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Photo above is property of Lockdown SG Company: Lockdown SG Games: Bearscape: Spaceship Octo" Country: Singapore 🇸🇬 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games 🧩 Genre: Education, STEM Date Played: February 19, 2023 Difficulty (based on 1 player): 4/10 Size of Team: 1-5 Players (Ages 12+) Time: 45-60 Minutes Price: SGD 49.90 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Your spaceship, the Octo, has been cruising along fine while your team awaits your next destination. However, a sudden jolt out of your intergalactic slumber alerts all of you awake. The ship has been breached! Use your combined skills in mathematics, biology, chemistry, and engineering to repair the ship and steer it back on course. Will you make it in time, or will you be lost in space forever? Video above is property of Lockdown SG 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ This space-themed box holds this multi-stage game neatly, with graphics that attract younger players and family teams alike. Keeping in theme with the space aesthetic, each stage is ‘locked’ into a single space capsule with minimal pieces to make the experience less finicky. Speaking of locked, each space capsule also provides a hook for a lock, should players want to have this game replayed with another team. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 Within the instruction and component booklet, players will be able to see two ways to effectively play this game - either as-is, or with coded locks. Each set comes with a series of space capsule-enclosed puzzles that players can only move on to after completing the puzzle before. For example, players can only open the puzzle in Capsule 1 after solving the puzzle that came separately outside the capsules and in the game box itself. Each puzzle tests players on their knowledge in middle grade level Science and Mathematics, particularly in ecology, arithmetics, and chemistry - and is great as a school activity for students above 12. Other components of the game include hint cards that can be used for when players are unsure of their next steps, as well as an answer grid that determines the correct answer from players before moving on to the next puzzle capsule. With the bright graphics and educational twist, the gameplay makes for a different medium of learning with families and students alike. Photos above are property of Lockdown SG 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 In this case, the experience is as self-contained as your elementary knowledge in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) subjects. Given how this game is for students from 12 and above, the clues on each puzzle card will give you a topic to focus on quickly. Difficulty and replay-ability can be adjusted with additional tools like locks, or taking phones (for Googling and research) out of the picture. Ultimately, the only game mechanic players would likely have to familiarise themselves with would be to understand how to determine the accuracy of their answers before moving forward. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 Due to its multi-functions, Bearscape : Spaceship Octo does have a greater level of replayability among different groups. And although it appears to be created primarily for the classroom, it is a pleasant twist on educational games outside the digital realm. Therefore, families looking to add more play into learning or vice versa can consider this game. If anything, this can inspire players to engage in the knowledge themselves (without the dread of feeling like it’s just for homework!). Recommended for Ages 12 and above. (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"!) #JoelynAlexandra #AtHomeGames #TabletopGames #PuzzlesByMail #LockdownSG #Education #Singapore

Photo above is property of Asmodee Company: Asmodee Game: 404 On Board: Escape Box Dinosaurs Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games 🧩 Genre: Kids, Dinosaurs Date Played: January 2, 2023 Difficulty (based on 1 kid): 4/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Recommended 2-5 kids) Time: Unlimited (Approximately 45 Mins.) Price: $10.00 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 You and your friends are researchers working with the famous professor Flynn. When he goes missing, your group use his cryptic notes and a map to try and find him. Following his trail, you stumble upon a cave with a jungle inside and what looks like dinosaurs. As you enter and begin your search, you hear a volcano making some ominous noises. It looks like you only have 45 minutes to find Professor Flynn and get out of here before the volcano erupts. 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ Opening up the package, you find the rule book that doubles as the gamemaster guidebook as well as a deck of cards and a poster. Photo above is the property of Asmodee 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 The setup requires an adult (or someone older) to set the game up and be the gamemaster (GM). In the box, key components include a guidebook for the GM and 3 different types of cards, puzzle cards, story cards and encounter cards. How the game works is that the GM hides the puzzle cards around the room and provides the first story card to the kids. The kids go around and try to find them. Each puzzle will require 4 puzzle cards from the same set to solve. Once the kids find the cards they need to solve the first puzzle, they can do so and provide the answer to the GM. The GM confirms if it is correct, continues the story from the guidebook and gives the next story card to the kids. One tip is that since the puzzles are linear, try to hide the cards for the first couple of puzzles in easier spots and the later ones in harder spots. I made the mistake of randomly hiding them and my son found all the later cards first before he was able to get the ones he needed for the puzzles. One fun addition that the game adds is encounter cards. Encounter cards are random and are played at the GM’s discretion (at certain times, if the kids are trying to brute force an answer, etc.). When played, they represent a dinosaur that the group encounters and can mean anything from the group is safe to the group losing some puzzle cards for a specified time. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The puzzles ranged from some quick ones that required putting the cards in the correct order to a cipher to deducing the correct answer. The puzzles fit into the theme of the game well and they integrated with the story. My youngest who is 7 was able to complete most of these on his own. There were a few times he had to use the hints provided but I found with one hint, he was well on his way to solving them. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 My youngest got this for Christmas and was excited to play it. He had a ton of fun playing through it. For myself, it was easy to set up and the guidebook was very thorough in giving me guidance as a GM. Though it is on the easier side, I would recommend this for younger kids who are avid puzzlers or older ones who have not played. The game used the dinosaur theme well and made it educational using real dinosaur names and providing facts about them in the rulebook for afterwards. We will definitely have to check out the other games in the series. (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"!) #MatthewLui #AtHomeGames #TabletopGames #PuzzlesByMail #Asmodee #404OnBoard #Dinosaurs #KidsGames #USA

Photo above is property of Space Cowboys Company: SPACE Cowboys / Asmodee Group Game: Unlock! Expedition: Challenger Country: France 🇫🇷 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Genre: Adventure, Dinosaurs Date Played: July 9, 2022 Difficulty (based on 1 player): 7/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Recommend 1-6 Players) Time: Unlimited (Approximately 60 Mins.) Price: $14.99 (Single Game), $29.99 (Unlock! Exotic Adventures 3-Pack) 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 A woman has come to your Private Investigator firm asking for your help. Her friend, Ned Malone, has been missing for days. He was last seen coming back from an adventure in the Lost Valley with the eccentric Professor Challenger. She has his notebook and an old message which she hands to you in hopes you can find him. 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ Having the "Unlock! Exotic Adventures" (3-Pack), the box is themed for each adventure. Inside, you can find each deck separated, with "Expedition: Challenger" rated the hardest of the three. All the backs of the deck have a large number in the middle with smaller numbers on the corner to place them in order. The back of this deck is also themed in dinosaur skin. Photo above is property of Space Cowboys 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 If you have not played the Unlock! series, the basic way the game works is that you get different cards and try to solve the puzzles and combine items. Most of the answers you get will be numbers. Using the number, you find the card with the corresponding number on it and flip it over to continue the story. You will need to download a free app to play the game. Some of the key cards you will encounter are the red and blue ones that allow you to combine items, the green machine cards that you use with the app which will let you interact with something and the yellow code cards that will require you to put a code into the app to unlock a lock. If this explanation does not make sense, do not worry. Every Unlock! game has a quick 10-minute tutorial game that will teach you how to use the cards and app. Now if you have played the Unlock! series, this one specifically is a little different than the other ones. Rather than just going through the cards and having the narrative play out linearly, a map will open up in the app and you will have you explore it through the game. This offers a different dynamic where you can solve puzzles in a non-linear order as you explore all the areas. There also was not a time limit to this one but more of a health bar depending on how many steps it takes you to discover the key elements of the map. