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Videos/ Photos provided by Escape Fun Game: Utopia Institute Country: United Kingdom 🇬🇧 Language: English Type of Game: Digital Escape Game 💻 Genre: Adventure Date Played: March 26, 2021 Difficulty (based on 4 players): 4.5/10 Size of Team: 2-6 ppl Time: Unlimited Price: £7.99 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 It is the year 2022. Scientists are working hard to make antidotes on the virus that's been killing a lot of people around the world. But there's been an attack in the facility and now the entire building is in lockdown mode. You're trapped in the building along with your colleagues. Will you be able to retrieve the antidote and escape in time? 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 We organized our own virtual meetup and played this game as a group of four. The same code could be passed to all the teammates to login at the same time. This game was designed on Unity. For some of our players it took a pretty long time to load. I would suggest trying various browsers and open them at the same time to see which would load quicker. Make sure to start the videos at the same time with your team as the game is not synced so each player will have to activate the videos and enter the passwords on their own browsers. The point-n-click interface also incorporated items that we're able to interact with. The graphics were great. We're able to roam around the facility from various offices to laboratories to central control stations. I found that it was helpful to take snapshots with my phone (of course deleting them after the game) on the various clues instead of clicking back and forth. At times it felt like certain members of our group was proceeding much quicker than others which distracted the flow of the game. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 We were able to work together as a team for most of the puzzles. There were search and find elements that we solved quite quickly because one person was in one room while the other was in another room. There were 7 puzzles in total and we finished around 27 minutes. The puzzles were all logical and some even took multiple steps to solve. I think it's because we all played way too many escape rooms and online games at this point. For beginner puzzlers it probably well take you longer to get through the game. If you need assistance, there's a detailed hint system build into the game. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 The only complaint I have was that there wasn't enough puzzles (at least for enthusiasts) ! For the price, I am pretty happy with what I received. The graphics were high quality, the interface was easy to use and the storyline was intriguing to follow. Hopefully Utopia Institute would develop a longer and more challenging game in the near future. I would definitely be interested in playing another game from them! 𝔼𝕊ℂ𝔸ℙ𝔼𝕋ℍ𝔼ℝ𝕆𝕆𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕤 ℙ𝕒𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕟❜𝕤 𝕋𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤 David M. "Utopia Institute" is an interactive digital escape room with some neat puzzles, some interactions to insinuate actions as if you were there. There was also some clever hiding spots and puzzles. The game is linear and light on puzzles, but still designed well enough to encourage teamwork from looking around and multitasking. This game uses the Unity engine, which can be hit and miss depending on the computer and browser you are on. It may or may not work, and I've seen the issue with someone else in another digital escape regarding this as well. All in all, the game is not designed to be difficult, but solvable by everyone, a fun and beatable experience with the escape room touch of multitasking and going from room to room. Good job! ______________________________________________________________ Julene R. “Oh, what could have been….” is what I keep thinking about when looking back at Escape Fun’s Utopia Institute point and click game. It had a lot of elements that I really enjoy in online escape experiences – a fun story line, high quality computer generated rooms, and cool opening and closing sequences. The major issue that I had is that the experience should and could be longer. The puzzles were fun but not that complex - which did not help with the length of the room and also made the room less enjoyable for our group of four. I felt like the first two rooms were designed well and made for a fun start… but it felt like they rushed to complete the ending. The game seemed to get easier and simpler as you moved through it, which did not add suspense to the story. You did not feel the pressure as you worked, and this meant I did not feel the “rush” it was completed. You know that more content is needed if someone has to ask “Is that all?”, at the end of the game. Utopia Institute has the bones of a good game, it just needs a little more muscle. ** UPDATE - We regret to inform that "Esacpe Fun" has closed. Disclosure: We thank Escape Fun for providing us with samples of their games. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #CiciCao #AtHomeGames #EscapeRooms #EscapeFun #UtopiaInstitute #OnlineEscapeRoom #DigitalEscapeGame #scifi #thriller #survive #escape #adventure

Photo above is property of Wacky Wheels Company: Wacky Wheels Game: The Fugitive's Escape Country: Netherlands 🇳🇱 Language: English Type of Game: Digital Escape Game 💻 Genre: Detective, Crime Date Played: August 22, 2021 Difficulty (based on 4 players): 7/10 Size of Team: 1-4 Players Time: Unlimited (Suggested 2 Hours) Price: $10.50/ Team 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 A quiet Saturday morning, so you thought, until you learn that the person you helped track down in a previous investigation has escaped Grimway Prison. Left in your mailbox is the first clue in a long trail left behind by the fugitive, leading to countries and places all over the world. The FBI needs your help to capture this fugitive so get on that plane! This is a sequel to the story "The Fugitive's Trail". All Wacky Wheels' games can be played independently. 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 The game play takes place on one website and the contents are presented with text and pictures (You can also purchase the PDF booklet version if you rather play this game offline). At the end of each page, a few question will be presented to you. You might need to leave the website to research outside knowledge, If you think you know the answer, you can submit them through a portal specific for answer submissions. On this portal, you'll also find hints and solutions. Be careful when entering the answer because you only have one chance. Once you enter the wrong answer you'll no longer be qualified to score any points. If you use a hint, you'll also not be able to gain any points. This game is not meant for guessers or people feeling lucky. We received one game link that we shared with everyone in our team. This did allow for all the players be able to see the same game content but it also meant that if one player enter the question on the solution site, it'll update for the rest of the team. To avoid any mistakes or simultaneous entries, it's best to designate one person to enter the solution, The answers were either in the format of multiple choice or free text. The free text can be a bit frustrating since you might spell an answer wrong (unintentionally) or answer in a slightly different way than what the creator's intended answer. Both led to no points. A easy fix would be for the creators to at least give the players a little guidance on how many numbers or letters are within this answer. The storyline was quite fun to read as it gives you context on the fugitive's whereabouts and clues that he/she is leaving behind. Splitting up the reading between your teammates could make this into a more interactive experience, 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The puzzles were mostly straight forward and even though we needed to think a bit on a few of them, we only needed to use one hint. There was one puzzle that confused us as it felt like there could be multiple answers from Googling. The penalty for not getting any points after one try felt a bit harsh from a player's perspective as we didn't have the same type of motivation to figure out the answer as when we first started the puzzle since regardless we'll be ending up with zero points. A few of the puzzles required multiple steps to solving, which made them seem harder than they actually were. But in between the more challenging ones, there were cute little simple ones that made us feel smart and helped us progress through the questions. There are a good mix of logic driven challenges, constitution puzzles, play on words and imagery puzzles. I think my favourite puzzle was a rebus where solving each part eventually spelled out a type of location. Each part was easy enough but the reveal at the end was very rewarding. There is a lot of information on each page and every now and then you have to go back to previous pages to use information from them. This did feel like the detective is at work since we had to piece what we gathered all together, At some point we definitely over thought a few puzzles and perhaps even created a few red herrings for ourselves and completed the game in 1 hour and 40minutes. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 One of my favourite parts about this game is that you could see an explanation of the puzzle once someone in your team had answered a question. This is so nice in situations where your team is working on different things and everyone has a different speed at solving puzzles, you can go back and read about the steps on your own time. It’s a little bit like having the games master walk you through an escape room after you’ve played it to make sure you understood all the parts! I had a lot of fun playing this game with my team and I think it’s a great type of game to play over the internet, especially if you are a team with a mix level of players, If you are not so worried about the point system but more concentrating on catching this culprit, you'll ultimately discover the true message behind "The Fugitive's Escape". Perhaps there may even be a threequel? Check out our interview with the creators to understand more on the development side of these game: ** UPDATE - We regret to inform that "Wacky Wheels" has closed. Disclosure: We thank Wacky Wheels for providing us with samples of their games. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #HannaNyberg #AtHomeGames #DigitalGame #Netherlands #Detective #WackyWheels #TheFugitivesEscape

