, and (most importantly) the honor of running Christmas! Naturally, competition is fierce. You never know who you might run into along the way (or who might run into you...)
While the setup screams “high-speed race,” the journey feels more like a meandering interstellar road trip in an old jalopy with lots of quirky pit stops. But we very much enjoyed the story, particularly the characters and their evolution.
🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞
The box is bursting with bright, playful space art, including some pop-culture nods and sly callbacks to previous Exit games. We did a thorough once-over of the box at the start and loved noting all the little details and imagining how they might eventually come into play (rarely correctly)! The compartments are well-constructed, and while you’ll still benefit from a flashlight and maybe a magnifying glass, there’s less of that awkward, neck-craning “I think I see something in the back there” action compared to past, as more colorful accompaniments are included in the storybook. The interiors of each day's box are (as always) beautiful, varied, and fun to explore without being overly fiddly, and nearly every inch of real estate on the main packaging gets used for puzzle elements, sometimes in ways you absolutely don’t expect. That said, one important element was tucked away a little deeper than we’d have liked.
Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers
🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈
As with other Exit advent calendars, each day starts with reading a story entry (which typically contain or end in clues), then you open the day’s compartment to find artwork and some number of cards and/or “special objects”. You use those (along with any other materials in the game) to deduce a three-digit code, plug it into the decoder, and find directions on the back side as to which compartment to open next. As in past games, you verify that you found the correct code by then matching symbols on the box “doors” to those on the back of the decoder. The process is smooth, with a comprehensive tiered hint booklet on hand for when you need a nudge (or three). Just be sure to write the date on each door as you play them or otherwise keep track of which door goes with which day.
One neat twist: on two potentially tricky days, there’s an alternate puzzle (referenced at the very top of the hint page for both days) you can swap in. If you don’t use it during the race, you can save it as a bonus “victory lap” at the end. (Find it at the end of the hints booklet.) It’s a nice touch for those that might struggle with two particular puzzle types, while also giving a little bonus for the rest of us. It also utilizes a suspiciously intriguing artistic element that remained unused during our experience.
Like most Exit titles, this is designed as a one-and-done adventure. Some components are meant to be folded, marked, or otherwise transformed along the way. That said, with a bit of care (and the occasional photo copy or transparency), you can keep it in good shape to gift or share. You could even go the extra mile and tuck in small surprises for the next player, turning each day’s puzzle into a double reward!
Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers
🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂
As with the other Exit advent calendars, this one’s labeled “Beginner,” but we didn’t completely cruise through it like we might expect at that level. Most days took us about 5–10 minutes, but a few were less (very beginner) and a few times we had to reach for hints. In a couple cases, this was more because we felt the instructions didn’t quite match the actual goal, but there were also a few great puzzles where we just truly needed a nudge. There’s a good mix of puzzle types, involving a wide range of skills: spatial reasoning, musical knowledge, decoding, folding, card tricks, etc. Once again, we were super impressed by just how much they managed to pack into this box! And for a largely paper-based game, they do an incredible job of creating all kinds of tactile, physical interactions with very satisfying solves - with many of the puzzles being directly connected to the story, but also wrapped in Christmas spirit.
Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers
🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂
"The Intergalactic Race" is proof that Exit’s puzzle engineers are still firing on all thrusters. It delivers another month of creative, tactile, and delightfully jam-packed puzzling. The “space race” concept is cute, even if it feels like we’re patching our ship more than racing it. The characters are fun (one in particular grows on you over time), and the story sprinkles in clever humor and creative easter eggs for the observant. This one feels slightly more holiday-adjacent than last year’s Hollywood Star, but it’s still easy to enjoy any time of year. We played ours in August and still felt the festive spark. If you’re looking for a fun daily challenge that blends hands-on puzzling with whimsical world-building, this box is a stellar choice. It’s family-friendly (though they recommend ages 10+), but we still totally loved it as two light-hearted adults. We can’t wait to see where Exit takes us next year…after all this racing, chilling in a relaxing snow globe might be nice.
Photo above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers
Check out our interview with the creators to understand more on the development side of the 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 Thames & Kosmos 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.
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