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 This was ranked 3/3 on their difficulty scale and it was a challenging game. Some of the puzzles were fairly challenging, especially if you are not familiar with the type of puzzles that you may encounter in Unlock! games. Some I felt were a little bit of a stretch and could either have been clued a little bit more or the card design could have been clearer in what we were looking at. One tip to offer would be to make sure you read everything carefully and do not be afraid to try different things. The hint system for these are progressive and straightforward. I did find they helped on the ones I did get stuck on as well as they do provide you solutions at the end. There is also a walkthrough on the Space Cowboys website you can check out post-game if something did not make sense or you fear you missed something. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 "Unlock! Expedition: Challenger" was fun to play with the story and map exploration working well together but the game was exactly what the name says it was... challenging. If you are familiar with the Unlock! games, you will know what to look for in solving the puzzles and will enjoy diving into this one. However, I would not recommend this game if this is your first time with Unlock!. Luckily, in all the 3-packs that they offer, each is a different level of difficulty and you can work your up to this game. (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"!) #MatthewLui #AtHomeGames #TabletopGames #PuzzlesByMail #OneOffs #Adventure #Dinosaurs #SpaceCowboy #France

Videos/ Photos provided by Puzzling Package Industries Company: Puzzling Package Industries Game: The Runes of Odin Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Puzzles By Mail 📬 Genre: Mythology, Exploration, Norse Culture, Magic Date Played: 10/13/2020 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 7/10 Time: Unlimited Size of Team: Unlimited. (Ages 14+) Price: $135.00 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 The story of how Odin obtained his magik was passed through many generations. Odin's well has became the search target for many other people who's been seeking similar power. Cormac Dunsmore - an academic rather than field expert - was sent to locate it and never returned. Decades passed and recently a new agent in the agency was assigned to this old case but she has no clue on where to start. She's going to need your help to location The Ruins of Odin. 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ The game came in a cardboard box packaged as if there were artifacts hidden within. And there were! Inside the box, you'll find a welcome packet with instructions and other reading materials, letters and telegrams, a scroll, a wooden rod, a wooden plaque, a drinking horn and stand, a bag of rune stones, 9 squares, and a matchbook. The drinking horn and the rune stones were quite beautiful and well made. They could easily go on a display shelf after game play. 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 After reading the instructions, we went straight to the reading materials first. If you like a game with heavy narratives then you'll love this story line. Since this old file was just recently discovered in the present day, you'll experience some "time traveling" vibe. We thought it was funny that we had to google search some of the modern day internet slangs but fully understood the olden days telegrams and letters. There were a lot of clues embedded in the reading materials so it would be important to pay attention to details and the chorological order of the story. Brandon's not really big on reading so I took on that position and found that taking notes definitely helped with this game. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 Most of the puzzles were single step puzzles that involved some type of decoding or translation. If you correctly solved one, you may be awarded with a "magical" encounter. At times, I felt like I was a linguist and others, a professional rune caster. You'll also encounter some researching and searching which goes perfectly with the role you're playing in the game. Finally, if you're looking for some good old deduction, you've come to the right place. The puzzles were not too difficult and were all in line with the theme. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 Besides enjoying the narratives and puzzling our way to finding the location of the well, I felt like we just went through a history lesson on Nordic Mythology. I can't say I'm an expert at rune stone readings now but I'm definitely feel closer to their culture than before. There's a mystical energy surrounding this culture and we're happy to have experienced it through this game. Get your drinking horn out and pour yourself some Nordic inspired drinks (or just some wine would do), turn on the recommended Spotify music list, get into character (maybe assign reading roles) and embark on this magical journey of "The Runes of Odin". (If you do decide to try this book, please remember to let them know that you heard it from"ESCAPETHEROOMers"!) Disclosure: We thank Puzzling Package Industries for providing us with samples of their game. Although complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #ESCAPETHEROOMers #AtHomeGames #EscapeRooms #PuzzlingPackageIndustries #PPI #RunesOfOdin #PuzzlesByMail #Fantasy #Adventure #Mystery #ByMail #Gods #Odin #Runes #treasure #norseculture #norse #mystical #mythology #exploration

Photo above is property of Killer Mystery Company: Killer Mystery Game: The '80s Were Killer Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Genre: Detective Date Played: June 30, 2023 Difficulty (based on 3 players): 5/10 Size of Team: Unlimited Time: Approximately 5 Hrs Price: $39.00 (Monthly)/ $175.00 (Season Pass) 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 The time is the 80s. The setting is LA, I mean Cielo Con Angelitos. The air is hot and expansive. The mood is new wavy. As you park your silver Delorean on the hills overlooking the rich enclave of Lightheart Canyon you look out over the city as it becomes colored by the setting sun. The sky washes all in its sepia tinted tonic of neon pastel. You feel a sublime ennui. The final act of the human drama has once again come to its predictable end. There has been a murder. Beneath you lays the bodies of Kate and Louis Hansen, splayed gruesomely beside the canyon road. Their corpses appear to be the product of an almost animal savagery. Something about their affluence stops you from being wholly sympathetic, and you look on with the practiced antipathy of a stoic detective. There is no escaping the jungle that is Cielo Con Angelito, not even in these hills, no matter how exclusive and how secluded and how high you try to get. The Hansen's were a family that was never able to keep itself out of the paper. I'm sure it could have been any of them, or the millions of other people they probably screwed over on their way to the top. Still, lady justice must have her answer, and with that thought you descend into the crime scene, beginning your long journey into what will sure be a dark night. 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ They've done a good job branding and giving the game the right flavor and of creating a unified aesthetic. Who doesn't love the 80s, it's a perfect setting for a murder mystery. That being said visually It will not be completely unfamiliar. It's kind of a fun collage of familiar murder mystery visuals. The thing they did best was in terms of the realism of the document, which does in a lot of cases look very very official. It is a bit wordy and could use some more graphics to balance that out. The paper is that good quality stuff, nice to the touch, perfect for frantically shuffling through as you try and piece it all together. Photos above are property of Killer Mystery 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 Not to mention the competition, but I would be remiss if I did not at least mention Hunt a Killers own 80s inspired box "Class of 98" (that is there reunion date, but it goes back to when they were students, and that was in the 80s), which has significance because of its immediate but superficial similarities to the one here being reviewed. But really I mention it only because it was for me my first mystery box, and although it started off with great promise and with a very suggestive and exciting 80s aesthetic, by the end it became the epitome of style over substance. I really therefore put a lot of hope and faith that this box would be different, and that maybe we can finally do that great 80s setting some justice. Ok, that's all I am going to say about that, this is a new box, a fresh beginning, and I will wipe my mind clean and completely clear myself of any prejudice or bad after taste and be prepared to experience something for the first time. The 80's were killer is a episodic tablet top mystery game. There are 5 sequential episodes per box broken down into 5 scenes, each with their own collection of materials and evidence. Each episode is guided by one overall objective that you are supposed to pay attention to and answer by the end. The scenes are supposed to represent timeframes within the story, along with the evidence or narrative that is uncovered and made available to push the investigation further. It's a lot like other kinds of detective mystery boxes where you slowly use the information you have to piece together a coherent narrative. Expect a lot of materials and a lot of information. You'll be taking copious notes and trying to keep all the material organized as you slowly piece together and build a narrative around this complex web of clues. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 A game lives or dies by the quality of its puzzling, and with that truism I will start my deep dive into my experience with the game. After having gone through episode 1 I have extremely mixed feelings. In a way I feel this game typifies a lot of what can go right, but also a lot of what can go wrong with this type of production. On the one hand you are getting a lot of interesting material. You get an ambitious story that is a complex overarching narrative with many moving parts and interesting characters. On this level the game offers you a lot of bang for your buck. On the other hand I feel like it had several classic pitfalls of these types of episodic mystery boxes that made the experience frustrating. For starters, there needs to be more guidance as regards objectives and puzzle chains when playing the game, more signposts of success. It desperately needs to reorder the material around progressively guiding players towards more concrete and meaningful objectives, as opposed to simply giving one very general objective for the whole box which was too broad to encompass all the information and possible directions the player could go. I think at times it makes the mistake of giving you information without making you work for it, that is without having to solve it through any kind of deductive puzzle or the making of a deeper connection between fragments. There's a lot of intimation, but much less hard puzzling. Although the mystery itself does bloom quite beautifully, teasing you with more and more question and hypothesis, part of the time I was puzzling and making inferences and deductions, but most of the time I was simply hypothesizing, making educated but unverifiable theories from out of what I was simply being shown. Less puzzling and mystery solving and more like piecing together fragments of information to form a narrative. And this may be exactly as intended, on the website the creator points out that the game plays more like an interactive novel than a classic style deductive puzzle, so keep that in mind. On a further note, regarding the nature of episodic mystery boxes, their quality of delivering a mystery in installments is both potentially a virtue as well as a vice, in that you are given information that might not be resolved in this episode or this scene. Now this keeps the player excited and guessing and points to a larger story, honing their focus and interest, but when too much starts to not add up it can also leave them hanging. The information and the process of discovery has to be exceptionally well conceived so as not to leave the player high and dry, hungover on too much disparate information and not enough closure. You have to make them feel like they are really uncovering the plot, solving it, and pushing the narrative forward, instead of being led along without any agency. It's a fine line, and one that I think this game does well at times and at other times not so well. Without spoiling anything, there was a long and arduous code breaking puzzle at the end of the game that held crucial information - because of course, it's the end, time for the final denouement - that was very ill advised and which in most people I think would induce a mental breakdown. At the end, when the time comes for you to "solve" the episode, it all simply hinges on one very simple question, the answer to which is basically spelled out for you. This goes back to the need for progressive objectives. I feel like the whole experience would be better served if by the end the player was tested to a much greater degree to demonstrate the correctness of their narrative reasoning. Show us your grand theory, and not just your answer to a Yes or No question. Sure it is an interesting revelation, and a kind of twist that does certainly illuminate the plot, but it is not really the total summation of what came before it, but only a new jumping off point; and it kind of negates the work the player has done throughout, or it simply postpones that information to what we can only hope is a more grand conclusion in the next box. Of course its only episode 1, and things should still be up in the air, but we need a better conclusion for what was a lot of playtime. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 This game has a lot of potential, and it tries to build a narrative that is grander and more captivating and complex than your average tabletop mystery box experience. Even given my frustration I still kind of really want to know what happens next. But it really does come down to whether or not the game is fun to play, and to answer this I would still say yes, but going forward it needs to make some significant tweaks. At its core the joy of these detective mystery games is to be found in the process of working through some very clever puzzles, and in this case the whole narrative and puzzle structure lacked unity. Either the material did not solidify properly with the overly broad objective, or the game simply gave you the crucial information without making you really have to work for it. Sure by the end you have a wonderful handful of intimations, and some genuine deductions to show for your puzzling, but it often feels like you are simply being led down the path that you should instead be uncovering. The flipside of this is that the game does feature some very interesting plot lines. I think by the end of the first episode you get this picture of a fairly complex conspiracy that has been building up around this family for quite some time, and with this there are a lot of interesting questions that arise. I do feel like this game is a labor of love, you really get a lot of content for your money. I just want to believe that by the end of this epic chronicle that all my labors will not have been in vain, and that though I recommend The 80s Were killer, it won't just be for its promise but for its eventual payoff. (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 Killer Mystery 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. #AndrewWoods #AtHomeGames #TabletopGames #PuzzlesByMail #SubscriptionGames #KillerMystery #Detective #USA

Photo above is property of The Conan Doyle Estate & The Escape Room Guys Company: The Conan Doyle Estate & The Escape Room Guys Game: Sherlocked: The Official Escape Room Puzzle Book Country: United Kingdom 🇬🇧 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Genre: Puzzle Book Date Played: April 20, 2023 Difficulty (based on 1 player): 3/10 Size of Team: 1 Player Time: Approximately 4-5 Hrs. Price: $20.12 (Paperback) 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 A peaceful afternoon at 221B Baker Street often turns into a whirlwind of investigation and running about at the drop of a hat. Thinking that his latest case only involves a strange burglary at the museum, Sherlock Holmes finds another case dropped on his and Watson’s lap - one of a murdered coachman, a governess with a questionable background, her enigmatic employer, and his missing children. In this puzzle-studded, Choose Your Own Adventure novel, will you be able to aid Sherlock and Watson in their investigation and reach your desired outcome? Read and find out! 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ The standalone book comes wrapped in motifs and colours you might associate with Sherlock Holmes (*coughs*A Study in Scarlet*coughs). This 240-page piece not only contains the main story in a mix of novel prose and choose your own adventure text, but also mini-puzzles and questions studded through the book itself. Quick Tip: Take note of the cover when the story nudges you to do so - it contains more than you think. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 The participation and puzzles came two-fold. First, the flow of the story is dependent on your Choose Your Own Adventure choice. Based on what you read in each chapter or section, you can make your next step. Second, little puzzles and magnifying glasses ask questions to pique your interest or to get into Sherlock’s and Watson’s heads. The puzzles are peppered through the text, or in notes and materials Sherlock and Watson receive. What was a little disappointing for me was how little impact the puzzles had in the grand scheme of things. This is especially when the majority of the puzzle questions asked ended up being answered either a few lines below the questions or on the next page regardless. If you’re raring to dive into the questions before reading the story further, the hint system available at the back of the book is ready to help you. Afraid that you’ll end up spoiling yourself while trying to solve each puzzle? You’re still in luck. The hints are not placed in order, so it’s a good opportunity to warm up those puzzling muscles. Photos above are property of The Conan Doyle Estate & The Escape Room Guys 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 Given the nature of the medium, most of the puzzles here are either a case of reading between the lines, word-based puzzles, or a good spot of Googling. There are a few visual puzzles located in the book’s appendix as needed (or elsewhere, check out the hints). Therefore, if you’re good with your comprehension, deduction, or just with your words, this book can give your reading session that bit of kick. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 This book is for that deduction and investigation buff who does not want to leave their house. It can often feel like you have to choose between jumping into a great game or immersing yourself in a good book. With Sherlocked, perhaps you can hit both of these interests, and scratch that itch. That is, until Sherlock and Watson get another case! (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"!) #JoelynAlexandra #MatthewLui #AtHomeGames #TabletopGames #PuzzlesByMail #TheConanDoyleEstate #TheEscapeRoomGuys #PuzzleBook #UK