Photo above is property of Wacky Wheels Company: Wacky Wheels Game: The Longest Night In Bell-Ville Country: Netherlands 🇳🇱 Language: English Type of Game: Puzzles By Mail 📬 Genre: Fantasy Date Played: December 11, 2021 Difficulty (based on 1 player): 6/10 Size of Team: Unlimited Time: Unlimited (Approximately 50 Mins.) Price: 12€ (+/- 13,5 dollar) 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Winter is coming to Bell-Ville and the villagers are totally unprepared. Not only do they have to prepare the celebrations of "The Longest Night", they also have to make sure that they safely cross "The Frozen Wastelands". Can you help them get ready in time? So, you are a villager and the eldest of this village has asked you to prepare for the festival, you need food, music, candy, decoration and it all need to be ready as soon as possible. Of course, the villagers aren’t going to make it easy on you. So, you need to keep your head on your shoulders to make sure this festival will be memorable…. Hopefully, for good reasons. 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ The book has a very nice feel to it. It’s clearly shows that they put quality in the foreground in making this. It feels durable and very high end. The style of the drawings are good, but it feels like different artists had their inputs into the same book. Overall, it fit nicely together and is well-designed. There's a few things that could be tweaked a bit in terms of the style but they are minor. For instance, some small things are very hard to read. I’m not talking about the ones that are intentional, but for puzzle-specific items, I had to squint a couple of times to see if I was correct. Overall the look fits perfectly with the theme of the book and the quality of work put in it is something many books should aspire to. What I want to see in their next book is have the design be more cohesive (which would bring the design to a higher level). Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 This book starts with “assignments” throughout the journey but doesn't say you'll need to solve them in particular order. Only the last two puzzles are meant to be solved after you finished the rest of the assignments. You do need a smartphone with an internet connection because you will need to enter the answers on a website. This website will give you instant feedback on your answers. There's also a leaderboard should you strive to end up there. Each puzzle is roughly worth 100 points. Solving it correctly will earn you the full amount. If you need a hint, you may press the question mark next to the assignment on the website but the total points you can earn will be halved. One thing to be aware of is when entered with a wrong answer, you'll score nothing. There is no second chances. The issue with this is that if you misspelled something or the punctuation is wrong there will be no do-overs. For non-English speakers this could be quite difficult. I would love to the creator be a bit more lenient with the scoring system. But overall, the website and the book complemented each other nicely. The leaderboard not only show you how well you did overall but also where you stand in your country. I placed fourth at the time when I was writing this review and 1st in my country (though there were only 6 players who have played this book so far 😉). In addition, since the puzzles can be solved in any order, the non-linear aspect makes this game playable amongst a group of players. If you want, you can even cut the book open and spread the assignments on the table so a whole team could work on different assignments. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The puzzles are great in their own sense of the way but wasn't really challenging. And I'm, of course, looking at them through the lenses of someone who has played over 200 forms of an escape room (IRL, tabletop, etc.). But they are little fun twists on certain tropes. I’m not going to spoil them here for you. If you played a good amount of escape rooms or puzzle games, then you can easily play this game on your own. If you want to use this to introduce puzzles to a newbie friend or play this with your children, then this book would be perfect. I really like one aspect of the design of this book and that is that the puzzles "crosses" the boarders of the pages. Not every puzzle can be solved on its respected page. You will need other pages to help you. Moreover, don’t be afraid to draw, cut or tear some pages. This book is not going to be replayable. But let's be honest, you probably wouldn't replay a real-life escape room again would you? Photos above are property of Wacky Wheels 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 Is this a good book? Yes. Is there room for improvement? Also yes. Should you buy it? Yes! The amount of work that has been put in there is outstanding. The alignments of everything must have took hours. My suggestions were merely to give some pointers to perhaps elevate the book series as there should always be room for improvement in any project/game. This has so much potential to become a must-have for escape room fans. Almost like becoming a staple like EXIT, Unlock and pocket escape. Since this holidays are coming, this book is certainly a great gift (since it has winter and celebration as its main theme) and would be a fantastic addition to any escape room fan's collection. Fun for the whole family or as a solo play for the more experienced player! Can't wait to see what their future creations will be like! Check out our interview with the creators to understand more on the development side of these game: ** UPDATE - We regret to inform that "Wacky Wheels" has closed. Disclosure: We thank Wacky Wheels for providing us with samples of their games. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #JoeriJacobs #AtHomeGames #DigitalGame #Netherlands #Fantasy #WackyWheels

Photo above is property of Wacky Wheels Company: Wacky Wheels Game: The Mysterious Case of Dancing Mania Country: Netherlands 🇳🇱 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Genre: Detective, Crime Date Played: December 29, 2022 Difficulty (based on 1 player): 7/10 Size of Team: 1-4 Players Time: Unlimited (Suggested 2 Hrs.) Price: 12€ (+/- 13,5 dollar) 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 A mysterious time capsule from 500 years ago has been uncovered and inside contains a strange happenstance that afflicted the community years ago by the hundreds; people took to the streets dancing with an inability to stop! Many scholars have theorised what could be the cause but the discovery of scholar notes and reports left by the major could lead to a break in this unsolved phenomenon. You have been hired by the museum to solve the mysteries contained within these ancient pages and figure out what caused this dancing mania… 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ This game arrives in an envelope. Inside is a beautiful and vibrant linen paper booklet (14 pages) with an additional news clipping. The detail in the illustration and design are beautiful and help create more immersion for the layers. I will say there is some cursive writing so keep that in mind. I highly recommend examining the news clipping first as it helps set the scene with some mini puzzles while also introducing you further into the story. What is really fun is that this game is inspired by real events! You also get some teasers of games to come! Overall I felt this booklet does an excellent job building interest and intrigue for the game with a beautiful finish and a teaser page to get players started. The booklet lays out like a set of notes left by scholars attempting to unravel the mystery which gave the theme a playfulness as you became the scholar of this puzzle journey. Photos above are property of Wacky Wheels 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 This game requires internet connection as you will need to log onto their website to submit answers in order to move forward. There is no specified order for the puzzles in each chapter so you are free to explore as you feel. Once you have answered all the questions of the chapter you can dive into the next one. Answers are submitted online but keep in mind hints and solutions