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Photo above is property of A Killing Affair Company: A Killing Affair Game: Season 3 - Happy Death Day Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Genre: Murder Mystery, Detective Date Played: June 26, 2022 Difficulty (based on 1 player): 7/10 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 You’ve only just finished your last case (an arson!) with the Lovely Police Department only to receive an urgent letter from Detectives Trish Tate and Kim Kimbell regarding a series of kidnappings! With six people already missing, there are concerns that soon bodies may begin to appear and everyone is on edge. The detectives hope you can pour over each case file to see if you can help eliminate suspects regarding the disappearances and your first file follows a double kidnapping! Both victims work for the same company but is that all that connects them? Time to start digging! Inventory List for Episode 1: "Welcome Back" Starting flyer Letter from Detective Trish Tate Lovely Outer City map Sticky notes or notebook Photo page of victims and suspects Police Report containing incident report, criminal histories of some characters, suspect interviews, news clippings, missing flyers, copy of emails, and handwritten note Evidence bags (3) containing a card, victim's purse, rearview photo card and clip Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 - EPISODE 2 One week following the first set of kidnappings, another citizen of Lovely, Florida goes missing and the detectives have quite a few clues but no solid leads. It appears all three victims are tied together but nailing down one specific anchor has proven a challenge… until the recent victim’s partner found a piece of evidence that provides a potential tie. Your task is to examine the clues and explore any leads to eliminate one more suspect. We need to hurry as more and more time goes by, the less likely the victims are alive! Inventory List for Episode 2: "Welcome Back" Starting flyer Letter from Detective Kim Kimbell Photo strip of new witnesses, suspects, and victims Hint envelope (these are being phased out) Police Report containing incident report, witness statements, news clippings, suspect interviews, missing poster Evidence bags (4) containing files from victim's company, a glasses case, paper airplane left at victim's home, victim's ID badge, suspect's name tag Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 - EPISODE 3 The next kidnapping, Detective Kim Kimbell lays on your proverbial desk a very well known name across the city. Your investigation has so far proven that this criminal is specifically targeting people they perceive as guilty of some crime and while there are a lot of dirty dealings going on, you’re not sure where one ends and another begins. With a new set of evidence and a government official’s life on the line, it’s time to start digging and eliminate one more suspect! Inventory List for Episode 3: "Welcome Back" Starting flyer Letter from Detective Kim Kimbell Photo strip with new suspects, witnesses, and victims Evidence bags (4) containing coin purse, index cards, another paper airplane, and a cat card Police report containing incident report, scene diagram, witness statement, crime scene photos, suspect interviews, pamphlet, missing person poster, news clippings Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 - EPISODE 4 We are getting so close I can feel it! This recent kidnapping was noticed earlier than the rest, so the detectives hope this might give us the edge we need to crack this case. The recent victim appears to have close ties with all the other victims somehow, but we need more evidence. The kidnapper continues to leave coded messages and the victims’ families are hiding secrets that are bound to reveal something. Let’s see what we can uncover today! Inventory List for Episode 4: "Welcome Back" Starting flyer Letter from Detective Kim Kimbell Police report containing incident report, crime scene diagram, passport appication of a suspect, suspect interviews, missing person poster, news clipping, crumbled up note Evidence bags (5) containing paper airplane note, lotion, scrap of paper, receipt, and victim's journal Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 - EPISODE 5 In the final episode, Detective Trish Tate has rushed out the final case file to you. It has been 49 days since the first kidnapping and 21 since the most recent. It seems all the kidnappings are focused around something going on secretly within the community but there are still a few loose threads to unravel. We are so close so now, there is no time to dawdle… let’s end this! Inventory List for Episode 5: "Welcome Back" Starting flyer Letter from Detective Trish Tate Suspect, witness, victim photo strip "Thank You" gift Police report containing summary investigation notes, missing person's report, suspect interviews, missing person's poster, news clippings Evidence bags (3) containing flashlight, plastic pieces, and CD case Drawstring bag containing wooden blocks with a note attached Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ I really appreciate the detail that A Killing Affair puts into their boxes - each box you receive has an eye-catching newspaper graphic, caution tape wrapped around the lid, and a missing person’s sticker that highlights the theme of this particular season. In the top right corner of each box is a white sticker labelling the episodes which I felt was much easier to see, compared to last season’s small stamp. Inside each box, is a personalized letter from the Lovely Police force as well as various items you will need to solve the case, including case files, evidence bags, and more that work together to help eliminate suspects and to piece together what is happening in Lovely, Florida this time around. As you move through the boxes, you will continue to narrow down suspects and in between some of the boxes (episodes 1, 2, and 3 in season 3) are smaller envelopes that can introduce new characters, tease out plot elements, and contextualize things that you may have missed if you haven’t played all the seasons to date. This game does require access to the internet as the physical components will lead you to websites, ask you to send emails, encourage you to call numbers (if you are outside the USA a transcript is on the website), and challenge you with locked web pages that may contain important information. There is also a checklist on the website that you can access using the code in the welcome letter. Photos above are property of A Killing Affair 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 A Killing Affair wants you to embrace the feeling of being a true detective as you unravel the story of Lovely, Florida. You are not simply just solving a series of missing persons, but you realize that there is a lot of history and world building that goes into creating these games where every character has a full backstory. Even the back of the newspapers can sometimes carry little easter eggs that help flesh out the story. Now, the main avenue of the adventure follows reading the introduction letter from the lead detective to know what your goal is in the episode - as you progress, they will also help highlight key points from previous boxes to help refresh you. After getting your instructions (ie. how many people are you meant to eliminate today) you have an open world scenario to choose how you want to begin your investigation from reading interviews, finding websites, accessing calendars, and more to learn what may have been happening to these people. In a way you are A) trying to find and corroborate alibis and B) trying to figure out the motive of the current crime, as in what happened that has instigated these kidnappings. Once you have exhausted all avenues in the box and websites you can submit your eliminated suspect(s) on the game’s website to check if you are on the right track. Like I recommended in the previous review of "Season 2: Playing With Fire", I highly recommend keeping notes while playing this game. The notes should be used for jotting down suspects and details that can help address potential alibis/ incriminating information, or keep a chronological order of the history happening in the background that helps explain the motive for the crimes. These games require a lot of reading and you will need to draw information from previous boxes to help in the end, so make sure you have all your boxes together! 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The puzzling in "Season 3: Happy Death Day" was similar to the previous season but leaned more towards a medium difficulty level. These puzzles consist of ciphers, locked computers, hidden messages, with a dash of deduction. I felt the deduction was a little easier this season, but it was balanced with a more challenging set of puzzles. The signposting is a little more spread out in this season and I recommend using a big table to keep things spread out and keep all websites up until you complete your episode because small clues can be important and there were quite a few times I was opening up my Google history to try and bring up a website I exited out earlier because I remember seeing something. I feel this style of puzzling attracts the seasoned players who know their way around A Killing Affair games. The puzzles themselves are challenges you may have seen around but they are not the first puzzles you would dabble with because they do require more steps and processes to solve them - if you feel confident in your cipher and logic puzzling, you may have an easier time navigating this adventure. I appreciated the challenge and I felt it meant more after playing the first two seasons, so I also recommend playing "Season 1: Independence Day Killer" and "Season 2: Playing With Fire" before trying out this experience. As mentioned previously, there is a 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. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 "Happy Death Day" is a challenging, yet rewarding detective adventure that builds a fascinating story filled with twists and turns that I thoroughly enjoyed navigating. There were quite a few times I got the age old detective gut feeling about a character that would later prove right, but it was solving the clues and unlocking the information that made for a more enriching experience when I could prove my gut feeling true. This is a great game for those who love exploration and really digging into the world of their games, both online and in a box. After concluding this adventure, I am left with the question, “Is Lovely, Florida ever going to catch a break?” and the puzzler in me sincerely hopes not as I am eager to return for the next case! 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