Photos above are property of Envelescape Company: Envelescape Game: Thornbright Mansion: Chapter 1 Country: Canada 🇨🇦 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games 🧩 Genre: Mystery Date Played: March 5, 2023 Difficulty (based on 1 player): 4/10 Size of Team: 1-6 ppl Time: Unlimited (Approx. 60-90 Mins.) Price: $29.99 CAD 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 As a property investor you're always trying to find the best deals and when you heard that the illustrious Thornbright Mansion was up for sale, you were determined to see if it was worth the investment. Except when you arrive for your tour of the Mansion, you find yourself and fellow investors locked within the home and left with strange damages, peculiar notes, missing documents that all suggest that something odd is happening in these halls. With no way out at the moment it is time to investigate…and maybe find a way to the next room? 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ This game arrives white envelopes with a company sticker sealing it shut. Inside the envelope is the game wrapped in a rich purple sleeve that protects all its contents. The game consists of a pop up 3D model of the main foyer within the Thornbright Manor. Alongside the model, there are five clue envelopes that can only be opened when instructed. Inside the clue envelopes contain additional paper materials like journal notes, ripped messages, etc that will provide clues to help with subsequent puzzles. I really enjoyed the detail in the pop up room. There’s little clues that are effortlessly hidden and provide such fun when you uncover them. It really encourages you to explore the board, turn it, tilt it, etcetera. I found everything to be made well and felt good in my hands. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 The game begins once you read the introduction note that also provides you with a web link. This game does require access to the internet in order to access a server that provides hints and a place to submit your answers. Each puzzle corresponds to an item you see in the room (door, skull, safe, etc) and once you have solved the puzzle connected to the symbol you can type the answer in and if the answer is correct a green check mark appears and clicking it will direct you to a clue envelope to open. While this game is somewhat non-linear there are certain puzzles that require clues from others so keep that in mind if you’re scratching your head. This game provides two hints per puzzle before a solution is given. Photos above are property of Envelescape 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The puzzles in this game are light hearted and great for newcomers or young minds wanting to dive into puzzles. The range for pattern recognition, riddles, logic puzzles, maths, and observation. Once you understand the puzzle it is quite easy but I will say it can be tricky to get started as there is no “do this puzzle first.” I would have liked a little more sign posting as sometimes I took a hint to figure out my path. You may find yourself trying to work on puzzles that you actually can’t solve as a result. That said, the non-linear aspects play well into group work as you can divide things up for a short period before coming together to review what clues you unlocked. The clue pieces are essential for some puzzles so make sure to keep them handy! This game encourages keeping a keen visual eye on the board so have good lighting and a flashlight handy so you can get clear visuals when needed. I really enjoyed how well they integrated some clues as they created fun “ahas”! I find the story promising but I feel like I don’t know a lot. There is a unique mystery around peculiar family members and stolen items but the progression doesn’t feel all that vast. I enjoyed how the story is presented with diary pages and scribbled notes but I wish the ending would have provided a little bit more reward in the story. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 "Thornbright Mansion: Chapter 1” is a fun yet small puzzle adventure packed with detail and mystery that is easy to dive into for family puzzle adventures or players looking for a shorter game. I think the story holds a lot to offer and the level of craftsmen in this game is marvellous to behold. I’m curious about the next room in chapter 2 and cannot wait to see what unfolds next! Will we make it out of this house…time will tell! (If you do decide to try this game, please remember to let them know that you heard it from"ESCAPETHEROOMers"!) Disclosure: We thank Envelescape 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. #JillianRaymond #AtHomeGames #TabletopGames #PuzzlesByMail #Envelescape #Mystery #Canada

Photos above are property of Envelescape Company: Envelescape Game: Thornbright Mansion: Chapter 2 Country: Canada 🇨🇦 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games 🧩 Genre: Mystery Date Played: September 4, 2023 Difficulty (based on 1 player): 4/10 Size of Team: 1-6 ppl Time: Unlimited (Approx. 60-90 Mins.) Price: $29.99 CAD 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Well your time in Thornbright Mansion continues to be…a strange adventure. The house is in disrepair and a missing portrait has drawn you into the story of this illustrious family that once lived here. It appears at the centre of the mystery are the children…but what happened? With no way out except going through the house you find yourself in a makeshift laboratory and you know something must have happened here that will shed light on what has been going on in this house. Maybe it’s time to create your own experiments…better get going! 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ As with the previous game, Chapter Two arrives to you in an innocuous purple envelope, the company logo as sticker to seal its secrets. I did appreciate that there was an update to the sleeve from a matte paper one to a thicker shinier cardstock case sleeve. It brightened the opening movement and grabbed my attention. The content list is noted on the back of the sleeve but inside you will find a two page 3D model of a rather curious laboratory hidden in the manor. Accompanying it is a diary page, seven clue envelopes, and very tempting secrets hidden behind panels and paper. Inside the clue envelopes will be various messages, riddles, and decoders to help you on your journey. Each time I have dive into these games I like the childlike adventure of peaking at the little hidden gems in the art and design of the room. They encourage you to get close and personal and sometimes even use a flashlight to inspect further. The vibrancy of the room and the detail of the art keep you enthralled start to finish. 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 On the back of the pop up page there is a chapter introduction to give you a little refresh as well as a weblink for clues and submitting answers. You do not need Chapter 1 to complete this. Once you have navigated the website, set up the 3D model, and you are prompted to explore the room looking for icons that match ones displayed on the web page. When you have solved a puzzle you can submit the code onto the web page alongside clicking the puzzle it corresponds to and if the answer is correct a green check mark will appear. Clicking the checkmark will prompt you to open a clue envelope. You then follow the clues as they lead you until you solve the mystery. This game is more linear as the clues scaffold into each other. While there is a lot to play with, I recommend focusing on the diary page to get started as you may end up trying to solve things that physically cannot be done until later. The majority of puzzles require you to have solved previous puzzles before you can fully solve them. The webpage has clues available to prompt you if you become stuck. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 Much like last time, I would say these puzzles continue to be light and easy for newcomers or young minds wanting to try their hand at puzzling. The challenges range from tracking, riddles, pattern recognition, decoding, logic, and more. These are the kind of puzzles that will just “click” as you stare intently at the room and do create for some good aha. I recommend players stick together when solving each puzzle because of the linearity of the puzzling. Some puzzles are a quick solve while others contain multiple steps so don’t be afraid to input answers and see what you get. These games reward puzzlers with keen eyes so move the model around, change the lighting, fiddle with tabs, and do not be afraid to try something. No destruction is required in this game. The story this chapter brings us drew me in as we got a little more information about the characters at hand. I loved the rewarding message we get at the end of solving as it has me excited for Chapter Three with more story to unravel. This takes us on a different journey than Chapter One and I appreciated the change up as this felt new and fun to dive into with the experiments and science theme. I look forward to the next room of exploration as this mansion doesn’t seem ready for us to leave…and honestly I don’t want to quite yet! Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 "Thornbright Mansion: Chapter 2” continues to take puzzles on an engaging and mysterious adventure that has you unravelling the secrets of a peculiar family. The detail, the lightness, and explorative feel make this something I definitely recommend to families and young puzzlers alike as it grabs you with detail and takes you on a ride with satisfying puzzling. Now…are you ready for the tour of a lifetime? Check out our review of Chapter 1 here! (If you do decide to try this game, please remember to let them know that you heard it from"ESCAPETHEROOMers"!) Disclosure: We thank Envelescape 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. #JillianRaymond #AtHomeGames #TabletopGames #PuzzlesByMail #Envelescape #Mystery #Canada

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