are not for infinite guessing. You usually get one grace attempt for solutions before you lose points. This is because these games have a point system set up and you will lose points for every wrong answer and for using hints. So only answer when you are sure…unless you don’t care about points. Proper spelling and punctuation also matters in this game so keep in mind your numbers and letters. Photos above are property of Wacky Wheels 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 I found the puzzles to be light and fun adventures - I would say newcomers will have a lot to sink their teeth into while more experienced players will find this a good puzzle to tackle in an evening. There is excellent diversity across the puzzles and each component of the game is there with intention and care. There is decoding, tracking, logic, word games, and observational puzzles that build up answers towards the end. Make sure to track your solutions as they may have importance later on! This is a game that really rewards you for curiosity and a keen eye so don’t be afraid to flip to a different page if a puzzle stumps you as, on the surface, the puzzles seem like a lot of words and chaos. Slowly but surely it unravels into something wonderful and I loved the ease of it unfolding. This game is definitely more focused on the puzzling rather than the story but there are some reveals that provide perfect “ahas” and following the story does play a role in later solutions. You will leave the game more satisfied if you track your story journey as there are important clues to help you solve later puzzles. Photos above are property of Wacky Wheels 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 If you are looking for an easygoing puzzle experience with a tactile paper feel and a variety to the puzzles, this is definitely a game to check out. This is a game you can easily divide up amongst friends during a chapter but also encourages cooperation as certain puzzles require answers from previous ones. The setup of this game is easy to follow. My one critique is the point system - I wish it was an optional setting as it adds pressure to the game for players like me. At the same time, I felt good diving into these puzzles and the light story infused with history hooked me in. I currently have the next game on my docket and I’m excited to see what they do next! Now, are you ready to unravel the truth behind this legendary phenomenon? Photo above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers Check out our interview with the creators to understand more on the development side of these game: Video above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers ** UPDATE - We regret to inform that "Wacky Wheels" has closed. Disclosure: We thank Wacky Wheels for providing us with samples of their games. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #JillianRaymond #AtHomeGames #DigitalGame #Netherlands #Detective #Mystery #WackyWheels

Photos provided by Wacky Wheels Company: Wacky Wheels Language: English Country: Netherlands 🇳🇱 Type of Game: Digital Escape Game 💻 Date Played: June 26, 2020 Once you purchase the game, you'll receive a code which then will allow you to download the game onto your computer. You can chose either the printable version or the printer friendly version. We played all the game in the printer friendly version. You'll also be given a separate link that will bring you to a website where you'll be able to enter all the answers. Each puzzle comes with one hint which also can be found on the website. If you take a hint, your score for that puzzle will be reduced by half. If you are still unable to get the right answer and enter the wrong answer, a solution will be revealed to you but you'll get zero points for that puzzle. Although you have unlimited time to finish the game, a timer will start once you log into the game. A final score along with a placement on the ranking table will be revealed to you by the end of the game. Game: The First Trial Genre: Mystery, Adventure Difficulty (based on 2 players): 7.5/10 Time: Unlimited Price: Free This is a great starting point for anyone who wants to get a taste of how Wacky Wheels digital games work. Although it's free, you'll still get a good half hour of puzzle time out of it. Normally we don't really enjoy games with too much reading but Wacky Wheel was able to make the stories intriguing enough for us to pay attention till the end. It also helps to designate a reader to read it in character. As we see a lot of digital games adapting an audio option to go along with their story line, it'll be interesting to see if Wacky Wheel could add that component in their future game developments. Even though we chose the printer friendly version, this game had one puzzle we felt that you may need to print and cut. After a nice warm up, we were ready to try out their other options... Game: Cottage in the Woods Genre: Thriller Difficulty (based on 2 players): 7.5/10 Size of Team: Unlimited Time: Unlimited Price: $7.00 We enjoyed "Cottage in the Woods" mainly for the story. Initially we thought this must be one of those creepy haunted house or serial killer type of story. Boy were we wrong! We can't give out any spoilers but definitely enjoyed reading for once. There were a few puzzles that we thought were not as clear in terms of the correlation. After reading the hint on one of them, we thought: "How were we suppose to know that?" We got the right answer for one of the questions but due to how the question was worded, we submitted the wrong answer. This game was definitely the hardest one out of the three. It was still worth playing through the game just to "see" the ending. With Brandon reading in character, we had a blast creating our own little cinematic movie. Game: The Fugitive's Trail Genre: Mystery, Detective Difficulty (based on 2 players): 6.5/10 Size of Team: Unlimited Time: Unlimited Price: $7.00 "The Fugitive Trail" was our favorite game out of the three. The interface design of the answer sheet set a nice tone for the game's story line. It felt like we were real detectives working on the case of the missing people. The puzzles were also very entertaining throughout. Comparing to the other two games, this one had easier puzzles but was the most reasonable in terms of logic. The only issue we had with one of the questions was that the portal that took the answers was way too specific on how the answer should be written. Although we got the right answer it did not took the way we wrote it. As we sifted through the puzzles and clues left behind by the "fugitive", we were able to see the breadcrumbs slowly coming together to form the final big reveal. The twist at the end was definitely a nice closure for us on the three Wacky Wheel games and we were glad to save the best for last! But I'm sure this won't be our last time seeing Wacky Wheel's games. We look forward to seeing their future developments! Check out our interview with the creators to understand more on the development side of these game: ** UPDATE - We regret to inform that "Wacky Wheels" has closed. Disclosure: We thank Wacky Wheels for providing us with samples of their games. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #CiciCao #AtHomeGames #DigitalGames #PrintNCut #WackyWheels #Mystery #thriller #adventure #detective #puzzles #teambuilding #fbi #csi #crimesolving

Photo above is property of HiSv Studio Company: HiSv Studio Game: Baker Street Breakouts: A Sherlockian Escape Adventure Country: Germany 🇩🇪 Language: English Type of Game: Video Escape Game 📱 Genre: Detective Date Played: December 13, 2023 Difficulty (based on 4 players): 7.5/10 Time: Unlimited (Approx. 8+ Hrs.) Price: $12.99 CAD/ $8.99 USD 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 The game is afoot, in this Sherlockian parody mystery game. The story finds Sherlock wallowing in terminal boredom. Nothing but generic uninteresting case after uninteresting case, that is until none other than his arch rival Moriarty decides to test our hero once again, this time devising his most insidious, challenging, series of puzzles yet. Of course, once roused by a genuine mystery Sherlock cannot resist the temptation to play, and so unadvisedly dives in head first. What's at stake is not only his own life, but that of his potential paramour, Irene Adler. Become Sherlock and race against the clock while you try and solve a series of ingeniously designed escape rooms, but be careful, for what you might uncover more than you bargained for. Video above is property of HiSv Studio 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 It's a charming game, with a significant amount of depth despite its simple trappings. The first thing that stood out for me was the playful look of the game, its RPG maker quality, anime inspiration, and especially the funny funny dialogue. The gameplay is straightforward, you run around in these two dimensional, retro style, escape rooms, finding clues and items, which you then slowly piece together using a combine/action/solve and number/word entry mechanics, all the while racing against the clock. What it lacks in style it makes up for the ingenuity of its core puzzling. My only gripe is with the slightly janky puzzling interface, it's not as easy to use nor as creative as say the murder mad lib mechanic of “The Case of the Golden Idol”; but neither is it impossible, it's just kind of annoying, though luckily most work that goes on you will be transpiring in