Photo above is property of Curious Cats UK Company: Curious Cats UK Game: Underground, Lost and Found Country: United Kingdom 🇬🇧 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Genre: Detective, Mystery Date Played: March 16, 2022 Difficulty (based on 2 adult players): 6/10 Size of Team: 1-6 Players Time: Unlimited (Approx. 1.5-2 Hrs.) Price: £19.99 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 The Domestic Counter Terrorism Office in the UK needs your help. They've apprehended a terrorist named Danny Compton while he was planting an explosive. He has informed the police that there are 4 more hidden in the Underground of London. Will you be able to locate them and disarm them before it's too late? 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ The game arrived in a small envelope. We were surprised by the amount of content that was able to fit into the packaging. The players should check the paper labeled "classified" (which lists all the items that are included in the game) prior to starting the game play in case of any missing items. All the items were in paper format but they were printed on various textured papers to enhance real life scenario such as magazines, subway maps, recipes, posters etc... Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 Besides the paper materials, the game also has an online portal. You'll be able to access hints and input answers through the links provided. No final answers were given so if you can't figure out the answer through the hint system, you'll need to contact the company. One thing we did find confusing was that this game had a previous version and some hints were still relevant to the old one (while some places made an indication, some didn't). The game is nonlinear. Once you open the envelope, there will be many elements for you to look for connections. It could be overwhelming to new players so make sure to stay organized and put away items used. Some will require you to figure out one part of the answer first in order to make that association. Because it's nonlinear, we were able to divide up the game contents and figure some puzzles out on our own. There were fun moments where we shared with each other our individual findings and discovered they were actually useful to the other person. Please note: You'll need a pair of scissors and color pencils (optional). 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The creator utilized various ways to hide puzzles throughout the game. Some were embedded as a cipher, some in images and some in plain text. It definitely made it feel like the culprit was trying really hard to stop us from decrypting these locations. There was even an added humor element that was embedded into the answers (you'll see what I mean when you purchase the game). One thing that we were hoping the game could have done was inform us earlier on that we can resort to online research to find answers. When we receive a tabletop game, if it's not clearly specified, most of the time we just assume the game is contained within the materials sent (especially when this game's portal is only used for inputting answers). There are several puzzles that we needed to look up online as we were not familiar with the terminology or the item that was indicated. So we only knew that we could resort to online searching after looking at the first hint. There were also some puzzles that we felt would be more familiar to UK players. Even after Googling, we still had to resort to hints to solve them. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 The creativity and crafty elements of this game was what made it stood out. Most of the puzzles were not too difficult but you do need a sharp eye to be able to make the connections just like a detective would. With some more clear indication on the game play in terms of using the internet as a resource, it'll take away a good amount of the confusion for the players. If you're into solving crimes with a bit of whimsical storyline, then you might just become a fan of Curious Cats! Photo 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 Curious Cats UK 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 #OneOffs #CuriousCatsUK #Detective #Mystery #UK

Photo above is property of Curious Cats UK Company: Curious Cats UK Game: Chromaville Cold Case Country: United Kingdom 🇬🇧 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Genre: Detective, Mystery Date Played: May 7, 2022 Difficulty (based on 3 players): 8/10 Size of Team: 1-6 Players Time: Unlimited (Approx. 1.5-2 Hrs.) Price: £19.99 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Your mentor, ex-police detective David Cutherbertson has been found dead in the village where he lived. You have been asked to assist with the investigation and have been provided with a file of paperwork and documents found on his person, which reveals that he had been investigating strange activity in the village himself. Can you read the testimonies of the 6 potential suspects and identify the real killer? 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ A large flat envelope contains letters, documents, phone logs, smaller leaflets, maps, cards and also two pieces of physical evidence: some strange blue flakes and the results of a litmus test. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 Spread out all the evidence and work through to eliminate any suspects you can by corroborating their stories with the evidence provided. Do that enough times and you will have your killer! Cross-referencing all the various pieces of information was really good fun, and we had to go back and forth between several pieces at different times, which was a nice reflection on what would happen in real life. There are no websites, online referencing or social media interaction in this game but there are plenty of printed versions of emails, text messages and more to interact with.. There is a hints section and a final answer entry on the company’s website if you get stuck. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 This is a detective-style case so it is mainly about deduction, but there are a couple of little codes to crack in this case, which were fun but not too hard. They were fairly relevant to the story so it didn’t seem like a bolt-on idea. As with their other cases, the pieces of physical evidence aren’t used in any big way, but are part of the story and they do give a clue and make it feel more like you are sifting through evidence rather than everything being read. What we liked in this case was the use of the diary as the central focus for the deduction. Working logically through the events of the preceding weeks, we were able to eliminate a couple of suspects to begin with, and then go back and forth to rule out a couple more. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 Whilst a very similar style to the previous game we played of Curious Cats UK, we found this one had a very different story and it was fun to be back in the driver seat of an investigation again. We actually struggled a lot more to come to the right conclusion on this case, so it took us longer and we scratched our heads for a good while. We actually chose the wrong suspect in the end, due to not being able to determine who had the opportunity and motive between two of the suspects and opting for the wrong one! Sadly when we read the answers we felt that the explanation didn’t make as much sense as the previous case - "Golf Club Cold Case", but you can’t win them all and we’re sure that cleverer detectives than us will put the right person behind bars for sure! These cases are perfect for anyone who loves True Crime, Detective stories, logical investigative puzzling and conspiracy theories! (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 Curious Cats UK 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 #OneOffs #CuriousCatsUK #Detective #Mystery #UK