Photo above is property of ThinkFun Company: ThinkFun Game: Escape The Room: Murder in the Mafia Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Puzzles By Mail 📬 Genre: Murder Mystery, Mafia Date Played: October 29, 2022 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 5/10 Size of Team: 1-3 Players (Ages 14+) Time: 2 Hours (Approximately) Price: $34.99 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 You’re Chicago’s top private investigator and haven’t always gotten along with the mafia…but you didn’t expect to find their enforcer shot dead on your office carpet by your own gun. This doesn’t look good…between the police and the Family, you’re going to be in serious trouble if you can’t figure out what really happened - and quickly! 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ All the fun of a murder crime scene without the messy clean up! The game pops up into a recreation of your P.I. office, complete with dead body on the carpet. There are also moveable bits of furniture, and silhouettes in the doorway. This game definitely brings a lot of character to the table, with its film noir detective vibe. Photo above is property of ThinkFun 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 It took us just under 2 hours to play, including ~5-10 minutes of setup at the start where you are converting the box into the diorama. Some of the setup is a little bit fiddly, but with a little patience it will all come together. The game is then broken into five chapters, each focusing on a particular suspect, with distinct puzzles to solve. We appreciated that there was a decent amount of story, with a brief intro and scenes for each chapter and the ending, leading to great opportunities for dramatic readings. You typically have access to multiple puzzles at once, allowing for a divide-and-conquer approach if desired, though we tend to prefer to solve together. ThinkFun also provides an online soundtrack that you can play to help set the mood as you play! Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 There were a variety of spatial and tactile manipulations and logic puzzles, without any ciphers or decoding. Many of the puzzles are on the easier side, so suitable for younger or newer puzzlers, though we still enjoyed them! Hints are available as needed, with incremental steps as well as full solutions. There were no major leaps of logic, and we appreciated that some items ended up being used more than once. They also managed to create a variation of a decoding wheel that we hadn’t seen before. If you have older eyes like us, you might want a magnifying glass on hand for some aspects! Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 We really enjoyed the recreation of the crime scene and the way that things evolved with the arrival of different characters - very cute! And we always appreciate games that can be reset and passed along to friends. While it was not our preferred kind of theme, we appreciated how the story unfolded through the various chapters. You could certainly play solo, but we think all the more fun if you embrace their music and costume suggestions and make it a bit more of an event for 2-3 people. (Beyond three, it would be harder for everyone to see, unless you often rotated it around.) While they say 14+, aside from the general “murder” focus there is nothing particularly graphic, so we would have felt ok playing with kids who were slightly younger, personally. We’ve really enjoyed all the Escape the Room games that we’ve played! Not yet having played The Cursed Dollhouse, this was our first more diorama-style game from them, and it brought a fresh experience. Definitely worth checking out if you’re looking for an approachable game with great table presence! (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 ThinkFun 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. #KristaJones #AtHomeGames #TabletopGames #PuzzlesBMail #MurderMystery #Mafia #USA

Photo above is property of Murder & Co. Company: Murder & Co. Game: Story One: Snow Angel Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Genre: Murder Mystery Date Played: September 30, 2022 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 3/10 Size of Team: 1-6 Players (Ages 16+) Time: 30-60 Minutes/ per box Price: $300 for the full season in box form (alternate subscription and digital options available) 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 The young, promising college student Piper Green has been found dead in New Cambridge. The initial reports suggest that this is a suicide, but something doesn’t add up! Your friend Susan, a campus police officer, is determined to get to the bottom of things but needs your expert opinion! She sends you a series of boxes of evidence to help her eliminate suspects and figure out what really happened. The storyline in Snow Angel is quite the soap opera, with many interwoven pieces that come to light over the course of the series. While we never felt particularly attached to any of the characters and felt like there were some gaps in the story in the end, if you like juicy gossip and scandal, this might be up your alley! 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ Murder & Co. is a high-end subscription box, and the quality of the materials in the physical boxes is in line with that. We received a physical version of the first box, and then played the remainder of the season digitally; however, the online version gives you a good sense of what you otherwise would have received in person. There are a lot of paper items, which serve as various forms of evidence. While some of these are on standard paper (e.g., police reports), there are a wide variety of other paper-based items that are typically well-presented, such as photographs or pages torn from a planner (complete with tears in the holes at the edge). Some of the pieces that are less “authentic” feeling can be explained as photocopies of evidence recovered by Susan. The various pieces are also divided into different folders and envelopes that help to keep things organized. At times, we found that some of the items used odd fonts or tried to look handwritten but became unnecessarily challenging to read. Where the boxes really stand out from an appearance perspective is the physical items that are included! These are intended to be high-quality keepsakes, some of which might be functional while others are more decorative. They include a wide variety of accessories, home decor, and even a large magnifying glass that might assist you in future puzzling! 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 In each of the episodes you are tasked with a particular goal - to determine cause of death, eliminate specific subjects, or to discern who did and with what. These goals are explained in an opening letter from Susan. You will then go through all of the evidence provided in the box. They include a list of everything that should be included, which we always appreciate! While an order is obviously provided in the digital version, the physical boxes are a bit more explore-as-you-will. As there are quite a few things to look at and read through, this could be divided amongst a group of solvers (or passed around so everyone has a chance to look at everything). Note that, while the gift items are bound to the story to some extent, they are generally not used as part of the actual solving process. Once you have determined your answer, this is emailed to Susan, and you should receive an immediate reply. (There is also a digital entry page if playing the digital version.) There is also a page available for “codes and ciphers” which is their version of a hint page, though these are quite minimal. It would be great to have a more complete summary of each episode available with what you were meant to take away! Although, we did not use these hints to solve the goals. Each episode does not entirely stand alone; we enjoyed the fact that you sometimes needed to go back and refer to evidence that had been sent previously! Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 There are not real puzzles per se; the primary mechanism is deductive reasoning. For the most part, these goals/deductions are fairly straight-forward, though we sometimes felt that they were not entirely logical. After spending a lot of time poring through everything in the first episode and looking for more in-depth deductions/connections that were not there, we moved through the rest of the episodes far more quickly. There are a variety of ciphers to identify and messages to decode, which was probably our favorite part! Though, we did find a fair number of errors, which was frustrating at times. These codes, as with much of the content, were not necessary for actually completing that episode’s goal, but contributed to the overall storyline. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 While this series wasn’t quite our style, it will be best for those who prefer storylines and immersive experiences with light deduction. Those who treasure high-quality ephemera will love the physical boxes and their “curated gifts.” They truly are at a scale and quality that we personally have not seen before! We could also imagine this being fun for a small party or group of friends, with everyone passing around evidence and getting to take home some of the “gifts.” (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 Murder & Co. 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. #DaveBristol #AtHomeGames #TabletopGames #PuzzlesByMail #Subscription #MurderMystery #MurderandCo #USA

Photo above is property of Studio Stamp Company: Studio Stamp Game: On Circus Grounds Country: Netherlands 🇳🇱 Language: English, Dutch Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Genre: Murder Mystery Date Played: September 15, 2022 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 7/10 Size of Team: 1-4 ppl (Ages 15+) Time: Unlimited (Approx 2-4 hrs) Price: €42.00 (Standard), €62.00 (Deluxe) 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 It is 1883 in Dalfsen, Netherlands. Notoriously hard-nosed Circus Master Nicolaas Maester stands in front of his company to give his introduction to the show. But within minutes, he collapses to the ground in front of a horrified audience and dies. It is not long until it is determined that Nicolaas has been murdered - and the main culprit is swiftly arrested and convicted. Case closed. But was it so cut and dry? In the present day, you have been contacted by The Civilian Service as someone who has expressed interest in helping them - investigating and rectifying historical injustices. They believe this is such a case, and the convicted party was never truly guilty. Can you help them clear his name and find the real culprit? Why did they do it and how? Video above is property of Studio Stamp 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ When this arrived I was in awe at the amazing design of the box. Looking like an old, scuffed leather dossier, it is adorned with authentic circus poster style typography, imagery and beautiful illuminated lettering which I pored over for a good long time! It is thin enough to fit through a standard letterbox and came in an outer box to protect it. No plastic packaging which is refreshing. Seeing the size I was not expecting to see much inside but oh my! When I opened up the box, I audibly gasped and exclaimed... "Wow"! There was so much packed in there, 44 objects to be precise! And not just paper but cards, photos, scrolls, maps and even a few physical objects, small and enticing! Everything inside is beautifully made, high quality, highly decorated, looks authentic and has a beautifully old, faded, pastel colour palette which ties it all together so well and reflects the era and theme perfectly. Finally the only out-of-place item - the modern letter from The Civilian Service informing you that you have been chosen to help them solve this case - very handily lists all the things you should have in the box and where to go if you need help, plus your aims, and some tips on getting started. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 There is a lot to take in - once you have spread out the materials there is a lot of reading to be done, but you can break that up by looking at some of the photos, cards, maps and other items so it’s not too tedious. There is enough to look at to keep you looking through for a good half an hour and that’s before you even start to consider the facts, the characters and the timeline around this case. You really do start to imagine these events taking place - it is not too far into fantasy and you begin to get to know what was going on in this circus “family” and that not everything was what it seems. It is a tangled web of secrets and emotions indeed! That said - It’s very worth having a pen and paper, making summary notes, plus sketching out a rough timeline to help you decipher the events. If you need a hint you can access the internet site provided. We never needed to use this, but I went back afterwards to check it out and it is very clever as it first gives you some pointers as to where to get started, then gives you each piece of evidence to select, for each it then reveals 3 hints and then the truth of each item, so you can go as far as you need to with each. Once you think you have your solution, you visit the website, click through to a questionnaire which you complete as a multiple-choice selection. After each answer you are told if you are correct. If not, you can guess again. Once correct you are given an explanation as to why that is the case. Once you have all parts correct, you can click through to a lovely further artefact which provides a conclusion and explanation to the story, followed by a congratulatory message and further links. We managed to get all the facts right and felt victorious and accomplished! Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The puzzles are few in number but nicely woven into the story - no puzzles for the sake of it - two characters have to write secret notes to each other - so codes are involved. A character has some secrets kept in a notebook so some visual puzzles and logic are present. A map of the circus grounds is used in a way to get the answers you seek. Some of the physical objects hold clues that you have to manipulate or handle them to obtain. In this way, they have very cleverly woven the puzzles in and sometimes you find an answer without realising it was a puzzle! But then what is solving a murder if not one big puzzle?! There was one puzzle with visual instructions. I won’t spoil it here, but I did find myself having to google the final few steps (which I did find replicated online) as it wasn’t perfectly clear - I was then able to understand and carry on. There is a lot of old-fashioned hand-written text to fit in with the antique and historical accuracy of the artefacts. This looks amazing but was at times hard to decipher and did mar our solving of a couple of the puzzles, however, we were able to guess and back solve for these, and we communicated our concerns to the creators who said they have taken that on board. Expect to spend a fair bit of time working out the codes. You can only imagine how long it took people at the time to write and unravel them so the experience is very authentic! 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 Anyone who loves deduction, cold cases, murder mysteries, historical and character-driven story puzzles will love this, also fans of antique ephemera and circus lore. We played as a two but you could play solo or with up to about 6 players we think comfortably, with everyone sharing a summary of the information in the statements. Of course, you can only play this once as then you know the outcome, but a refill kit can be purchased so you can gift or share it with others once you are done. This is a fantastic offering from a small company, who launched this game in Dutch in 2020 to much success and have taken the time to recreate it in English for a wider audience. It absolutely smashed its Kickstarter goal and one of its Stretch Goals was to donate €0.50 from every sale to the Lion Foundation - a charity which rehabilitates circus animals. A wonderful gesture. (If you do decide to try this game, please remember to let them know that you heard it from"ESCAPETHEROOMers"!) Disclosure: We thank Studio Stamp 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. #HelenBailey #AtHomeGames #TabletopGames #PuzzlesByMail #MurderMystery #StudioStamp #Netherlands

Photo above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers Company: Killer At Large Game: A Marriage Cut Short Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Game 📬 Genre: Detective Date Played: July 29, 2022 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 3/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Ages 13+) Time: Unlimited (Approx. 1-2 Hrs.) Price: $32.00 (One time purchase), $27.50 (Monthly subscription), $25.00 (Annual price billed as a total of $150.00) 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 As an experienced investigator with years under your belt, it was no surprise when Melinda Markez reaching out to you in desperate need to find closure after the murder of her son, Luke. The case has gone cold and she feels the police are simply trying to brush it off as a robbery gone wrong rather than truly inspect the crime. She has had a private investigator collect evidence, but is hoping you can examine the case file and help identify who the killer is. She thinks she has narrowed down the suspects but an objective eye might be able to narrow it down further. When a mother pulls on your heart strings you know you have to help her… better get started! 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ This game arrives in a slim and compact cardboard box with the company logo branded on the box. Inside is an introduction card that provides an overview of how the game works and a note on finding hints. In addition to the card are two envelopes; the largest envelopes is stamped with “evidence” containing an introduction letter from the client, photos of suspects and crime scene, a news article, forensic reports, a suspect list, map of the area, witness statements, interviews, and other evidence to help narrow down the first round of suspects; the smaller envelope, which you can open after your solve the first objective, contains a follow up letter from the client in response to your discovery, follow-up interviews and witness statements, a police report, receipts, photos, and a letter that will help narrow the suspects down fully. There is also a folded paper sealed with tape that provides the conclusion once you have solved the crime. I found the overall of the game to be well situated. There are a variety of ephemera that you can really spread out across your table to explore. Each piece of evidence contributed to the overall story and helped build things, even the photos which might, initially, look innoculour, contain important clues for deduction! Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 This experience is broken up into two halves, which makes it easier to do over the course of two evenings if you would like - personally, I completed it in one sitting. You read the introduction card that provides a package list, a link to the hint site, directions on how to begin, and a hint on how to frame yourself if you’re new to these kinds of experiences. The key thing is to read the introduction letter from the client which will contextualize the experience as well as provide you with your current objective. You will then examine the evidence, look to corroborate alibis of various suspects, and then you can log onto their website to check your answer (or if you’re ambitious you can just open the second envelope and hope you were right). The second envelope will provide you with the final objective of the experience and encourages you to use evidence from both envelopes to make a final decision. The key thing is to create timelines with locations of suspects to help narrow down! There is a small hint system available on the website if you require, with up to three nudges to help get you on the path. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 For Killer at Large, the puzzling is mostly focused on the deduction process. There is one very small cipher but otherwise your main task is to vet the various suspects to see if they may be lying. I did feel a little let down by this single cipher - while its solution provided a valuable clue, the set up leading up to deciphering was essentially handed to players. For a deductive game, I felt the clues were well hidden and I often found myself finding the key clues and then fiddling with them to figure out what role they had in the narrative. A keen eye and using all the various elements of the evidence (front and back) can help you feel confident in your choices quite quickly. I liked how in their deduction they made it realistic for a person and players have all they needed right in front of them, even if they needed a moment to recognize it. Overall, I enjoyed the deduction aspect and felt it was smoothly entwined throughout the story and evidence. I wish the cipher aspect had a bit more nuance to it. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 "A Marriage Cut Short" provided me with an enjoyable deduction experience that really utilized all aspects of its components to engage players in piecing together the story. There is some nuance to the hidden clues that I enjoyed catching and there were a few moments where I thought to myself, “this is the clue I need!” I would say this game is for deduction players who like a lighter adventure as it is tailored a bit more to newer players. I do hope the puzzling ramps up a little in their later games. As it stands, I would definitely play another one and I’m intrigued to see how this series grows! *** We regret to inform this company has closed its doors *** Disclosure: We thank Killer At Large 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. #JillianRaymond #AtHomeGames #TabletopGames #PuzzlesByMail #Detective #MurderMystery #KillerAtLarge #USA

