Thorn & Key - "Unfold Zine #1" & "Unfold Zine #2"
- Joelyn Alexandra
- 23 hours ago
- 2 min read
Photo above is property of Thorn & Key
Company: Thorn & Key
Country: Singapore 🇸🇬
Language: English
Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬
Genre: Vaporwave, Tech Noir
Date Played: June 25, 2025
Difficulty (based on 1 player): 7/10
Size of Team: Solo/ 1
Time: ~60 Mins.
Price: $7 per zine, $12 for a bundle of both
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You have a choice - realising you’re probably existing in an alleged dreamscape or finding out who has been covertly messing with the power grid of Vantix City. Regardless, these are missions to navigate these spaces, all in your pocket. With each puzzle, build key phrases to get to the secrets of each zine - in this parallel or the next.
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Puzzle in your Pocket - The Unfold Zines are truly pocket-sized, great for solving puzzles on the go!
Theming and Immersion - The zine design definitely aligned with their themes - vaporwave and tech noir - but the digital second stage for both zines truly brought the theme together. Are you trapped in a parallel landscape or trying to find a shadow agent? The theme alignment between the zine and its digital counterpart certainly reinforces these questions.
Two-part gameplay - After solving the zine, scan the QR Code for the second half of the experience. There may also be something else waiting for you at the end of the game!
Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers
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Right Balance of Difficulty and Accessibility in Puzzles - As these zines are highly puzzle-driven, so it gave me a huge sense of satisfaction on the balance between puzzles I could get right away and those that needed a pen and paper to think things through. The good news is that the puzzles are all self-contained, so there’s no need to have background knowledge on external ciphers.
However, do note that the last puzzle in each zine did not seem to have a direct link to the passcode to the second stage, so I was a little confused at the role of the final zine puzzles, before just diving into the second stage of each zine.
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If you want a puzzle experience in your pocket, both zines will definitely give your brains the right amount of sizzle and fuzziness. Having a balance of various puzzle difficulties before going into your endgames, Unfold Zines are a great option for when you just want to give your brain a workout on the go, anywhere.
Just a note that at the time of play, hints were not available for "Unfold Zine #2" yet. Regardless, remember to collect your reward at the end of the experience! And find out more at Thorn & Key’s website.
(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"!)