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LOCATION: Retie, Belgium Photo above is property of The Missing Link Photo above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 📝  ETR DECODER 🔑 GAME: Jumanji 📅 DATE PLAYED: February 24, 2024 🎬 GENRE: Adventure 🧠 DIFFICULTY (Based on 4 ppl): 6/10 👥 TOTAL # OF PLAYERS: 2-6 ppl 🕒 LENGTH OF TIME: 70 Mins. 💰 PRICE: Є140 ☎️ BOOKING TYPE: Private 🔓 ESCAPED/ COMPLETED?: Yes [49:00] 📖 THE STORY Your best friend Alan Parrish has mysteriously disappeared. Alan always had a fascination with the attic, talking about the strange jungle drum sounds which would lure him to it. It is because of these strange stories that you think to start your search for him there. Perhaps you can find something that his parents couldn’t? 🎯 HIT THE BULLSEYE The game design blends and utilizes different special effects masterfully to create an immersive experience. It’s not just light and sound that achieve this, but other affects too, such as running water and hidden tech. In addition to the affects, Jumanji is beautifully constructed using high quality materials that offer authenticity to your journey. A journey, which is taken in stages, building, until you finally enter the jungles of Jumanji. We had a lot of fun making these transitions and applaud their creativity. Like the thoughtful decorative touches and prop placement, the same can be said for the puzzles. Each one relates to the story and theme, as well as making perfect sense logically. The puzzles are all tech driven and varied in the tasks they want us to complete. We felt that the difficulty and style will keep children as interested as adults because of how interactive and dynamic they are. Our favourite aspect was being able to utilize the Jeep, not only because of the novelty, but also because the overall challenge had layers to it which required team work to complete. 🧩 MISSED THE MARK Although the plot starts really strong and carries momentum for the majority of the game, we felt the actual ending was quite forgetful and wished there was more emphasis on concluding Alan’s story. For easily over five minutes at one point in the game we stood around in frustration, not knowing why the next puzzle hadn’t revealed itself. It turns out that one object was not entirely on its sensor, which was not evident to us. We didn’t even realize at the time that this was part of a puzzle and it was only by pure chance that someone picked the piece back up just to look at it, not thinking that it was part of the puzzle we were aiming to complete. Once he placed the item back down, luckily in the right place, we were able to advance in the game, but ultimately, we had no idea why until the end of the game when we were able to ask the GM. Ultimately, we were able to laugh about it after the fact, but at the time we stood for many minutes feeling nothing but frustration and bewilderment. Perhaps more forgiving sensors or an intervention from the GM could have prevented this. 🏹 TAKE A SHOT? Of the four Jumanji rooms that I have played to date, this has to be my favourite. The immersion is full on, with a creative path to gaining entry into Jumanji itself and some cool special effects. We think the game will appeal to both families and adults alike, especially those who like dynamic and interactive gameplay. Photos above are property of The Missing Link ℹ️ ADDITIONAL INFO Parking is free onsite There is a large lobby area for you to hang out before or after with drinks for purchase. As mentioned, they also have a large selection of board and card games for you to play or purchase. Lockers are available Not wheelchair accessible due to uneven surfaces and stair Photos above are 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"!) #RyanDriver #IRLescaperoom #EscapeRooms #TheMissingLink #Jumanji #Adventure #Belgium

Photo above is property of Good Luck Press Company: Good Luck Press Game: Curios: Albrecht Manor Country: Canada 🇨🇦 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Genre: Mystery, Horror Date Played: October 10, 2023 Difficulty (based on 4 players): 6.5/10 Size of Team: 2 Players Time: Approximately 3+ Hrs. Price: $27.00 USD 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 [in their own words, because i couldnt have done it any better.] "Curios: Albrecht Manor" is an epistolary horror mystery experience. A haunting story told over a series of letters and ephemera. Reality contains fractures, a series of anomalous events that defy explanation, with only remnants of their occurrences left behind. Letters, recordings, photos and reports are all that remains of these phenomena, housed within the Archive, a catalogue of the extraordinary and peculiar. Our first collection is calamitous events connected through the centuries: The Case of Albrecht Manor. How old is your house? A question not so simply answered for Alex Dunn when unsettling sounds and shadows begin creeping through the house at night. A new house, far away from home, the only thing keeping Alex tethered to reality is the research into this home with mysterious providence and the letters sent to their lifelong friend Anne. Letters that for weeks have gone unanswered. Alex’s research never concluded, the last letters arriving on May 17th, 1993. Alex disappeared, presumed dead after a house fire that same day. Alex's writing reveals just as much as the floorplans and photos included in their letters. As a researcher for the Archive, read through Alex Dunn's letters and notes. Uncover the missing pieces of the mystery behind their rural Ontario home in 1993. Explore the connection between this house and the original, destroyed in a fire a hundred years before. Can you connect the clues and find the hidden patterns of this house's history? Curios: Albrecht House contains 13 letters and postcards mailed from March 3rd to May 17th 1993 from Alex Dunn to Anne Wilson. Each letter details the events in Alex’s life in their new home as their house has them feeling increasingly untethered from reality. Letters will include documents, floorplans, newspaper clippings, and photos of the house through the centuries. What happened to Alex Dunn? Read the letters to try to solve the circumstances of Alex’s disappearance and those in the home before them. 