Photo above is property of A Killing Affair Company: A Killing Affair Game: Season 1 - Independence Day Killer Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Genre: Murder Mystery, Detective Date Played: March 28, 2022 Difficulty (based on 1 player): 6/10 Size of Team: 1-6 Players (Ages 14+) Time: Unlimited (Suggested time 8 hrs) Price: $170.00 (Set), $38.00/ Episode Video above is property of A Killing Affair 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 - EPISODE 1 Welcome to Lovely, Florida! No time for sightseeing though as you are now the new lead investigator for the Lovely Police Department. Your first case files involve looking into the serial killer that has been plaguing the town for over 6 years. Starting at the beginning, you need to sift through the case files of Dolly Dobs and Mandy Moray, who were murdered on July 4th in 2014 and 2015 and see if you can eliminate 2 suspects from the case. Inventory List for Episode 1: "Start Here" flyer Letter from Detective Trish Tate Lovely City map Sticky notes or notebook UV Light Photo page of victims and suspects Seashell found at the crime scene Bloody notes found at Mandy's home & Dolly's home Dolly Dobs' LPD file with a newspaper article and Irish pub menu attached Mandy Moray's LPD file with a newspaper article and text messages attached Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 - EPISODE 2 After eliminating 2 suspects in the previous episode, another victim was claimed by the serial killer in 2016 on the 4th of July. This time, they were found in their car just before midnight. Going through the evidence at the crime scene and following up on some new leads, can you eliminate another suspect as the notorious serial killer? Inventory List for Episode 2: "Start Here" flyer Business card and letter from Detective Trish Tate Photo page Candle Independence Day giveaway USB photo Bloody note left at the crime scene LPD case file with July 4th daily agenda and a newspaper article Photo above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 - EPISODE 3 As the case continues into 2017, this time the murderer hits closer to home where the victim is found in the park. During the investigation, a few more suspects are identified but after the last episode, you may have found an ally to help you with this investigation. With all the evidence presented, can you eliminate some more suspects? Inventory List for Episode 3: "Start Here" flyer Letter from Detective Trish Tate Photo page Bloody note left at the crime scene Napkin and poker chip found in victim's wallet Bracelet found near victim's body Bar of soap and magazine cover found in victim's car LPD case file with a newspaper article Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 - EPISODE 4 With the passing of another 4th of July in 2018, another victim is taken. As the investigation continues, it is becoming certain that these murders are not random. But what is the connection between all of them? Hopefully, you can make sense of the evidence and figure out who the killer is before this coming 4th of July. Inventory List for Episode 4: "Start Here" flyer Letter from Detective Trish Tate Photo page Skittles coaster Bloody note left at the scene Picture frame, bookmark, and sticky note found on victim's desk Pool party invitation LPD case file with a newspaper article, calendar, and fireworks stationary Photo above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 - EPISODE 5 As this year’s 4th of July comes and goes and no victim is found, everyone seems relieved. The celebrations seems premature as a victim is discovered 5 days later. This case seems slightly different though, as there looks like the sign of a struggle and the killer has left more evidence behind than the previous murders. In the final conclusion, can you eliminate the last 2 suspects, discover who the serial killer is and what their motives are? Inventory List for Episode 5: "Start Here" flyer Letter from Detective Trish Tate "Thank You" gift Keys Bloody note left at the scene Sticky notepad Freedom pin Project red ribbon and silly stationary with a sticky note from detective Wildflower Cafe's menu with a sticky note from detective LPD case file with a newspaper and lawn care order change Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ Each box is labelled with the episode number for easy sorting. Each box will contain a personalized letter to you explaining the situation as well as the case file. Inside, contains important documents like the police report, autopsy report and interviews with different suspects. Each box will also have different evidence for each episode that was found in the area of the murder. On the hint and tips page of A Killing Affair, they will provide a checklist of what should be in each box. 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 A Killing Affair created a fascinating world in this story, everything from phone numbers to websites to the conversations in the police reports. I could actually picture those people interacting in my mind. The tangible items were all high quality and really added to the experience as each item was also contained in an evidence bag. At the end of each box, you should be able to eliminate at least one person from the list of suspects (sometimes two), which will be stated in the letter. Once going through the evidence and believing you know who could not have murdered the victim, you go to the website and eliminate the suspects based on what you've discovered. If you are into detective boards, then this is a game for you (the fact that they also sell a Detective Board kit on the website tells you something). I would recommend getting all the boxes together to allow you to move at your own pace. Once one box was completed, I needed to pick up the next one right away. Even if you do not pick up the next one right away, there is a small refresher about how the game works in each box. On the hint page, there is also a reminder for items and ideas that you may need to reference again. There is a lot of backstory which seemed like a lot of reading at first but really paid off as the games continued and I knew all the relationships between everyone. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The puzzles were organic to the game. They made sense and made me feel like a detective as I was making the connections. They ramp up quite nicely as well over each box. The game included a nice introduction to common ciphers in the original box if you are not familiar with them. The bulk of the puzzles consisted of making the connections from items and people, deciphering codes and simply diving deeper into everything that you found. The game’s hint system is helpful if you need it. Needing a password to log into the area, it would first have some reminders and tips of things you might need to reference from the past. They then had a layered hint system which would lead you to the solution if you still could not solve the puzzle. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 "Independence Day" was a true murder mystery game with a story that was told through everything provided. From the interviews, clues, websites, phone numbers, etc., A Killing Affair pulled out all the stops in making me believe all of this was real. The website says between 2-4 hours per box, but if you are a veteran puzzle solver/detective or have more people helping out, I feel like each box is closer to 2 hours. I would also recommend getting the whole season in one go to allow you to move at your own pace and let you binge the game, because you definitely will want to. If you want to experience an amazing world of detective murder mystery, then this is for you. Check out our interview with the creators to understand more on the development side of these 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 A Killing Affair 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. #MatthewLui #AtHomeGames #TabletopGames #Puzzlebymail #SubscriptionGames #USA #Murder #Mystery #Whodunit #AKillingAffair