your head. Photos above are property of HiSv Studio 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 I'll give them this, they've come up with some damn inventive puzzling. It veers between realistic and abstract - remember your playing a game designed by Moriarty. This is both its blessing and its curse, a pleasure and a pain, for they can be quite ingenious, and just as too much wit out wits itself, they can often also be undone by this very ingenuity, and fall into abstraction and frustration. Generally there are a lot of micro puzzles forming the steps in the process of finding the solution, as well as more overarching free floating riddles types, and they all involve some creative use or interpretation of what's at hand. The bones of good puzzling are there, you just may have to think outside the box sometimes, or deal with something that on the face of it appears dauntingly cryptic. Luckily there is a hint system to keep things rolling. Photo above is property of HiSv Studio 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 It's a fun, well done, puzzle game, don't let the graphics or straightforwardness of the mechanics deter you. It has a smile-warming charm and playfulness throughout, alongside its inventive puzzling. The interface leaves something to be desired, but it gets the job done. For beginners it may be a challenge, though a good introduction to the genre, but for puzzlers who revel in the more abstract it will be right up your alley. Photo above is property of HiSv Studio (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 HiSv Studio for providing us with a sample of the game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #AndrewWoods #AtHomeGames #VideoGames #AppGames #HiSvStudio #Detective #Germany

Updated as of August 15, 2026 Checking off the bucket list of countries that we've heard so many great things about, we are excited to continue to travel the world and meet new people! This year, we are super excited to travel to Spain, France, Italy, United Kingdom, USA (Alaska, Nevada & Washington) and more! Please email us if you are: - Enthusiasts that are in the area or might be also playing the same games on our tour. We love to say hi! - An owner that would like us to visit your location if it's on the route of this tour (if time permits). - Have suggestions of other locations and escape rooms that we should add to this list (if time permits). NEW ENGLAND & CANADA Tour - September 21-27, 2026 September 21, 2026 - Boston, Massachusetts, USA "Serial Killer Charade" - Room Escape Boston (Boston, MA, USA) "Boom Room" - Room Escape Boston (Boston, MA, USA) "The Red Wire" - PanIQ Room Boston (Boston, MA, USA) "Insane Asylum" - PanIQ Room Boston (Boston, MA, USA) September 22, 2026 - Portland, Maine, USA "The Blind Tiger Speakeasy" - The Escape Room (Portland, ME, USA) "Curse of the Jade Skull" - The Escape Room (Portland, ME, USA) "World on Edge" - The Escape Room (Portland, ME, USA) September 23, 2026 - Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada "The Lost Treasure of Captain Kidd" - Breakout Saint John (Saint John, NB, Canada) "Christmas Catastrophe!" - Breakout Saint John (Saint John, NB, Canada) "Curse of the Shadow Witch" - Breakout Saint John (Saint John, NB, Canada) "The Pharaoh's Tomb" - Breakout Saint John (Saint John, NB, Canada) "Warped 2 Ohio" - Breakout Saint John (Saint John, NB, Canada) "The Lost Wand of Jewel Wintercloak" - Breakout Saint John (Saint John, NB, Canada) "T/B/A" - Breakout Saint John (Saint John, NB, Canada) September 25, 2026 - Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada "Morela's Dark Fortune" - Captured Escape Rooms (Halifax, NS, Canada) "Citadel Hill" - Captured Escape Rooms (Halifax, NS, Canada) "Distress Signal" - Captured Escape Rooms (Halifax, NS, Canada) "Tohua Island" - Mind Hack Room Escape (Dartmouth, NS, Canada) "Greenleaf Heist" - Mind Hack Room Escape (Dartmouth, NS, Canada) "Interrogation" - Mind Hack Room Escape (Dartmouth, NS, Canada) "Lock Up" - Mind Hack Room Escape (Dartmouth, NS, Canada) Ur AUSTRALIA Tour - November 29 - December 1, 2026 November 29, 2026 - Sydney, NSW "Frankenstein: Resurrection" - Escape This (Sydney CBD) (Sydney, NSW, Australia) "Buried Alive" - Escape This (Sydney CBD) (Sydney, NSW, Australia) "Asylum" - Escape This (Sydney CBD) (Sydney, NSW, Australia) "Forest of Echoes" - Next Level Escape Room (Sydney, NSW, Australia) "End of the Road" - Next Level Escape Room (Sydney, NSW, Australia) November 30, 2026 - Sydney, NSW "Project Delta" - Cubic Escape Room Sydney (Sydney, NSW, Australia) "The Soul Catcher" - Cubic Escape Room Sydney (Sydney, NSW, Australia) "Seance" - The Cool Space (Sydney, NSW, Australia) "Sweethearts Ice Cream Parlour" - The Cool Space (Sydney, NSW, Australia) "Ransom" - Social Escape Room Sydney (Sydney, NSW, Australia) "Turbulence" - Urban Escapade (Sydney, NSW, Australia) "Arctic Outbreak" - Urban Escapade (Sydney, NSW, Australia) "Heart Of The Mountain" - Heart Of The Mountain (Sydney, NSW, Australia) December 1, 2026 - Sydney, NSW "The Bank of Australia Heist" - Escape Hunt Sydney (Sydney, NSW, Australia) WASHINGTON, USA Tour - August 9-11, 2026 August 9, 2026 "Guardians' Grove" - Sure Lock Escapes - Cypher Island (Renton, WA, USA) "Dungeon of Doom" - Sure Lock Escapes - Stout Oak Adventuring Guild (Kent, WA, USA) "Zookeeper" - Cityscape Games (Tacoma, WA, USA) "Rockstar" - Cityscape Games (Tacoma, WA, USA) "Temetra's Hex" - Escape Hour Point Ruston (Tacoma, WA, USA) "The Cabin: Final Chapter" - Escape Hour Gig Harbor (Gig Harbor, WA, USA) "Midnight Manor" - Escape Hour Gig Harbor (Gig Harbor, WA, USA) August 10, 2026 "Neon Shadows: The Polybius Files" - Sure Lock Escapes - The Escape Artist (West Seattle, WA, USA) "The 4th Door" - Cognition Escapes (Seattle, WA, USA) "Escape from Seattle: The World's Fair Affair" - Puzzle Break Seattle (Seattle, WA, USA) "Cell Block 12" - Seattle Escape Games (Seattle, WA, USA) "The Georgetown Morgue" - Seattle Escape Games (Seattle, WA, USA) "Prison Escape" - FLEE Escape Games (Redmond, WA, USA) "Tesla. Laboratory" - Conundroom Escape Rooms - Downtown Park (Redmond, WA, USA) "Dr. Frankenstein" - Conundroom Escape Rooms - Downtown Park (Redmond, WA, USA) "Alice: Reimagined" - Conundroom Escape Rooms - Avalon Parcsquare (Redmond, WA, USA) EUROPE Tour - April 24 - May 2, 2026 BARCELONA, SPAIN - April 24, 2026 "Vault 27" - Maximum Escape Barcelona "Ulysses Spaceship" - Maximum Escape Barcelona "Sherlock Holmes vs London Devil" - Maximum Escape Barcelona "Secret Service" - Lock-Clock Escape Room Barcelona "Aztec Treasure" - Lock-Clock Escape Room Barcelona NEVADA, USA Tour - February 9-13, 2026 February 10, 2026 "Survive" - Red Door Escape Room las Vegas (Las Vegas, NV, USA) "Lost Treasures" - Red Door Escape Room las Vegas (Las Vegas, NV, USA) "Borderlands: Tannis's Lab" - Red Door Escape Room las Vegas (Las Vegas, NV, USA) "The Relic" - Red Door Escape Room las Vegas (Las Vegas, NV, USA) "Ruins: Forbidden Treasure" - The Escape Game las Vegas (Las Vegas, NV, USA) "Legend of the Yeti" - The Escape Game las Vegas (Las Vegas, NV, USA) February 11, 2026 "Now You See Me" - Escapology Las Vegas Town Square (Las Vegas, NV, USA) "Voodoo Lounge" - Number One Escape Room (Las Vegas, NV, USA) "Big Top Blast" - It's A Blast! (Las Vegas, NV, USA) February 12, 2026 "The Swamp Thing" - Monster Quest Escape Rooms (Las Vegas, NV, USA) February 13, 2026 "Project Zeta: The Human Experiment" - Trapped! Escape Room (Las Vegas, NV, USA) #escaperoomtours #2026 #escaperooms #schedule #events #escapetheroomers #inpersonescaperooms

Photos provided by The Locked Room Company: The Locked Room Games: Starship Titan-1C Country: Canada 🇨🇦 Language: English Type of Game: Audio Escape Room 👂 Genre: Sci-Fi Date Played: 4/26/2021 Difficulty (based on 3 players): 6.5/10 Size of Team: 4-8 Players Time: 70-80 Minutes Price: $20/pp 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 It's the 22nd century and everything has been automated, even space travel. You thought a fixer job could be the easiest job to maintain on this ship as it's on autopilot for the next 30 years. Of course something had to go wrong...Would you be able to save the passengers with your limited knowledge in mechanics? 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 At this point, we've played many audio escape games from various companies but haven't seen a presentation like this before. We met over Zoom with our game master Edwin. He wasted no time by giving us a quick intro of the backstory and got into character right away. I'm not going to lie, I had doubts when I saw the blacked out square boxes that appeared in front of us. I thought to myself: "Is this where the entire game is going to be on?" In most of the audio escape games, we were bedazzled by beautiful artwork and graphics. I wasn't sure what to expect from this point forward. As we started to explore the ship and solved puzzles to reveal more puzzles, the doubts quickly got wiped away by our fondness for the platform design. I really liked how easy it was for us to have everything on one screen versus having to take notes or having the GM toggle screens back and forth. It was also really convenient for us to remember what we've found since the GM would record it for us in the inventory section. Lastly, in most of the audio escape games, you won't get to see the GM's face on Zoom so you're only able to hear their voices. It really helped to be able to see Edwin's expressions as he helps our team navigate through the Starship Titan-1C. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 Most of the game was not build on having us waste our time to try to find items that were not shown on the images. They were real puzzles and there were a lot of them! Perhaps it was because we had just completed the Paruzal tournament. we were still in that mindset of playing audio escape games in a systematic/competition way. This actually really helped us according to the GM as we had a really smooth game play. We did not waste time going back and forth on locations and pretty much got what we needed in the first try. I can see how the puzzles could increase in level of difficulty based on how you decide to play the game. If played out of sequence, it could get a bit more challenging. I loved how the puzzles were designed to make us feel like we were actually on the ship and have to think about what we would actually do in those critical engine failure situations. In addition, we appreciated the humorous puns in the narratives that got us to the solutions. These puzzles also tested our memory and imagination. I loved our GM's comebacks at the ridiculous ideas we would throw at him. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 If you are a fan of "Futurama", you'll really enjoy this game. You'll definitely notice a few inspirations and references from the show. Our team of 4 finished the game in 50 minutes and 40 seconds with no hints. It was really satisfying to be focused solely on great puzzles and narratives for once. I definitely look forward to trying out other games at The Locked Room in the future. But for now, I challenge YOU to save the crew on Starship Titan-1C and "may the force be with you"! *** We regret to inform this game is no longer available for booking but check out other in-person escape rooms on their website*** Disclosure: We thank The Locked Room for comping our tickets for this game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #ESCAPETHEROOMers #AtHomeGames #EscapeRooms #TheLockedRoom #StarshipTitan1C #AudioEscapeRooms #DigitalEscapeGames #scifi #space #startrek #starwars #starshipenterprise #spaceship

LOCATION: South England, United Kingdom Photo above is property of Wacky Wheels 📝 ETR DECODER 🔑 GAME: The Dragon Trail 📅 DATE PLAYED: June 8-10, 2023 🎬 GENRE: Mystery, Escape Road Trip 🧠 DIFFICULTY (Based on 2 ppl): 8/10 👥 TOTAL # OF PLAYERS: 2-4 ppl (other editions are 2-5 ppl) 🕒 LENGTH OF TIME: 3 Days 💰 PRICE: €150/ team (plus €50/ pp), plus additional charges ☎️ BOOKING TYPE: Public 🔓 ESCAPED/ COMPLETED?: Yes 📖 THE STORY You have been called to assist a team looking for evidence to solve a long-lasting scientific dispute - Did dragons really exist and roam the earth? Professor Richard Owen would like your help to support his theory that yes, they did. But, there are some shadowy figures moving around who seem to be out to get in your way. Why? Is everything as straightforward as it seems? A journey through stunning landscapes, unique towns, and hidden gems across the UK. Competing with other teams, solving puzzles and driving to various places during the day and socializing in the evenings - be ready to make some amazing finds, wonderful memories and new friends. Photos above are property of Wacky Wheels 🏹 TAKE A SHOT? This is an experience like no other - you are given 3 locations in the country where you will be stationed each night, but no idea of the journey you will take to get between them, or what you will be asked to do. All you know is that you have been asked to prove the existence of dragons. Who could possibly turn down an opportunity like that? We had an absolutely wonderful time. This was a unique event that we thoroughly recommend to anyone to take part in. You really do see some amazing places you may not have visited before, and even if you have done you will see them in a new light. We discovered at least two places we really want to go back to again, and discovered some exciting places an things we would maybe never have seen. The materials, letters, artefacts etc that you use on your adventure are high quality and very in-keeping with the theme. Lots of letters, photos, notes and maps, a really cool guidebook and some great physical items (which sadly you can’t keep!). Puzzles wise there are codes to crack, locations and items to find, parts of a puzzle to collect and then solve. Very clever use of architecture, features and items in locations for puzzles or for photo opportunities. Also clever use of technology - websites, email, and some clever offline items that I had not seen before! A LOT of thought has been put into the variety, difficulty and methods for each task. The organisers also got involved, playing various characters at certain points who would provide you with items and information, which was a lovely touch. There is a lot of driving, so we recommend a team of between 2 and 4 wth at least two drivers who can share the load. But it was worth it to discover the amazing places we did, and to make use of features and findings geographically that bring the story and puzzles to life. We’d love to have spent more time in the places and less time driving, but then this is a road trip, and it was necessary to visit diverse places which had links to the theme, so this made sense. The organisers were super lovely people and such fun. We also became very good friends with another two competing teams and vowed to stay in touch, and hopefully meet again on a future adventure! We will never forget our journey and what we did. We also had amazing weather (sometimes a little too warm!) - it may not have been as pleasant if it rained solidly! All three nights had a social element for food an chat, with the final night also including the wrap-up and prize-giving. Whilst we weren’t the top of the leaderboard, or even close to it at any point, we weren’t really in it to win it anyway, preferring to just enjoy the journey, but the drive to score points definitely kicked in! There were very good prizes for the top 3 teams, and lots of fun had by all. The company also produces really good printed escape room adventure books, which we were able to purchase from them on the final night, so we were able to continue our puzzle hunting after the event, and support their plans to continue making escape hunts! They are planning one in Northern Spain next, which would be a great opportunity to check out somewhere we had never been, as well as the excitement of the hunt and the immersive experience. We left came home with fantastic memories, a goody bag, more puzzles, wanderlust, a vow to return to some of the places, new friends and a desire to do the whole thing over again! Thank you to the whole team for their effort, time and inventiveness and to all the other teams for making it fun and friendly. Truly an awesome experience, never to be forgotten! You can see the official photo album of the event here on the Wacky Wheels website and sign up for their next adventure in Bibao, Spain. THE WACKY WHEELS TEAM - EDWIN, KLAUDIA, JOHAN For the full account, please continue. BEFORE, AND DAY 1. The communication before the event was fantastic - lots of updates, reminders, suggestions on places to book to stay and details of what you need to bring and do. There was even some back story and an introductory “phone call” from the protagonist of the story Professor Owen closer to the time. The organisers were very open to questions and providing further clarification too. Our team name was "Sisudatu" - named after the dragon in the Disney film Raya and the Last Dragon. We thought that was quite apt ;) We had opted to drive down and stay overnight very close to the starting point (so as not to have to get up and drive very early on the first day) and found a basic but comfortable pub to stay in the night before. On day 1, after a lovely breakfast at a local cafe, we headed to the starting point. Very pleasingly, they have given you a “window” in which to arrive and start your journey, so you do not have to worry about arriving for a specific time. It also means that those who are early risers and keen to get going can be off and running early, whereas those of us that like a lie-in and a more leisurely day (i.e us) can come a little later. There’s also less chance this way of you running into all the other teams, and seeing or hearing something that gives anything away. We met with the Professor’s assistant who looked very official with dragon artefacts, paperwork and notes. She gave us some information and an envelope full of useful things, and also a most impressive artefact, and asked us to make sense of it all and get going on our mission. We were also aded to a WhatsApp group in order for the team to stay in touch with us (you’re not allowed to send messages in case of spoilers). We spent a little time reading our letter from Richard, perusing the materials and working out the curious artefact. Could this really have belonged to a dragon?! There was a wonderful aha moment when we did, and that excited us to get going on our journey. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers Firstly, we needed to login to the Supercomputer at Richard’s office which would allow us to provide him with the information he had asked us to acquire. This is very easily done using a QR code and password and then we were in, and presented with the questions we needed to answer. Most were locked, so you must answer mostly in order. The answer checker for Richard’s computer was very strict! Even a letter out of place could cause a score of 0. However, if the answer is close enough for them to know you were correct, just unfortunate, the team would take an appeal and restore the points. We raced in a bit too quick with our excitement and answered one wrong. But it didn’t matter, we were really there to win though were we… or were we?!! It suddenly seemed like we might want to compete after all! Each puzzle solved or answer given will trigger an email from Richard with further information and instructions, and each time you should have a clear (or pretty clear) idea of where you need to go next. We made another 3 stops to visit places and locations - each one really fun to explore and cleverly linked to the dragon theme, and also a meeting with someone who seemed very secretive and interested in what we were doing. At each step we submitted answers or fun photos of the team at certain points or with certain things, and unlocked the next questions, receiving emails from Richard at each step in response. At the arrival of our final destination, we checked into our local hotel, unwound for a short time and then made our way to the arranged meeting point where everyone gathered for a drink, chat and a delicious BBQ put on by the pub. Full, happy and accomplished, despite being bottom of the score table, we made our way to our room to sleep for the next morning. DAY 2 Today was a similar start - some teams ha been up and off early, we a little later! We again met with Richard’s assistant who gave us some more paraphernalia to help us during the day, and it became clear what our first port of call was. Parking up as close as we could get to where we neded to be, we started to scour the area. Amusingly, we had started to recognise other teams who we met along the way, either by the fact we had spent time with them the night before, or simply that they were clutching a similar artefact, envelope, or looking lost and confused, or at the same thing we were looking at, with intent! The first puzzle we found (after some helpful guidance from another team who saw that we were headed the wrong way!) very cleverly used a certain feature in the town which was very attractive and very apt for using in a puzzle. We solved it fairly quickly but we know others needed a little longer on this one. And then we were off again, making our way to a very specific location, again bumping into another team when we got there! This was a lovely one as the organisers had set up a scene in the area, and we had to explore this and hunt for clues. This really gave it an authentic feel. Again, we answered questions into the supercomputer site, submitting answers or photos as requested, and getting communications from Richard. Our penultimate stop was the amazing and beautiful city of Wells (England’s Smallest City!) - and here we had a wonderful time - there were some things to find and a puzzle to solve using details found in a very unusual and interesting area. This was also were we used one of the cleverest puzzles of the trip, and the lovely people of Wells helped with that! We will definitely be returning to Wells to visit again.We happened to check the leaderboard on our trip to our final destination, and we were 5th! We were so excited and suddenly it seemed like we had a real chance at this! In our last location, a place we had been before, we discovered some new things we hadn’t known about, and saw some amazing sights. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers Quite worryingly, the emails from Richard took an unexpected turn by the end of the day, and it seemed worryingly like someone was trying to get in the way of progress. Or are they? A message from them seems to say that they are on the right side, and that we should help them with their cause. Who do you believe though? As well as puzzles, quests and whatnot- now we have a moral dilemma to attend to?! The social event of Day 2 was a board game evening, but the venue we went to was very busy, loud and the tables very spaced out, so we didn’t really get the chance to mingle and play games as much as we wanted. There was also a limited selection of food available. However, we know that finding venues in a town that will take a booking for 30 people on a Friday and have a suitable space must be fairly hard to come by! We still enjoyed our evening and catching up with the teams and organisers. We were lucky to be able to stay with a friend in the area so also got a chance to catch up with him. DAY 3 We have come such a long way, literally, since our first day. Many miles from where we started, and many more to go! This morning we met for the last time with Richard’s assistant, but a message had told us to also go to another venue. When we did, a mystery figure handed us a rolled up map and left without so much as a word. We pored over the map and checked the rest of our materials and questions for the day, and soon we were off to our first location. All 3 places we ended up in were consistently great, including one place I had been to before but saw in a different light. As before we answered questions, took photos and even spent some time in a pub with another team, poring over a puzzle together, proving just how friendly the competition was. Our position on the leaderboard had been going up and down somewhat, and whilst we knew we weren’t in for a top 3 spot, we were hopeful that those we had grown close to had a chance of the title. Along the way we received news, information, and eventually we had a choice to make too - which side are you on? Who do you trust? The final puzzle is what to do if you finally find the dragon… what do you decide? Photo above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers The final social and debriefing session revealed all. The full story was recapped, decisions made and then it was the moment we had all been waiting for - the big reveal. BUt, I won’t tell you what that was, because that would spoilt the surprise ;) Let’s just say it was a dramatic and impressive finale that had us whooping and clapping. Competition wise it ended up coming down to an nail-biting tiebreak - with the winners gaining 1 extra point for their correct answer, and grasping victory from the dragon’s claws to come out on top. Photo above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers We finished a very respectful 7th of 11 teams. We weren’t competing really anyway, remember! We were just there for the sheer fun of it all 🙂Prizes were given, and small goody bags for all who played. We had the opportunity to ask questions, buy Wacky Wheels’ adventure books and chat for a little longer. We took photos, swapped contact details and hugs, said our goodbyes, and headed off, full of amazing memories and grinning from the fun of it all! Check out our interview with the creators to understand more on the development side of these game: Video above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers ** UPDATE - We regret to inform that "Wacky Wheels" has closed. Disclosure: We thank Wacky Wheels for comping our tickets for this game. Although complimentary admission was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #HelenBailey #PuzzleHunts #Mystery #EscapeRoadTrips #UK #WackyWheels

Photo above is property of Crated With Love Company: Crated With Love Game: Gears of Time Language: English Country: USA 🇺🇸 Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Genre: Sci-Fi, Steampunk Time: Unlimited Size of Team: Unlimited Date Played: June 4, 2020 Price: $34.99 "Gears of Time" came in a beautifully crafted box that instantly gave us the steampunk feel. The box included instructions on 4 different types of challenges, a pair of steampunk goggle, a deck of cards, 40 smaller game cards, 10 wooden gears, a timer and a dice. The items were all made with top quality. The game was set in the year 1868. As world's top scientist and inventor, our mission was to finish our time machine, travel through time to find the evil Dr. Charles Delphinium and stop him from taking over the world. The four challenges were all different in its own way but the goal was the same: to bring back sweet memories of the couples' past. It as really nice to step away from the puzzle type of games for awhile and build on our 'quality time" together. You definitely don't realize how much you're missing out on each other's lives with a busy schedule. Our favorite challenge was "Flirting With History". We were laughing so hard to come up with pickup lines for each other. We are definitely "out of the game". Some games got us thinking about our past travels and wonderful moments with our friends and family. During this quarantine time period, memories are all we got. It was also great to learn things we never knew about each other after 7 years of marriage. Although you should definitely be careful not to mix in an "ex" girlfriend/boyfriend's memories into the game. It could get ugly! We will definitely replay this game again sometime in the near future as we believe "quality time" is very important in a relationship and you should definitely cherish these moments. ** UPDATE - We regret to inform that "Crated with Love" has closed. Disclosure: We thank Crated with Love 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. #CiciCao #AtHomeGames #TabletopGames #PuzzlesbyMail #CratedWithLove #GearsOfTime #PuzzlesByMail #Fun #Adventure #Steampunk #DateNight