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ Right off the bat the manilla envelope packaging looks authentic and intriguing, like you've been handed some long X-Files esque case file, promising mind bending mysteries, so strange the whole affair had to be shelved. You are given a professional set of instructions and an introduction - from the bureau - setting the ominous narrative. And then you have in your hand a stack of letters, unopened, missives lost in time and space, beckoning you to make first contact and let the ghost of the one who wrote it out. The aesthetic of the story is great, I think its one of the games strongest suits. It has the feel of one trying to document unexplainable occurrences in mundane words and settings, through simple photographs, postcards, personal drawings, and diaries. Photos above are property of Good Luck Press 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 Full disclosure: it is a narrative mystery game. It doesn't include puzzles per se. Or to say it best, it doesn't include what is conventionally considered puzzles. This does not make it not a puzzle game, it's just that the puzzle is more abstract, more connected with explaining the occurrences in the narrative, as opposed to who killed Alex Dunn, with the what, in what room. It's more about immersing yourself in the experience, more of a story, with elements of a mystery, and questions that naturally pose paradoxical and paranormal happenings which you must slowly deduce into actual realities. At times you are simply reading a story, and at others you are searching for the message within the message, the hidden figure in the carpet, trying to make sense of it all. It may not have a definitive conclusion, although it does give you a definite motivation and direction, but that may not even be the point. And I applaud mysteries of this nature, though I can see how the average gamer might be disappointed. Narrative mysteries are more ambitious, and have potentially more depth, and they're not restrained by the conventional paradigms of the murder mystery genre. Of course this can also be there undoing. In your standard puzzle game, the cleverness of the puzzle is the attraction, and the story is largely secondary, the inessential kernel of the logic puzzle. In the narrative adventure the drama takes center stage, as it should, because the human heart is the greatest mystery of all. It's just that it's a lot harder to make a puzzle out of a story, the human heart also being again, a hard mystery to render. So the question is, did it achieve this great feat, did it make a genuine mystery out of Alex' strange disappearance. It was novel, uneven, but ultimately intriguing, and at least narratively ambitious. I think players will get a sense of disappointment with the game if they come in looking for classic style puzzles. The puzzle really is the comprehension and rationalization of Alex's experience, as you peel back the layers of the strange occurrence, and the strange feeling that takes over you as you approach an impossible and yet necessary conclusion. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 I'm going to take this section to talk a little more about what I think the game got right, and ways that it can be improved upon - without spoiling anything. I think the story is ambitious, but its telling is a bit slow, a bit unrealistic, a bit surreal, but only because it's comical at times what degree of paranormal activity the main character is willing to entertain. It does have this feeling of watching someone lose their mind, lose their reality, which it does a relatively good job of portraying, although again I wouldn't even call it deeply psychological, although it will leave you thinking about the main character. The big twist, as you might call it, does set it in a category all its own, as a grand metanarrative adventure. The creator really tried to go for something deep, clever, though not in a mysteries of the human heart way, but more of some big mind blowing notion, like a denouement in a Christopher Nolan movie. I don't think it fully worked, and this may be because it's the ambition of its idea outstripped the powers of its execution. In terms of puzzles, I mean I'm an open minded guy, but it could have benefited from the structure of classical type puzzles. It needed to be gated more, or it needed the reveals to be slightly more layered and laborious, as opposed to simply given. Although the final conclusion is a matter of your own deduction, the path there was not gated and compartmentalized enough. There's a lot of details, more of them simply story, a lot of diary entries, there was some deduction, some connection making, and some study of hidden details, deciphering of cryptic images. The clues and puzzles do contribute to an understanding of the big idea, but it's more about allowing yourself to believe what has basically been laid before your eyes, then it is about proving. You know what happened, but do you know what really happened? If that makes sense. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 In the future I feel like the story and the mystery should be intertwined more closely, and it should be more compartmentalized, which looking at Curios next mystery, investigating a series of connected murder/disappearances, already sounds like the creators have thought about the issue. Let me say this about the game: I love that the creators took the story side seriously, that they came up with something original and interesting. I think too many games take story for granted, as an afterthought, albeit a necessary one. It's a good trend that creators become more invested in the story, because it also makes for better mysteries and puzzles at the end of the day. Overall, the surface of the game is as intriguing as its substance, and I think it's a bold and entrancing leap, and that future installments of the Curios series will carry forth the good while also consciously refining the delivery of the narrative and puzzles. (If you do decide to try this game, please remember to let them know that you heard it from"ESCAPETHEROOMers"!) Disclosure: We thank Good Luck Press 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 #PuzzleByMail #Mystery #Horror #Canada #GoodLuckPress