Photo above is property of A Killing Affair Company: A Killing Affair Game: Season 2 - Playing With Fire Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Genre: Murder Mystery, Detective Date Played: May 28, 2022 Difficulty (based on 1 player): 5/10 Size of Team: 1-6 Players (Ages 14+) Time: Unlimited (Suggested time 8 hrs) Price: $170.00 (Set), $38.00/ Episode Video above is property of A Killing Affair 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 - EPISODE 1 It seems, despite being a small town, Lovely, Florida has once again become embroiled in a strange series of attacks…this time arson, and Detective Kim Kimbell is asking you to assist in their investigation! While these attacks seem to be happening over the course of the summer of 2019 Kim has suspicions regarding an old arson case from 2004 that she thinks may be tied to what is happening now. In addition, the mayor is involved so you know this case is serious for the community. Kimbell plans to send you the case files in chunks and needs you to try to eliminate suspects from the list that has been put together to date. The first case files include the old 2004 case and the first incident of 2019. It’s time to unpack everything and pour over the evidence to remove two suspects. What ties do these two cases have? Time to start looking! Inventory List for Episode 1: "Welcome Back" Starting flyer Letter from Detective Kim Kimbell Lovely City riverside map Sticky notes or notebook Photo page of victims and suspects Fire Investigation Report from The Law Offices of Doug and Wallenfang Fire Investigation Report from Monkey Bar and Grill News clippings from 2019 and 2004 arsons Record of deeds from Lovely County Law office flyer Evidence bags (4) containing a t-shirt, a receipt, bar token,, matches, messages, and notes Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 - EPISODE 2 While you may have removed two suspects, your journey has only just begun! The Mayor has reached out personally to pass along the next set of documents, urging you to keep pursuing this. In this box you have another arson case from August 24th, 2019, another victim, and the knowledge that one suspect must go. You now know there is something suspicious going on when it appears all the buildings thus far that have been attacked belong to the same person and that the arsonist is now actively planting accelerants and causing explosions. What has happened in the past 15 years? With the witness from 2004 unwilling to reveal much, you are pursuing all your loose threads in the case files and seeing what truth can you uncover this time! Inventory List for Episode 2: "Welcome Back" Starting flyer Letter from the Mayor Photo page of witnesses, suspect, and victims Hint envelope News clipping from arson event 3 evidence bags containing a note left at the scene, a bracelet, a pen Fire Investigation Report from Riverside Jewelry containing overview, injury reports, eye witness statements, and photos Police Department file for the Riverside Jewelry arson containing statements, interviews, photos, business cards, etc. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 - EPISODE 3 The next arson attack had no victims but the arsonist is getting bolder when they set fire to a wedding venue in September 2019! We now know that the arsonist is intentionally leaving strange notes behind at the crime scenes; we also know they are are specifically targeting buildings owned by a rather suspicious individual, and that a secret women-led group has been victim to each crime scene in 2019. While the witnesses from the 2004 case are still not opening up, one of them left a rather innocuous piece of evidence at the station. We have two suspects to eliminate so we better get cracking! Inventory List for Episode 3: "Welcome Back" Starting flyer Letter from Detective Kim Kimbell Photo page with new suspects, witnesses, and victims Evidence bags (4) containing wedding favours, advice cards, congratulation card Fire Investigation Report for Izzy's Inn containing incident report, injury report, witness statements, crime scene layout, and photos Police Department file for Izzy's Inn arson containing news article clipping, calendar left from suspect, investigation notes, and suspect interviews Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 - EPISODE 4 Another life is lost in the series of arson attacks in Lovely, Florida. The police are struggling to piece it together and while you have been able to narrow down the list, suspects are lawyering up and information is scarce, Yet, you know there is something out there. It’s time to crack open the next file and see what you can uncover. What links these cases together? Who is the target? Let’s dive in! Inventory List for Episode 4: "Welcome Back" Starting flyer Letter from Detective Kim Kimbell Photo page Evidence bags containing a wooden box, cork with tag, crime scene note, and letters from suspect Fire Investigation Report from Eve's Escape Room that contains an incident report, injury report, diagram of crime scene, and photos Police Department file for Eve's Escape Room that contains news clipping, letter, notes from detective, interviews with various suspects Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 - EPISODE 5 In the final episode, Detective Trish Tate from the Independence Day Killing investigation finally reaches out. She knows you are so close and she hopes the final incident, which she has a personal connection to, can provide the final clues you need. It appears this final victim may have been the main target but you still come up empty with the name of the attacker. What connects all these people and what do the coded messages from the killer really mean? With only a few suspects remaining, which one is the killer? Inventory List for Episode 5: "Welcome Back" Starting flyer Letter from Detective Trish Tate "Thank You" gift Evidence bags containing note from arsonist, pill bottle, sealed letter, and items found on the victim's desk Fire Investigation Report with injury and casualty report, witness statement, and crime scene diagram Police Department file for victim with news clipping, report notes, law documents, search warrant, photos, suspect interviews Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ Each mailing comes in a box with an awesome newspaper graphic and a carefully singed caution tape which is an excellent touch. My game arrived in a box set with a box number stamped on the bottom of the box. Inside each box is a personalized letter from the Lovely Police force, case files, evidence bags, investigation reports and more that work together to help eliminate suspect(s) and to piece together what is happening in Lovely, Florida. As you move through the boxes you will continue to narrow down suspects and in between boxes are smaller envelopes that can introduce new characters and tease out plot elements. Some of the boxes may contain hint envelopes but A Killing Affair has transitioned away from the paper envelopes so hints are available online (access code to them is in your game introduction letter). In addition to the paper and physical elements, you will be expected to find websites, send emails, call numbers (if you are outside the USA a transcript is on the website), and access locked web pages to gather information. Finally, there is a checklist of what should be in each box on the website. 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 A Killing Affair seeks to immerse you in a detective world where you can truly learn about the town of Lovely, Florida. You are not simply just solving a series of arsons but learning about the lives of a series of complex people who have secrets, stories, and personalities that make this case anything but straightforward. Through reading their interviews, finding their websites, accessing chat logs, and more you get the true sense of the people and can use that to fuel your investigation into them. The game starts with an introduction letter that explains the format of the game, provides tips on what to expect and provides links or hints and more. The biggest thing to remember is to start with the introduction letter from the detective (or mayor in one box) who provides a synopsis of the road so far (ie. as you progress they will highlight the key things you learned) and give you your goal for the box - how many suspects you are eliminating. Once you have exhausted all avenues in the box and on websites you can submit your eliminated suspect(s) on the game’s website to check if you are on the right track. This style of game is a true detective experience, which entails a lot of reading - one thing I recommend when you play with groups is to divide the reading and then debrief what you learned. I also highly recommend laying out chronology as you navigate the boxes and to also keep track of your suspects and their movements from each arson case. You will need previous information from other boxes at times so keep them close! There is an element of puzzling to this series but the core is about solving a crime which means deduction should be your focus. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The puzzling in "Playing With Fire" was light to medium level with careful intention. These are not escape room puzzles but rather they make sense in the world of the story from a series of coded messages from the arsonist, locked websites containing clues, and hidden messages spread around. In this frame of mind, a keen detective eye is the best tool for this. As you navigate the boxes, their puzzling increases but you feel prepared from the previous one. There is also layering in some of the puzzles that I found truly fascinating and they made me eager to keep pushing forward in anticipation! Make sure to really look things over and maybe you’ll catch a clue that will be useful in later chapters! Now, the puzzling doesn’t solve the case inherently but the information you gain fills in gaps in the story as you uncover what they are hiding and potentially why. As a player who loves connecting dots, these kinds of puzzles really stick with me as a story-driven player. As such I say the puzzling is light to medium because deduction is the heart of the game. As mentioned previously, there is a well structured hint system on the website for each puzzle when you get stuck. I think the only time I accessed it was when I was unsure what to do with a piece of information I solved earlier. My advice is if you get a weird phrase, think about what things you have found that it could be applied to. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 "Playing With Fire" provided an engaging investigation with an excellent “aha” in the culminating chapter. For those who love being able to truly explore when investigating cases this series provides a good variety while also not making it too overwhelming. This kind of series is perfect for those wanting to pull out their detective caps and hang up their cork boards because there is nuance to the story. You find different stories tangled together and unwinding them was a great fun. More experienced players can probably solve each box in 1-2 hours so I recommend ordering the full season if you enjoy bingeing your investigation or subscribe monthly if you keep a good record of notes to follow up. Ultimately, I am left feeling quite satisfied with myself and eager to revisit Lovely, Florida in the next season! Check out our interview with the creators to understand more on the development side of these 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 A Killing Affair 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. #JillianRaymond #AtHomeGames #TabletopGames #Puzzlebymail #SubscriptionGames #USA #Murder #Mystery #Whodunit #AKillingAffair