Photo above is property of Cursed Tales Company: Cursed Tales Game: The Dolls House Country: United Kingdom 🇬🇧 Language: English Type of Game: Digital Escape Game 💻 Genre: Mystery, Paranormal Date Played: September 18, 2022 Difficulty (based on 3 players): 4/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Ages 16+) Time: Unlimited (Approx. 40-60 Mins.) Price: £9.99/ $13.99 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 When you return to your grandmother’s home and come across the old dollhouse she never let you play with, hidden and covered up, you can’t help but peer into the rooms. You open the little door and the world fades to black… when you wake up, you find yourself locked inside the dollhouse as a doll! You are told the curse left by a witch gives you only until sunset to escape or forever you’ll stay a doll! Can you make it through the eerie house or will you live the rest of your life trapped! 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 "The Dolls House" is the third digital game by Cursed Tales where each follows a spooky theme. Once you have purchased the game, you can log into your account using the email attached to the game to click and begin. There is a video introduction that shows a lot of detail in set design and theming that really helps set the atmosphere of the game. The video provides some context of what is going on before launching you into the beginning room of the game. There is a map you can click to move between rooms but some rooms must be unlocked before you can travel to them. Your goal is to travel throughout the house and unlock rooms to see if you can uncover the way to break the curse. You will have an inventory tab to help keep track of what information you gather and there is also a hints tab for if you get stuck. Any puzzles that requires you to draw or manipulate can be done directly in game but it will not save so keep that in mind! I felt this game was a bit more challenging than the previous ones and I absolutely loved the eerie element we got in this house. It truly had some spookies to it! 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The puzzles within "The Dolls House" consisted of observation, pattern recognition, and a bit of logic. I found there to be a good balance to them and the progression was smooth to follow. The key thing is to be mindful of the little hidden clues when examining the rooms. There is also an audio puzzle so make sure to have your audio on!. I also really appreciate how responsive Cursed Tale has been to feedback as their games have progressed. This game has less text heavy work and more of a focus on the puzzling itself, without sacrificing an interesting theme. I loved how the puzzles are embedded into the website smoothly and I had no issues running through them. I also found the puzzles did a great job using the images and components well to make each time you figured out the goal of the puzzle you got the perfect “aha!” I feel this is their best puzzle game yet! Photo above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 "The Dolls House" provided the perfect spooky and fun puzzle experience that new and experienced players can enjoy together. I highly encourage you to take your time observing the rooms to get the full effect of the game and playing with friends really adds to the enjoyment as you both wonder if what you are seeing is actually there. Cursed Tale keeps getting better and better with each game and I cannot wait to see how they continue to grow moving forward! ** UPDATE - We regret to inform that "Cursed Tales" has closed. Disclosure: We thank Cursed Tales for comping our tickets for this game. Although complimentary admission was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #JillianRaymond #AtHomeGames #DigitalGame #CursedTales #Mystery #Paranormal #UK

Photo above is property of Cursed Tales Company: Cursed Tales Game: The Forest Country: United Kingdom 🇬🇧 Language: English Type of Game: Digital Escape Game 💻 Genre: Paranormal Date Played: December 30, 2021 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 6/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Recommend 1-6 ppl) (Ages 16+) Time: Unlimited (Approx. 90 Mins.) Price: £9.99/ $13.99 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Having a fun time with your daughter trick or treating on Halloween, you are unknowingly led into a nearby forest by a sinister spirit pretending to be your daughter. As you try to walk out, you realize that you are trapped and cannot leave. The only way out is to discover what disturbing secrets the forest hides. 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 When the game begins, you are introduced to the story with a high quality, cinematic video. There was definitely a lot of time and effort spent into crafting this video (and the finale video). You are then introduced to the map of the game where you can click on different areas and explore them. As you explore, you will find different documents that will flesh out the story and items that will go into your inventory that will most likely be helpful as you proceed. When finding the different documents, you can either read through them or there is a voice recording that you can listen to, which is also a high-quality recording that fits the theme. Make sure to take the time to go over the documents as they may contain information for the puzzles but also to immerse yourself into the story more. One thing that makes this game standout is the interface. It runs extremely smooth as you navigate through different areas, opening items and even locks. In today’s online games, where most games seem to run on Telescape, this is a nice alternative which seems to mesh perfectly with Cursed Tales’ stories and games. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The game contained escape room style puzzles that would include searching, counting and matching things up. There are some riddles as well. Something that stood out was how your input was displayed for all the locks so you never questioned if you input the answer incorrectly. One thing that could be improved on was only one level of hint was available. We did use the hints a couple of times and it would have been nice to have a few more hints rather than one hint and then the solution. Cursed Tales offers 2 kinds of playing levels. The casual play, geared for a quicker and easier play through and a standard play, for the ones looking for the full experience. Playing both, the standard one is probably what most people would play but one nice thing was that rather than simply removing certain puzzles, each of them had different puzzles which made both versions a pleasure to play through. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 Cursed Tales has done an amazing job with developing this game with its strong narrative, logical puzzles, and seamless interface. This was a spooky game but not scary. We played as 2 enthusiasts and were able to make it through the game in under an hour. Seeing the first 2 games that Cursed Tales has created, we are very excited to see what great games they will continue to produce. ** UPDATE - We regret to inform that "Cursed Tales" has closed. Disclosure: We thank Cursed Tales for comping our tickets for this game. Although complimentary admission was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #MatthewLui #AtHomeGames #DigitalGame #CursedTales #Mystery #Paranormal #UK

Photo above is property of Cursed Tales Company: Cursed Tales Game: The Mother Country: United Kingdom 🇬🇧 Language: English Type of Game: Digital Escape Game 💻 Genre: Mystery, Paranormal Date Played: November 19, 2021 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 3/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Ages 16+) Time: Unlimited (Approx. 40-60 Mins.) Price: £9.99/ $13.99 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Set in the backdrop of a once thriving mill town in 1890, you are investigating an old case regarding the murder of a young girl. Her mother, struck with grief from the horrific loss, took her own life and continues to haunt this uninhabited town, seeking justice for her daughter. Can you unravel the mystery and uncover the killer, or will this restless spirit continue forever to haunt this town? 