Photo above is property of Curious Cats UK Company: Curious Cats UK Game: Golf Club Cold Case Country: United Kingdom 🇬🇧 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Genre: Detective, Mystery Date Played: April 17, 2022 Difficulty (based on 3 players): 6/10 Size of Team: 1-6 Players Time: Unlimited (Approx. 1.5-2 Hrs.) Price: £19.99 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 They thought this was an open and shut case. Well-loved Georgia King was murdered and Suzy Diamond was arrested and charged with the case. Simple... or was it? New evidence has come to light which proves Suzy is innocent. So now you have 6 suspects and their statements, plus a file of other information to work through and identify the real killer. 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ The game comes in a large flat envelope and contains a raft of a4 paper, smaller leaflets, maps, cards and also two pieces of physical evidence: a golden coloured golf tee and a small bag containing a piece of blue thread. The printing quality is very good and there is a nice variety of evidence. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 It’s up to you to choose where to start - although the game helpfully hints to try eliminating the suspects one-by-one using any piece of information which helps put them in the clear. Once you have done that 5 times, your perpetrator should be leftover! It was great fun to spread out all the evidence and then cross reference the statements to the maps, leaflets, logs and even a club newsletter, all of which contained subtle clues which, if pieced together logically, helped you make your way through the case. There is no online elements to the game itself, everything is self-contained. So no made-up websites, bank accounts to check or social media interaction. There is however a series of hints and a final answer entry on the company’s website if you get stuck. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 This is a detective style case so there are no traditional puzzles as such. It’s all based on deduction and linking of the evidence to what could have really happened. Whilst it would be nice to have some cryptic clues or more puzzle elements, this is a very nicely contained mystery case which felt more realistic for just being based on facts. The pieces of physical evidence aren’t used in any way but they do give a handy visual clue and make it feel more like you are sifting through evidence rather than everything being read. It would maybe have been nice to have to do something with these items, but I understand this might add to the cost. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 We did enjoy working through and ruling out the suspects and discussing our theories and saying “well he/she could have done this…” but then finding something that disproved it. Whilst this isn’t a puzzly game, it’s nice to do something a bit different now and then, and as I said before spreading out all the evidence and pouring over the details gave us a fun immersive experience that worked really well with 3 people. We came to the right conclusion, got the right suspect and were satisfied with the story and how it all connected together. Plus, if you don’t write notes on the materials you can pass it on and let a friend try to solve the case too! Can’t wait to try more from this team! (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 Curious Cats UK 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 #OneOffs #CuriousCatsUK #Detective #Mystery #UK

Photo above is property of Arcadium Adventures Company: Arcadium Adventures Game: Chapter One: A Most Mysterious Convention Country: Australia 🇦🇺 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Genre: Mystery, Detective Date Played: February 16, 2022 Difficulty (based on 1 player): 6/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Ages 14+) Time: Unlimited (Recommended 90-120 Mins.) Price: $30.00 AUD (Puzzles by Post)/ $20.00 AUD (Instant Download) 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Sadly, this year you are unable to attend ArcanaCon, an annual mystery convention. Luckily though, someone has sent you a package full of convention material and swag which contains a secret message and other enigmatic notes. Can you discover all that this package has to offer? Photos above are property of Arcadium Adventures 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ Going through the envelope, there were lots of seemingly random convention related items such as a ticket, flyer and schedule as well as business cards, postcards and other things that got us intrigued right away. There was also an envelope marked “Begin here” that helped guide us to the start and a website with lots of important information. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 From the start, Arcadium Adventures does a great job of laying out how to play the game which I found blended into the story. The website to ArcanaCon that was provided was full of great information. Make sure to read it all and use the resources available there as it will help you out a lot. I was impressed with all the great quality items and papers that were provided in the envelope which had a convention feel to it. The hint system was a delight as it was set up as a chat. I found the chat to be very helpful and direct to use and the hint system was set up well which revealed the hints in a nice way without just giving you the answer. You did have the option at the end though to be given the answer. I am always a sucker for extra perks from games so you will also find a lovely playlist on the website to have on in the background when playing as well as some drink recipes to try out. Photos above are property of Arcadium Adventures 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 There was a good mix of different puzzles with plenty of aha moments to solve them. A tip would be to make sure to read everything as well as sifting through everything from the start. There were a few moments, I thought I had everything needed to solve the puzzle but as I moved forward to check out other items, I found what I needed to complete the puzzle. Arcadium Adventures did a nice job of cluing you to what needs to be done if you are observant enough. Another great feature was that there was an answer checker on the website that you can use as you play along which was useful. Though the puzzles could be played non-linearly, the checker does require you to go through the puzzles in order. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 A Most Mysterious Convention was a solid puzzling game with a wide variety of puzzling elements. This game offers a great experience for beginners but veteran puzzle solvers might be able to utilize some of their puzzling techniques and could probably complete the game in less than the recommended time. The website did lead to some fun things which did make me question if this was based off a real convention or not. I did play this one solo but found you could play with up to 4 as the puzzles could be played non-linearly but anymore than that you might be fighting over some materials. Overall, Arcadium Adventures did a great job at building a world around ArcanaCon and the mystery within the "secret society" as a whole. It will keep you coming back for more. I certainly am ready for the next one! Check out our interview with the creators to understand more on the development side of the game: Video above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers (If you do decide to try this game, please remember to let them know that you heard it from"ESCAPETHEROOMers"!) Disclosure: We thank Arcadium Adventures 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. #MatthewLui #AtHomeGames #Puzzlebymail #TabletopGames #OneOffs #Mystery #Detective #ArcadiumAdventures #Australia

Photo above is property of Arcadium Adventures Company: Arcadium Adventures Game: Chapter Two: A Most Mysterious Cloakroom Discovery Country: Australia 🇦🇺 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Genre: Mystery, Detective Date Played: March 1, 2022 Difficulty (based on 1 player): 6/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Ages 14+) Time: Unlimited (Recommended 90-120 Mins.) Price: $30.00 AUD (Puzzles by Post)/ $20.00 AUD (Instant Download) 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 During spring cleaning of the cloakroom at the House on the Hill, an abandoned coat with some belongings was discovered. Teaming up with Laelynn from the Order of Arcadium, maybe we can find who the owner is and who knows what other mysteries we will discover along the way. 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ Opening up the envelope, you will be greeted with items that were found in the coat which includes a newspaper, coat check tag and card, a post card, an RSVP card and more. You will also find a letter telling you where to “begin your adventure”. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 Reading through the introduction letter, you are led to a website which will have pictures of all the items you have as well as other items that they were unable to send to you. You can also find a link that will take you to a chat with Laelynn who will help you through this mystery. She will guide you through a couple of puzzles before letting you loose on your own to make your own discoveries. She will also be there to give you hints and confirm your answers if needed. An alternative is that there is a link to an answer checker as well on the website. Whichever one you decide to use, they were both very useful to have. I recommend using a desktop/laptop computer rather than a mobile device to play this as it will be easier to navigate. Going through the items, they each had a nice quality feel to it from the texture of the newspaper to the thickness of the postcard. One tip is to make sure to look over everything, especially the items that you did not physically get. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 This game has a very escape room feel to it, realizing all the items have some sort of link that needs to be discovered and that all the answers are there. One thing that stands out for me is, that at one point in the game, a meta-puzzle is revealed and it will help guide you through the rest of the non-linear puzzles. One thing to watch out for is that not all the items are “one and done”. You may need to use items more than once so remember to keep them at hand. The hint system was set up through the chat with Laelynn. The hints were nice and layered to help guide you to the answer on your own. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 "A Most Mysterious Cloakroom Discovery" has some fun eureka moments when you realize that you have made the right connections and chatting with Laelynn which can help validate that feeling. Overall, I had fun with the set up of the game with some items online and some in hand, with some working off each other. The website you are given will also have a few playlist to choose from to set the mood as well as a couple of drink choices that can enhance or hinder your puzzle solving abilities. With items on the website too, this is a game that could be played with a few more people as there will be more than one copy of things to look at. This is the second game from the Arcadium Adventures and The Order of Arcadium is a society that you may want to continue helping to see what other mysteries lie ahead. Check out our interview with the creators to understand more on the development side of the game: Video above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers (If you do decide to try this game, please remember to let them know that you heard it from"ESCAPETHEROOMers"!) Disclosure: We thank Arcadium Adventures 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. #MatthewLui #AtHomeGames #Puzzlebymail #TabletopGames #OneOffs #Mystery #Detective #ArcadiumAdventures #Australia

Photo above is property of Within The Story Company: Within The Story Game: Lost in the Machine Country: United Kingdom 🇬🇧 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Game 📬 Genre: Detective, Mystery Date Played: February 11, 2022 Difficulty (based on 1 player): 2/10 Size of Team: Unlimited Time: Unlimited (Approx. 1-2 Hours) Price: £15.00 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 It is a dark evening of sleeplessness as you lie in bed waiting for sleep when you hear a ping of a message arriving in your inbox. A long-forgotten friend is seeking your help. With an orphanage in trouble, a desperate plea, and strange inventions in the works you are tasked with helping to unravel the mystery behind the children lost in the machine. Will you uncover the truth in time? 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ "Lost in the Machine" comes in a small box with a clean design sleeve displaying a teddy bear. Inside the box is an introduction letter to get your started, a small capsule, and 14 envelopes labelled with abstract messages that will only make sense when you know when to open them. Inside the envelopes are a range of letters and pamphlets from characters over the course of the experience. The main board for this game is an online text interface provided in the introduction letter. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 The game starts with the welcome letter, which introduces the game and provides a link to the website for the game. As you engage with the characters on this platform you will be prompted to open certain envelopes and provided with goals to solve. Once you have figure out the answer you submit your answers in the chat log. In addition, there are websites to search and break into to help further develop the experience. This experience has different endings depending on the choices you make. These choices aren’t always obvious so be on the lookout. I was able to identify three endings. A very light hint system is embedded into the game. At certain points the game will prompt you to submit your answer or ask for help. A single clue is provided but no solution. I will note the puzzles are light enough that these hints were sufficient for my experience. I did find accessing the websites were a bit tricky. I found some of the websites would not load on Google Chrome, but I was able to load them on my iPhone using Safari. If you do run into this issue try using a different search engine to get the website to load. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 This game is very light with puzzling as the focus is the stories and choices. The puzzles mainly consist of searching puzzles as you explore the websites and use the letters to guide you. I found the lighter puzzles meant I was able to see the richness in the story telling some more. What I liked about these puzzles was that they also provide new story material as you moved along so I recommended reading everything you see to really get the message. I did find a few areas are got stuck were mainly because the sign posting on what to submit was a little vague but just know the answers are there. Overall, I found this is more of an immersive interactive adventure than an escape room experience. Photos above are property of Within The Story 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 "Lost in the Machine" is a poignant narrative experience that draws in the player through exploration and story building. I would say I would recommend this to immersive theatre enthusiasts because of its ARG style puzzles and heavy story. For my playing style, I found the simple puzzles to put this game on the shorter side and, as such, it is a great experience to unwind in the evening after work because of its low commitment. I am curious to see what more experiences are to come from this company. (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 Within The Story for providing us with a sample of this game. Although complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #JillianRaymond #AtHomeGames #TabletopGames #PuzzlesByMail #OneOffs #Detective #Mystery #WithinTheStory #LostInTheMachine #UnitedKingdom

Photo above is property of Cafe Nordo Company: Cafe Nordo Game: Nordo's Room Service - The Interrogation of Alice Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Genre: Whimsical, Wonderland, Mystery Date Played: February 6, 2022 Difficulty (based on 1 player): 5/10 Size of Team: 1-6 Players Time: 1-2 Hours Price: $99.00 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 To Somebody. As opposed to Nobody as Nobody would be useless in this scenario. The Queens have asked for your assistance in investigating the curious future crimes of a young girl, Alice. The Mad Hatter and March Hare have already given the verdict but need you to uncover what will happen as they interrogate suspects and witnesses who helped Alice become something she was never meant to be…a Queen. 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ Café Nordo does an excellent job in setting the stage for your experience. You receive a box with delightful shortbread cookies, cocktail ingredients, and a case file filled with evidence to help you through your journey. There is a letter from Café Nordo that highlights what you will need to do and also reminds you to stow the food and in a cool dry place. I will note, these deserts will go bad quite quickly because of how fresh they are so eat them as soon as you can, even if you have to delay the actual experience. The case files have evidence markers labelled A-D, a forensic report, record of arrest, a letter to Somebody, case verdict, crime scene photos, a strange telegram, and more. The letter does let you know not to open anything until directed. Overall, I enjoyed the look of the game, and I felt the components were well made and fit with the theme and feel of the game. They were filled with whimsy, nonsense, and all the markers of a true Lewis Carroll adventure. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 "The Interrogation of Alice" follows the same format of the previous Café Nordo at home experience if you have played them. You first open the envelop with the Café Nordo symbol which provides general instructions and information about the deserts. This experience requires internet connection (computer, not phone) as you be guided through a series of video interviews of characters to help unravel the story. Each video focuses on interviews with different characters who might have a connection to Alice’s future crimes. At the end of each video, you are directed to a piece of evidence or encouraged to investigate a specific element of the case file. To move forward you must solve a mini puzzle that will require other material in the case file to help you out. The gameplay is straightforward. There are hints available on most puzzles as a “?” icon in the top right but there was one puzzle that was missing a hint system that I wished had one. In addition, the hints provide riddle type clues for solving. The goal is the embrace the madness of Wonderland, so I recommend taking your time with this experience. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The focus of "The Interrogation of Alice" is the storytelling but to engage players from home there are a series of puzzles to help players navigate this quirky tale. The puzzles mainly consist of logic and spatial orientation. They rely of keen observations that allows you to make connections between what appears to be non-sensical or strange and slowly come to realize the truth in the madness, which I thought was very apropos for the theme. I admit I did get stuck on the second puzzle not because it was inherently hard but because I misunderstood the instructions of the game when it said to only interact with items when told so I hadn’t bothered to examine the crime scene and a few other pieces that helped immensely with the puzzling. To that end, the puzzles are fair but they may throw you off a little at first because the instructions are infused with Wonderland theme so you’ll have some words thrown in that may not have an explicit meaning you understand initially. Again, the key is patience. My favourite puzzle ended up being the dictionary one because I felt it really embraced the crazy of this magical world while paying homage to the world of logic puzzles. Photos above are property of Cafe Nordo 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 "The Interrogation of Alice" by Café Nordo is a frabjous and wonderful adventure that took the story of Alice in Wonderland and infused it with detective mystery and puzzles we can sink into. I would say people who enjoy theatre, Lewis Carrol, and logic puzzles would enjoy this the most because the videos and characters tame the limelight while the puzzle builds the theme and atmosphere. I particularly enjoyed the element of breaking the fourth wall in some of the video scenarios as it helped draw me the viewer into the narrative. In this fashion, I think Café Nordo did a good job creating an experience that immersive theatre fans could really sink their hands into, both in puzzles and delicious snacks. I look forward to being taken on the next adventure with them! Check out our interview with the creators to understand more on the development side of the game: Video above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers (If you do decide to try this game, please remember to let them know that you heard it from"ESCAPETHEROOMers"!) Disclosure: We thank Cafe Nordo 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 #Oneoffs #Fantasy #Mystery #CafeNordo #NordosRoomService #AliceInWonderland #USA #Washington

Photo above is property of Lassiter Wren & Randle McKay Company: Lassiter Wren & Randle McKay Game: The Baffle Book (Published by Crime Club) Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Genre: Short Crime Puzzles Date Played: January 1, 2022 Difficulty (based on 1 player): 8/10 Size of Team: 1 Player Time: Approximately 5-6 Hours of Play Price: $11.95 (Paperback)/ Out of print (Hardcover) 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Published Nov, 1928 “A Baffle Book doth make Sherlocks of us all.” 42.62% Created during the Golden Age of detective fiction, the Baffle book was a fair-play book/game that allowed the reader to enjoy 30 interesting self-contained mini-mysteries–but mini-mysteries without the ending provided at the end of the story. To read the conclusion, the reader must turn the book upside down for the answer/end of the story. Each short (2-7 page) story is done in a “fair” method, where all the information you need to solve the case is presented with no Sherlock Holmes style holding onto vital clues from the reader (although some knowledge and common sense of the era is also required). The Baffle Book was written by Lassiter Wren and Randle McKay (pseudonym of Richard Rowan) who also illustrated the diagrams and charts in the book. F. Tennyson Jesse, the editor, was uncredited. She was a great-niece of the famous poet Aldred, Lord Tennyson and would write true crime novels and several mysteries, plays, and short stories herself. With the Baffle Book, Wren and McKay proclaimed themselves (or, at least their ad-copy) as originators of the "Detective Problem Form," or, "Detective Puzzle Form." The Baffle Book is arguably the 2nd game in the genre of Mystery Puzzle Games, and the first one to have the player solving mystery stories. Each mystery is based on real types of cases, forensics, or “new” techniques…such as fingerprinting. 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ "The Baffle Book" is a very nice looking hardcover with a simple design that feels like it comes out of the 1920s art deco style, but even simpler. The book itself is laid out like a normal book with each “chapter” being a new Baffle to solve. The answers are in order on the flip side of the book so that you do not accidentally read the answer while trying to solve the Baffle. Photos above are property of Lassiter Wren & Randle McKay 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 30 Baffles. 42.62% That was my score at the end, and I felt rather good about it! I read each Baffle, thought about it for a while–oftentimes returning to re-read it a few times and make some notes, then eventually going for the solution. At the end of each Baffle, before you flip to the back for the answer, you are provided with several questions with varying scores (each Baffle is 10 points in total). For each correct answer, you earn those points so that you can find your score at the end and compare it with your friends! I rarely did more than 2-3 Baffles in a session as this felt like a good amount of gameplay per session since the game didn’t continue…each one was a separate mini-game so I allotted my time accordingly. This book works great for when I just wanted to spend 10-20 minutes reading and thinking through a case! Photos above are property of Lassiter Wren & Randle McKay 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The puzzles are mostly deductions based on the fair clues provided in the story. Some Baffles contained drawing showing, for example, fingerprint, footprint paths, room sketches, etc., in order to help you get the evidence required to come to the conclusion. The puzzles really are all “fair” with all the evidence required and none held back, however it was writing in the 1920s and some are virtually unsolvable unless you are intimately familiar with certain tropes, styles, items, and such of the time which mostly would have been common knowledge to the original reader. While this made it hard and/or impossible for me to solve several Baffles, I really enjoyed reading these that were set in that time period. Conversely, some were really easy for a modern reader familiar with detective fiction and mystery puzzle games that the original readers would not have been as familiar with. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 I really enjoyed "The Baffle Book"! It was a fun, challenging, and authentic dive into the late 1920s world of detective fiction and puzzles. While I did not quite crack a 50% score, I felt very satisfied with my progress and upon reflection, had I spent a bit more time on a few, I feel I could have achieved a score in the 60s. I also showed this book to my mother who is a mystery novel fan and she became instantly hooked and wants to beat my score! I’m also really looking forward to reading the next 2 books in this series and improving upon my score… (If you do decide to try this game, please remember to let them know that you heard it from"ESCAPETHEROOMers"!) #BrentPrice #AtHomeGames #Puzzlebymail #OneOffs #Puzzles #LassiterWren #RandleMcKay #USA

Photo above is property of Hidden Games Company: Hidden Games Game: The Case of Little Gomersal Country: Germany 🇩🇪 Language: English, German Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Genre: Murder Mystery, Cold Case Date Played: November 28, 2021 Difficulty (based on 3 players): 7/10 Size of Team: 1-6 Players (Ages 14+) Time: 90-150 Mins. Price: €23.90 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 You and your team are asked to solve the death of a man named Max at the annual festival in Little Gomersal. They need you to discover the cause of death and who sent you the envelope. Who sent a mysterious torn letter and who is the murderer? Study all the documents and use your detective skills to arrive at the correct conclusion! Video above is property of Hidden Games 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ A strong cardboard envelope looking like a case file contains many sheets of A4 paper, a fold out detective “pinboard” and other smaller documents. There are no physical items but there is plenty of information to work through!!! Fingerprints, photos, interviews. The lot! It really feels like you have been handed a real case file. Photo above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 There is an online element to this game. Internet sites, voicemail recording, Facebook accounts and the hint system is on the website too. You’ll also need to use your phone! The story is extremely convincing and really feels immersive. There are plenty of suspects, but you will also need to work out the motive and other answers to complete the investigation. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 There aren’t exactly “puzzles” to be solved in these types of games - it’s more about piecing together the facts and slowly whittling away what isn’t true or important to reveal the facts of the case and working logically through the information. With that said, I think the level of difficulty was pitched just about right for anyone 14+ to take on. Photo above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 Anyone who loves detective/cold-case based adventure games would love this. We played as a three but you could play solo or with up to about 6 players comfortably with everyone examining different information. Of course you can only play this once as then you know the outcome, but it can be easily gifted or shared with others as long as you don’t write on anything. A very enjoyable plot and just the right amount and depth of detail to make you think, but allow you to work through to find the killer. Should you need a nudge, there's hints available to help along the way. There are other cases available in native German but are being converted to other languages over time, I can’t wait to play the next one! (If you do decide to try this game, please remember to let them know that you heard it from"ESCAPETHEROOMers"!) #MatthewLui #AtHomeGames #Puzzlebymail #TabletopGames #OneOffs #Mystery #Detective #ArcadiumAdventures #Australia

