Photo above is property of The Deadbolt Mystery Society
Company: The Deadbolt Mystery Society
Game: Murder at Cape Anna
Country: USA 🇺🇸
Language: English
Type of Game: Tabletop Game 📬
Genre: Mystery
Date Played: April 13, 2023
Difficulty (based on 3 players): 6/10
Size of Team: Unlimited (Recommend 3 Players)
Time: Approximately 2 Hours
Price: $28.99 USD
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They just couldn't let you have a day off. Even in the sleepy scenic seaside town of Cape Anna, there is no rest for the detectives of the Will Street Detective Agency, when what was supposed to be a relaxing retreat is disturbed by a sudden and very public murder, and what was supposed to be a vacation has now turned into an investigation. Just back from attending a symposium on modern day crime solving techniques, you find yourself meandering in thoughtless reverie through the merriments of the colorful and lively Founders Festival, when you are suddenly arrested by what your sight unmistakably recognizes to be the all too familiar and alarming decoration of yellow police tape. You have accidentally stepped into an active crime scene. As you stop to examine this gruesome exhibit you are approached by the local police, who are completely unprepared and dumbfounded by the circumstances of the crime, and now turn to you to ask your expert hand in helping them solve this cryptic killing. How ironic, you were just coming from a talk on crime solving techniques, and now have to actually solve one. But this is no practice test, and if you fail this pop quiz who knows what innocent victim could end up dead next. There's no time to ponder on the seemingly never ending calamities that seem to fall - as if from the creators above - upon the heads of the Will Street Detective Agency. There's a body that demands justice, and a murderer on the loose! You start to suspect there is more than meets the eye to this quiet and unassuming town. Look under the boardwalk and find what dark and sinister underbelly lies below its sunny facade.
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The Deadbolt Mystery Society made the move a while back to make their boxes more compact and more mailbox and postage cost friendly. From the outside the box looks quite sleek. The cover art pops right at you, with bold lettering and images, almost like something out of a travel brochure, but with a murderous twist. Sunny Cape Anna, fun on the rocks. When you open the box you find a handy gift bag, and several envelopes, which when opened contain an expansive number of glossy pages, nice to the touch and non-stick. These puzzle pages have a kind of intentionally campy aesthetic, less art than infographics collages. They have mastered the art of using these small canvases to communicate their cryptic content in a frame that is also visually intriguing and clear.
Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers
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I always love the first moments of opening a Deadbolt box, uncovering an almost overwhelming number of glossy and colorful information and puzzle pages, and the accompanying thought of all the possibilities awaiting you, stimulating your imagination into a state of joy. But the company has wisely started sequencing the narrative by dividing it into what is first usually a brief collection of starting material, and then a series of envelopes to be unlocked, which gate and contain the various phases of the mystery as it progresses. Deadbolt uses this method of gatekeeping to wisely delineate the flow of the gameplay in such a way as to direct the player, but also keep future narrative developments a surprise. In addition there is a liberal helping of QR codes, used either to access additional digital media information bites, or as a lock through which you enter your solutions to uncover the next stages in the mystery. What I immediately identified about this box, once I finally surveyed the grand mystery which I had now spread before me, was that it was - conceptually speaking - extremely well designed. I mean it had all the virtues of a great tabletop mystery box. It has a kind of introductory phase, and then a much larger and less linear exploratory sequence, which includes a whole lot of puzzles, and finally a kind of deductive period as you seek to put it all together. In terms of the story itself they do an impressive job at setting the scene, and the plot and characters are quite entertaining, all served with a good dollop of fun and cartoony humor. It had a semi believable and engrossing narrative premise, which is a quality that I think is often lacking in your average tabletop game. Gameplay wise it had good flow and kept the player well directed, and the puzzles were varied and well layered. Above all It was intriguing, and fun to play. Once you've got your bearings you just start working through the individual pieces, solving the puzzles and pushing the narrative forward, collecting a greater trove of information, until you have enough material to deductively eliminate all but one of the suspects.
Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers
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"Murder at Cape Anna" has a perfect complement of puzzle-puzzles and narrative deduction puzzles. I like the fact that almost all straight puzzle solutions are themselves only the gateway to, and the particular keys of, a larger deductive puzzle, that must then be put together by the players, wherein they take everything they have before them, and everything they've learned and uncovered, and bring it all home to logically deduce the true circumstances of the murder. Its the best of both worlds. The puzzles themselves are quite engaging, varied, imaginative, and then the narrative deduction - which I consider the most intriguing and challenging part of any mystery - really tests your attention to detail, and your ability to identify the special logic at work, which acts as the key to deducing the underlying concept from out the raw and disparate facts, which is often the most creative and novel part of the mystery itself. I feel like the moment you have to pull out the old notebook and begin to really think over the game is when you know its starting to get good. They also do a great job of using imagery, and incorporating physical and tactile puzzles in playful ways, which is a good complement to the reading aspect of the puzzles, which tends to dominate.
Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers
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Did it live up to the hype? Deadbolt always delivers, and The Murder at Cape Anna struck me as being a very polished, very well thought out and meticulous production, with an amusing and engrossing narrative to boot. Even the early boxes had great design, but I feel at this point Deadbolt has the formula down to a science. On top of that, the implementation of tech and the ubiquitous use of QR codes is now pretty seamless, as opposed to being something of a headache before, which was a common complaint in their earlier days. It has got to be hard coming up with a new story and set of puzzles every month, but I feel like they have such a masterful grasp on the concept that they can consistently deliver unique narratives, exciting scenarios and imagery, and complex yet well designed puzzles. The writing in particular really stands out now. They've created engrossing stories, and injected them with a hilarious brand of campy humor. Month to month, it's always exciting to see what this diabolical brain trust of theirs will come up with next. But where do we go from here, what new frontiers await the art, and what does the format and media reasonably permit? I know they have to tread a fine line trying to please everybody. You can't go too tech heavy, nor could it probably make the full leap into digital form, but on the other hand some creative incorporation of new media could open new and stimulating immersive opportunities, and expand the art form. In the future I would also love to see the production of an epic standalone box, something longer, with more abstract and conceptually dense puzzles, a more expansive narrative, something you can really sink your teeth into, something for the diehards, a serious challenge. I'm sure they will oblige, they haven't once let us down yet.
(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.