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 "The Mother" is an introductory game to the Cursed Tales, with the next one "The Forest" launching soon. Once you have purchased the game, you can log into your account using the email attached to the game to click and begin. There is a video introduction that I couldn’t help but take a moment to appreciate the set design and costumes. This company put in a lot of detail to ensure this introduction truly felt like a film to enjoy. The video will give you the background of the case before opening up to a digital map of the town. To investigate inside a building all you need to do is click them and a view of the rooms will appear, if there are more locations to search in the building there will be labeled arrows to click. Some locations on the map are inaccessible at different parts of the game so do not worry if you can’t access something, it just means you haven’t reached a certain stage in the game. The introductory video also gives a nudge where to go the first time but to uncover which locations to visit next going further, investigate the artifacts and documents left in the rooms. These pieces of evidence will often point out a location and give you an item that could be useful there for unlocking doors, chests, gates, and wardrobes. You are able to review documents you have collected in your inventory and there is an audio component that will read the information to you in character for that immersive touch. The goal is to collect evidence identifying who killed the daughter and why. Overall, I found the cinematography of the introduction to be beautiful and the website created a really smooth playing experience as you maneuvered around. There is a hint system available for players needing a little nudge. Photo above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 This initial game seeks more to set the stage for Cursed Tales and as such I would say the puzzles are skewed to a more beginning style puzzling. My group of experienced players found the puzzles to be very light, with decoding, observation, searching, and exploration as the main modes of solving. Regardless of your level of skill, I recommend taking your time to really read the information (or listen to it be read to you) to truly get a full experience as the highlight of this game is the building of the story. Some important cues for the puzzles are hidden in some of these documents as well so it also important to refer back to them as you move around. I enjoyed how the puzzles encouraged you to explore your surrounding while also harkening back to places you’ve been. The story that unfolded as you solve each puzzle was heartbreaking but well done and fit the mood and theme well. I do wish this experience was a little longer as that could have played into the immersion factor, like exploring more buildings and solving puzzles to unlock rooms other inhabitants of the town. That said, I would say this is more of a teaser game. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 "The Mother" provided a haunting tale that had good plot development, rounded characters, and some light puzzling to push you along. I would say this is more of an immersive experience than a puzzle game given the easy level of the puzzle, but I really enjoyed being able to explore the world of the game and would love to do more. This isn’t a game for people looking for challenging puzzles but if you enjoy immersive storytelling with some puzzling, I think this is a great start to Cursed Tales games. I am quite curious to see how The Forest ramps up the puzzling from what their site suggests. ** UPDATE - We regret to inform that "Cursed Tales" has closed. Disclosure: We thank Cursed Tales for comping our tickets for this game. Although complimentary admission was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #JillianRaymond #AtHomeGames #DigitalGame #CursedTales #Mystery #Paranormal #UK

LOCATION: Laconia, New Hampshire, USA Photos above are property of The Escape Room Experience Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 📝 ETR DECODER 🔑 GAME: CSI Murder Mystery 📅 DATE PLAYED: September 30, 2021 🎬 GENRE: Detective 🧠 DIFFICULTY (Based on 2 ppl): 7/10 👥 TOTAL # OF PLAYERS: Up To 8 ppl 🕒 LENGTH OF TIME: 60 Mins. 💰 PRICE: $30.00/ pp ☎️ BOOKING TYPE: Private 🔓 ESCAPED/ COMPLETED?: Yes 📖 THE STORY There's been a murder... It's 1972, county prosecutor Adam Phool's body has been found in his home. There are numerous suspects ranging from all of the enemies he's created to even his own wife who happens to be half his age! Your chief has just called you in to put you on the case. Can you narrow the suspects down to figure out who the killer is? Video above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🎯 HIT THE BULLSEYE There were many suspects, each with a motive, different characteristics and back story. There's also a white board used in the room. It truly feels like we are detectives trying to crack this case. The usage of a simple "X" and "check mark" was great for the players to keep track of who we've eliminated and who's left. The puzzles gave clear direction as to who should be eliminated once we figured out the solution. This was a clever way to introduce the puzzles within the storyline. If you like opening locks then you're in luck. There's a TON of locked up chests and drawers for you to crack. 🧩 MISSED THE MARK There seem to be a disconnect between the set designs as one minute we're in the precinct's interrogation room and the next we're in the victim's home. But all the materials that we would see at a precinct (i.e. the white board) was set up in the victim's home. It would also be great to see an outline of the body of the victim in the apartment so it actually feels like a crime scene. We wish there was more for us to do in the interrogation room as we only utilized it for the briefing, figure out the entrance to the victim's home and one other puzzle towards the end. The interrogation room had some cool vibe and props that could easily be utilized for more puzzles. It could also easily become a team effort thing where one side starts off in the interrogation room and the other in the victims and they have to pass information to each other in order to solve puzzles in their rooms. Some puzzles felt like they were just giving information away where as others took a lot longer to decode. The easier puzzles sometimes got us to wonder if it's really that easy or were they red herrings. 🏹 TAKE A SHOT? Overall, "CSI Murder Mystery" is very much to the board game "Clue". There are many characters in play with various motives, weapons and alibis. Some information will be found only through reading where as others are logic/Math/Riddle type of puzzles. There's a lot of puzzles in this room so we would suggest 3-4 players at least as it's quite spacious. As we are both huge murder mystery fans, we really enjoyed as the killer slowly surfaced with the information we found through solving the puzzles. Do you think you have what it takes to catch the killer? Additional Info Street Parking Available (metered) Lobby area with seats Games available for purchase Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers ** UPDATE - We regret to inform that "The Escape Room Experience" has closed. Disclosure: We thank The Escape Room Experience for comping our tickets for this game. Although complimentary admission was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #BrandonChow #IRLescaperoom #EscapeRooms #Mystery #Detective #USA #MurderMystery #TheEscapeRoomExperience

Photo above is property of Valiant Escapes Company: Valiant Escapes Game: The Curse of King Sarcophagus Country: United Kingdom 🇬🇧 Language: English Type of Game: Digital Escape Game 💻 Genre: Adventure Date Played: January 15, 2022 Difficulty (based on 6 players): 3/10 Size of Team: Up to 10 Players Time: Unlimited Price: £9.99 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Your friend, Archie the Archeologist, has gone into an ancient pyramid to see what he can discover. That was yesterday and you haven’t heard from him. An anxious cat, by the name of Sooty, whines and complains and urges you to bring Archie back. Gathering your friends, can you find Archie before something bad happens to him? Solve the riddles of the pyramid and hopefully don’t get cursed. Video above is property of Valiant Escapes 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 This game uses its own interface where all players will connect and interact with the game collaboratively. It is a standard point and click interface and all items needed are clearly marked and sent to inventory when obtained. The game does have some minor cutscenes that explain a bit of the story. The visuals/ pictures used in the game were clear and concise in what to interact with. The presentation of this game was good. Photos above are property of Valiant Escapes 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 In "The Curse of King Sarcophagus" there are a multitude of differing puzzle types. Everything from logic puzzles to physical puzzles were included. All interfaces needed to interact with the puzzles worked properly and being able to see each other player's cursor helps show your team how far you have worked on getting to Archie. The largest complaint is that when you get to the final puzzles of the game, it no longer becomes any type of team game. It is a slide puzzle and only one person can work on it at a given time (Update As of feb 4, 2022, the creator has informed us that this issue has been fixed). 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 This online point-n-click puzzle adventure has some good qualities but doesn’t provide much charm to the game. For cat lovers, you'll be indulged by a cute cat photo in various areas of the game. The puzzles were on the easy side for any escape room enthusiast and they were all standard puzzles that most people have seen (logic puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, etc.). When our team of six got to the final puzzle (Update As of feb 4, 2022, the creator has informed us that this issue has been fixed), there was only one person working on it and everyone else just sat and watched, it didn’t seem to promote a team collaboration. This game would be well played with 1-3 players, there would be enough to do for all people and give enough of a challenge for a quick little puzzle night. We regret to inform this company has closed. Disclosure: We thank Valiant Escapes for providing us with access to the game. Although complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #MikeSchnurr #AtHomeGames #DigitalGames #PointNClick #Adventure #Egyptian #Curse #ValiantEscapes #UK