Photos above are property of Cards of Confound Company: Cards of Confound Game: The Cards of Confound - Mysterious Puzzle Postcards Country: Netherlands 🇳🇱 Language: English Type of Game: Puzzles By Mail 📬 Genre: Mystery Date Played: September 28, 2021 Difficulty (based on 1 player): 8/10 Size of Team: 1-5 Players (Recommended 2-4 Players) Time: Approximately 2-3 Hours (Could be longer if not using hints) Price: €30 or purchase individual cards for €4 each 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 A mysterious set of postcards arrives at your doorstep covered with riddles, ciphers, art, and more. Can you tease apart the hidden messages contained within each card, or will you be left confounded? 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ The full premium set for "The Cards of Confound" contains seven postcards and an users guide card to get you started. Each postcard has a distinctive theme from “castle” to “sea” to “nature” that is printed with crisp colours that stand out on the matte card surface. The postcards are made in a way where you can easily place a stamp and mail them to any of your puzzling friends… if you’re willing to part with them. These postcards can be replayed or gifted if you're careful to not write on the cards. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 The seven postcards can be played in any order but to gain complete access to the meta puzzle in the “Letters” postcard, it is recommended you complete all the other postcards before starting this card. Each card has a difficulty rating system on the puzzle which is labeled with stars on the main card. The majority of the solutions are single word answers, and the users guide card also provides the number of letters in each puzzle solution so you know how long the word should be. These postcards require a considerable amount of outside research to be completed but there are clues and nudges to direct you where to go and what to do on these sites. If you ever get stuck there is an online hint system on their website that provides clues and explanations to help you move forward. For the most part, the hints were helpful but occasionally there would be a note in the clues asking me to research something on my own and I would have liked a suggested link that would help nudge me. The hint system also has the benefit of providing not only a gentle nudge in the hints, but a full explanation below in a closed tab if you need it. Photos above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 These postcards were tricky but had a good variety. Sometimes you would be directed to external websites that had key information for the final answers, but you need to identify multiple clues in the postcard to correctly unearth the key information you need. These puzzles heavily rely on multiple stages so if something is solved but it leads nowhere, you may want to set it aside as it will be useful later. There was one card that would heavily benefit a person with a music background and was one I struggled with the most. These cards can easily be divided between friends but can also be done alone since there is no unifying story connecting them. Even the “Letters” card can be solved without the others if you take a separate puzzle route shown on the hint website. I enjoyed “Castle Card” and the “Stars” Cards the most because of their focus on perspective, exploration, and outside the box websites. They both used not only outside research well but, also, the visuals of their cards to aid the puzzling for me. These cards are extremely difficult and there were a couple areas I found the clues to be reaching because they required players to do additional research about topics and references I didn’t always catch. The creator has been making additional updates to the game to help nudge players more. I recommend not being afraid to use the hint system as my general reason to refer there was because I was unsure where to go next. More likely than not my issue stemmed from not digging far enough. Photos above are properties of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 "The Cards of Confound" provides a series of enigmatic postcards that are good for the puzzle hunt lovers looking for something smaller to do in evening. They have a particular style that encourages people to research and explore but without any prior experience I can see some puzzlers becoming confused and unsure where to start and end. There is also no distinct premise or story to follow along with which can make finding a starting point tricky. The hint system provides a good resource and I think it is required for this game, even for stronger puzzlers. Each card, when using the hint system, took about 30-45 minutes each. This is the kind of game for players looking for a challenge and are not afraid to explore the internet to find clues. Get your search engine ready and don’t be afraid to dig in! (If you do decide to try this game, please remember to let them know that you heard it from"ESCAPETHEROOMers"!) Disclosure: We thank Cards of Confound 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 #PuzzlesByMail #OneOffs #CardsofConfound #Netherlands #Mystery

Photos above are property of 50 Clues Company: 50 Clues (Distributed by Norsker Games) Game: The Leopold Trilogy - EP1: The Pendulum of the Dead, EP2: White Sleep, EP3: The Fate of Leopold Country: Denmark 🇩🇰 Language: English Type of Game: Puzzles By Mail 📬 Genre: Thriller Date Played: August 10th, September 2nd, & September 19th (2021) Difficulty (based on 4 players): 5/10, 7/10, 5/10 Size of Team: 1-5 Players (Ages 16+) Time: Unlimited (Suggested 90 Mins) Price: $17.00 ** Content warning - Mental illness, violence, murder and child abuse. Not suitable for children, recommended for 16+. 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 "The Pendulum of the Dead" is the first game in the trilogy of Leopold. 5 years ago, somewhere in Denmark, a suitcase with a dead boy inside was found. Wrapped in tinfoil and lead sheets and buried deep in the dark forest. A deranged woman is sentenced to life imprisonment for the crime. You are Maria and you have to get out of this terrible place and find your son, the chosen one, in order to destroy King Leopold and stop him from spreading his evil. You can’t remember much because of the medicine they are giving you. Will you be able to escape and find your son? In "White Sleep" & "The Fate of Leopold" you continue as Maria in your quest to stop King Leopold, each game picking up where the last one left off. Video above is property of 50 Clues 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ The games come in small cardboard boxes that each contain 54 cards in ominous grey scale with striking blood-red details. The drawings are sketch-like and capture the feeling of being caught in a nightmare. The first 3 cards are instructions on how to play and on the last card you can write down your scoring at the end of the game. Episode 1: The Pendulum Episode 2: White Sleep Episode 3: The Fate 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 You'll need a device that can scan QR codes or you can manually enter the website's address. This will lead you to a tutorial video that clearly explains the set up of the game and how it should be played. Once you get there, activate the game by entering the unique serial number that came with the game box. You can replay the game if you like as in ep 2 and 3 you can choose a different path but the puzzles will be the same. The serial number on each box can be activated 30 times. You are playing as Maria, locked in a forensic psychiatric ward. The tutorial takes place 5 years before the Leopold trilogy and also acts as the prologue. Each of the games picks up where the last one left off, and even though I would recommend playing the games in order, it is possible to watch a recap and jump straight into the 2nd or 3rd game. The first card will give you the stage as to where you are and what your first mission is. The card itself will have numbers printed on the images. If you see a white number with a box around it, that means you need to take out that numbered card from the game box. If you see a black number, you'll need to enter that as a code to get more information from the game. Sometimes it'll reveal a storyline and other times it'll inform you to take another card. The black numbers can also be choice numbers to a puzzle. If you brute force or use the trial and error method for the answers, your score will be affected at the end. The red numbers are to be combined with other red numbers to unlock items or scenes. If you randomly try to combine those, the final score will also be affected. If you answer correctly without wrong answers, you'll get more stars for the submission. The scale is on a 5 star rating. Throughout the game you will check your answers through a website that also provides small nudges if you’re almost right or hints if you need some help. The game isn’t timed and you mostly won’t get any points deducted for taking your time (except for when a timer pops up on the screen and you have to solve a puzzle before it runs out but I think it's more to add the urgency and perhaps you score better if you solve it in a shorter amount of time). 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 Except for the traditional puzzles we know from escape rooms, you also progress the storyline and solve situations you find yourself in by combining objects from the cards. Sometimes there are multiple steps to get to the desired outcome, which requires you to think more about which objects to combine, and in which order, in order to not lose any points. And sometimes you are required to take actions on other humans that you would never even think about doing in real life. You will receive a little nudge in the right direction if your answer is almost correct, to acknowledge that you are on the right track, instead of just getting an error message or having to take a hint. "The Pendulum of the Dead" The wide range of puzzles felt very natural in this story and we progressed smoothly without any obstacles, not because the puzzles are very easy but because there is a lot of discrete signposting to help you stay on track. If you have played an escape room or escape game before, some of the puzzles might feel familiar, but there are a few challenges in there as well. "White Sleep" This was the biggest challenge out of the 3 games for us. I would say that the difficulty level is generally higher than in The pendulum of the dead. But it might also be because there are more “aha puzzles” in here, as in puzzles that aren’t obvious how to solve from the beginning, but once you see it it makes sense. We enjoyed most of them, even though we did have to use a few hints to understand what we were supposed to do, we found the puzzles to be clever and exciting. * Full disclosure: there is one puzzle in there that none of us understood even after reading all the hints, but since I don’t understand it, I can’t really say too much about it 😂 "The Fate of Leopold" Oppositely from "White Sleep", we found this game to be the easiest of the three. I’m not sure if that’s because the puzzles were easier or if we had become Leopold-experts at this point. Just as in the first game, the puzzles ran smoothly and they all played a role in painting the final story. Some of the puzzles were timed to create a greater feeling of urgency, which I believe was a smart way to keep engagement high. We didn’t have to use a single hint but we still felt satisfied at the end. With that being said there was at least one math puzzle that I still would be working on if it wasn’t for the rest of my team. I would say that we used a bit of outside knowledge in this one, and that we were greatly helped by the fact that we are a group of science nerds. 50 Clues likes to use a good amount of direction, spatial and visual puzzles as the illustrations are their main focus of the game. By picturing the situation and storyline through puzzling will ultimately reveal the answer you're seeking. We quite enjoyed this type of game design which felt very different than games we've played in the past. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 "The Pendulum of the Dead" The first thing I have to talk about is the violence and themes in this game. You'll encounter things like assault, murder and dead children. This might not be a game for everyone. But the story had me and my team invested from the start. The game is very story driven and as we progressed we got more and more curious to what was going to happen as well as more and more willing to make some gruesome decisions as Maria. Some elements did make us feel uncomfortable at times, just like a thriller should. The story is intriguing and the puzzles fit well with the narrative. All in all, "The Pendulum of the Dead" is a thrilling card game with a narrative you don’t see that often in this genre. If the content warning doesn’t scare you away I would recommend giving it a play. "White Sleep" After playing the first game, we just had to know what was going to happen to Maria and we were invested! But OMG, if you thought the first game was violent you should know that "White Sleep" is even more intense. I didn’t mind the actions I had to take in "The Pendulum of the Dead", but I did feel really bad about one of them in this 2nd chapter. I personally enjoy these uncomfortable feelings, and even though I understand that not everyone does, I appreciate that there is a game on the market that explores this dark topic and allows me to experience it too. If you enjoyed "The Pendulum of the Dead", I am sure that you, just like us, have to figure out what happens next! "The Fate of Leopold" At this point all of us have been heavily desensitized, and if you made it through "The Pendulum of the Dead" and "White Sleep", I believe that we can skip the “gruesome talk”. But be assured that "The Fate of Leopold" has its fair share too. I really enjoyed all these 3 games and the twist and turns in the storylines drastically changes as we process which kept us intrigued the entire time. We have to find out what happened to Maria! But at the end of this 3rd chapter, it’s clear that we are not at the end of the story and maybe we’re still only in the beginning. To actually find out what is going on, we must take on the role of the detective tracking down Maria in the next trilogy by 50clues - Dead or Alive. So after an immediate and VERY brief frustration of not having all my questions answered at the end of the game... I’m now very excited for the next round! Check out our interview with the creators to understand more on the development side of the game: (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 50 Clues 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. #HannaNyberg #AtHomeGames #PuzzlebyMail #Thriller #50Clues #Denmark #Series #JeppeNorsker #NorskerGames

Photo above is property of Diorama Company: Diorama Game: The Vandermist Dossier Country: Netherlands 🇳🇱 Language: Dutch, English Type of Game: Puzzles By Mail 📬 Genre: Mystery Date Played: September 15, 2021 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 6/10 Size of Team: 1-5 Players (Recommended 2-4 Players) Time: Approximately 2-3 Hours (without use of hints) Price: $49 (Kickstarter) 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 You recently received a missing person's case dated back to 1979. Helena refuses to believe that her beloved sister Abigail is gone forever. She thinks that Abigail's disappearance has something to do with the case that she was working on at the time. Helena has handed over everything she's got from her sister to you. Hopefully this is enough to help you crack this case and reunite the long lost sisters... 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ Since this story takes place in the 1970s, it's really important for the players to experience that vintage feel. Diorama did a great job recreating the time period with the aged props and historical documents. From old photographs to wrinkled yellow pages to a beautifully illustrated town map, this game really took us back in time. We also really loved the packaging of this game. It's really easy to repack and store the materials and it definitely gives off that "case file" type of vibe. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 Unlike some of the other tabletop games we've played, there's no instructions as to how to begin. You will not need to enter codes to check answers at any point. The entire game is played offline so for people who want to bring this with them on trips or get away from the internet for awhile, this is a great option. The final answers, however, will need to be submitted online as you'll get a conclusive summary of the case via email if you figure out the whereabouts of the sister. Having no specific directions for game play was quite fitting for this game as it really made us feel like real detectives sleuthing through evidence and documents in order to find the appropriate connections to solve this case. The props in this game works in magical ways in moments you would least expected to give you those "wow" moments. I shall leave it at that so you can discover those secrets yourself. Photos above are property of Diorama 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The Vandermist Dossier had just the right amount of puzzles to pair up with an exciting and twisted narrative. This is a linear game so only when you solve something (and you'll know when you do), then you'll be allowed to move forward. If you get stuck, there are detailed hints and solutions (with images too which is always a plus) that you can use on their website. The puzzles went perfectly with the theme of the story. Without revealing too much, using codes to communicate and deciphering hidden messages are exactly what I would expect from a detective game. The messages usually will lead you to the next step and often times, you'll get your "aha" moment just like ones you see in TV shows! Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 Although everything in this game is fictional, the creator really made the game feel realistic. In the interview below, I had to ask the creator how much of it was real because the TV ads, yellow page listings, and even the town itself felt like they could have all existed during that time period. As a fan of detective games, I loved the suspense and mystery this game was able to offer to us. It felt more like a movie that we're creating with our minds rather than a tabletop game . I can't wait to see how this will continue to develop as a I'm definitely seeing a sequel is in the planning for the near future! Check out our interview with the creators to understand more on the development side of the game: (If you do decide to try this game, please remember to let them know that you heard it from"ESCAPETHEROOMers"!) Disclosure: We thank Diorama 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 #OneOffs #Diorama #Netherlands #Mystery

Photo above is property of Diorama Company: Diorama Game: The Medusa Report Country: Netherlands 🇳🇱 Language: Dutch, English Type of Game: Puzzles By Mail 📬 Genre: Mystery Date Played: May 17, 2023 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 6/10 Size of Team: 1-5 Players (Recommended 2-4 Players) Time: Approximately 2-3 Hours (without use of hints) Price: $49.00 (Kickstarter) 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 The Medusa Report is the second game of a trilogy from Diorama (Read our review on The Vandermist Dossier to find out more about the first game). After a wait that felt like millions of years, Abagail finally reached out! Now we just have to find her as she seems to be in danger. Apparently, she discovered someone or something called "Medusa" and now she's being chased by an agent codenamed TULPA. We have to get to her before TULPA... 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ The photos taken in this review were from a prototype. It is quite close to the final product but the box that you'll receive will probably be in better quality. We really appreciated the details that went into these props as they all felt authentic. The box (along with several documents inside) had an "aged" look and could easily become a collector's item. In the box, you'll find a transcript, a folder, a cushioned envelope, a floppy disk (with a file printout), a torn-out page from a book, a map, several letters, a stack of photos, and a transparent sheet. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 The gameplay was quite similar to The Vandermist Dossier. There was a clear objective that we needed to complete and once we had the answer, we could either email headquarters for confirmation or check the solution page. There was a hint page that provided nudging hints for each of the puzzles. Although you could freely analyze the items, the puzzles were designed in a linear way where you would need a specific solution in order to help you solve the next quest. It was great that there was a message in the initial letter that directed us to a starting point. This really made a difference in the game flow. One thing I did miss was a webpage to input solutions since sometimes I could mistakenly press on a hint that I didn't want to see while checking on a solution. I'm sure you've all had moments where you've completed a game but wanted more. Well, if you have the previous game( The Vandermist Dossier ), then you're in luck! You'll be able to discover the hidden puzzles within the games and puzzle on with some extra difficult puzzles to satisfy that thirst. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 This game really brought out "the detective" in me. The creator really took the time to think of ways to hide secrets in the game that made sense to the storyline (spies in the Cold War era, how will they pass on secret messages or codes? hm...) yet still provided that "wow" moment to the players. From the surface, the items in the game felt quite ordinary but as you piece them together, a new horizon would appear. Some puzzle solutions were more obvious than others but we really enjoyed the multi-step ones. There was one puzzle that could be quite challenging for some players. We thought a more detailed hint (a video or photos) would be more helpful. Also, we were really excited about a puzzle that we wanted to discover the puzzle solutions on our own but were unable to visualize it at the end. This one could also use a starting marker. Overall, the puzzles were quite satisfying for veteran puzzlers. And for beginners, you'll definitely learn some "new tricks" to remember for your future puzzle adventures. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 "The Medusa Report" provided a harmonious habitat for a thrilling narrative and unconventional puzzles. The clarity of the game's objective, the innovative puzzle design, and the fascinating plot make us can't wait for the final chapter of this trilogy. It is very easy to be immersed in Abagail's world sitting in the comfort of your own home with a cup of tea. Are you ready to find out the secret about "Medusa"? Check out our interview with the creators to understand more on the development side of the game: (If you do decide to try this game, please remember to let them know that you heard it from"ESCAPETHEROOMers"!) Disclosure: We thank Diorama 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 #OneOffs #Diorama #Netherlands #Mystery

Photo above is property of Don't Eat Puzzles Company: Don't Eat Puzzles Game: The Antikythera Tablets Country: United Kingdom 🇬🇧 Language: English Type of Game: Puzzles By Mail 📬 Genre: Myth, Mystery Date Played: August 25, 2021 Difficulty (based on 2 Players): 7/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Suggested 2 players) Time: Unlimited (Approx. 5-9hrs pending on usage of hints) Price: £170 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 This game is based on the ancient Antikythera mechanism which was discovered near the Antikythera coastline back in 1901 with a mixture of Greek mythology. You are now a proud owner of this amazing mechanism. Will you be able to discover the secrets hidden within? Video above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ The Antikythera Tablets came in a handmade high quality wooden box. Inside you'll find 5 tablets, 4 different sized gears, some small sticks and a roll of string. Photos above are properties of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 When you first receive the game, there's a wooden plaque affixed on the top of the wrapped box. This is a hint for the final answer so you can leave that by the side and unwrap the paper wrapping. Your first mission is to figure out how to get the box to open. There's no need for brute force. It will open when the right paths align. Once you get into the box, you'll discover 5 tablets. These are all individual puzzles that can be solved in any order. You might also realize that there are other small components like gears, sticks, and twine that came with the game. These will need to be used alongside the tablets. If you read the story on the tablets, you should be able to figure out what you need as the assisting tools. The workmanship on this box is AMAZING! The attention to detail on all the number/letter carvings, the discolorations on the wood, and the images of the mythical creatures really bought out the mystery element of this game. It even smells great! Photos above are properties of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 Each of the 5 tablets had a physical and a logic component that you'll need to solve in order to get to the final answer. Most of the time, the nudge from the storyline is the best place to get started. Once you think you know how to maneuver the tool or the tablet itself, then trial and error might be your best bet for at least the start of the journey. We started with the jigsaw puzzle which I'm not sure if it was the right choice or not but WOW, the endless options (as some pieces can fit in various places)! This one we decided to use a hint as it did take quite sometime to figure out the starting point. If you get stuck, there is a well explained hint and solution page which can be accessed through their website. Once you figure out the pattern to the answers, the game might become easier as you'll know what to look for. I still suggest figuring out the answers rather than skipping the fun in solving for the reveal (although one puzzle will definitely give your arms a workout). The complexity behind how the creator is able to put together these gears and locks is mind-blowing. We were constantly "wowed" by the secrets and reveals throughout the game. Photos above are properties of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 We haven't played anything like to The Antikythera Tablets before. It really feels like those fancy puzzle boxes that we would see on a Chris Ramsey video. What I really love about this game is not just the clever puzzle mechanics but also the way the creator was able to use it to tell a story. As you maneuver a cog left and right or trace a path with a twine, you're also picturing a Greek mythology appear right in front of your eyes. By completing each task, you're one step closer to the truth. YOU are the TRUE hero in this game! Check out our interview with the creators to understand more on the development side of the 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"!) Disclosure: We thank Don't Eat Puzzles 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 #Puzzlebymail #OneOffs #UnitedKingdom #Myth #Mystery #Adventure