Photo above is property of Whole Brain Escape Company: Whole Brain Escape Game: A Haunting in Apex Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English, Dutch Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Genre: Paranormal, Mystery Date Played: October 23, 2022 Difficulty (based on 1 player): 5/10 Size of Team: 2-4 ppl Time: Unlimited Price: $40.00 (Available on Kickstarter - October 25, 2022) 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 The Doleman Manor looms over Apex with its dark and eerie history despite its decline into decay over the decades. Ghostmortem Society have taken up the daunting task to explore this neglected home in search of an apparition Lady Agatha Dolmen claims to have seen, known only as the Fellmonger. Yet as they begin their night exploring to find this spectral figure they learn quite quickly that finding the spirit will not be as difficult as finding a way out of the haunted abode! 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ Inside the box is a instruction page, a journal, a locked pill bottle, a locked zippered pouch, a series of photos, various game pieces (die, figurines), photos, a map of the an asylum, Ghostmortem Society pamphlet, an answer key booklet, a hint envelope and various other ephemera. The game begins by reading the instructions as they will guide you with what to do with all the game components you find falling into your lap. I liked the variety of paper components in this game as it never felt repetitive. I did feel like the game pieces were a little out of place as I ended up only using one component during my play-through. Note: The version received is a prototype for the upcoming kickstarter so some elements will be upgraded and changed. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 This game only requires access to one website to play and a phone will suffice. The goal of the game is to move through the house to unlock the mystery behind who or what is the Fellmonger spectre. Using the journal, you will be guided with a short story piece with clues and directions on what to focus on next for puzzling. There are also audio clips from another investigator that will be available for certain puzzles to guide you, accessible through a QR code in the puzzle journal. Each puzzle will provide you with a one word solution (with the exception of the chapter finale puzzles which create number solutions) that can be cross checked on the puzzle solution page. I really like how the verification was using a number system so examining the booklet would not spoil anything unless you are looking for something specifically. One thing to remember is that all sides of the ephemera are used for puzzling so only set aside pieces once you have used all parts of it. Hints are currently contained within a small envelope and provide one clue for each puzzle, except the final puzzle which had no hint. I do hope they create more hints for players as there were a couple times I could have used an extra nudge. This game isn’t so much a horror game but a paranormal mystery. It has a fascinating theme with ghosts and spooks but the goal isn’t to be scared - it is to uncover the truth and find the other members of the team! Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The puzzles within the game are pretty well rounded and work players up in difficulty from ciphers, logic puzzles, observation, and pattern recognition. I will say more experienced players will find some of these puzzles a bit easy to work through initially but the chapter finales do up the challenge level so don’t be misled! I felt while the puzzles were smooth and made sense, I wish their solutions were more thematic towards the story. As it stands, they are just words to solve. For an at-home escape game, there is an excellent use of paper puzzling that provides a wide variety for players that will fit to different players strengths. The extra difficulty in the final puzzles for each section works to encourage team collaboration after players divide and conquer the journal. I feel like groups who are used to escape rooms would find this puzzling style to really compliment their experiences. It is an excellent step into the tabletop puzzling world for escape room players. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 "A Haunting in Apex '' is an excellent debut experience for Whole Brain Escape into the table top puzzling world. The puzzles are well done and the premise has a lot of promise in it. This is easily a good option for groups with escape room experience looking for a way to have a night in and what better way with a fun paranormal mystery to solve! I did play this on my own but I can easily see this as something a group of 3 or 4 people can divide up and explore while playing to their strengths while the end chapter puzzles will require all your brains together. Now…can you uncover the truth of the Fellmonger and save the team or will you also fall prey to their hauntings? *** This game is no longer available but check out their in-person escape rooms if you are in the area*** Disclosure: We thank Whole Brain Escape 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 #Paranormal #Mystery #WholeBrainEscape #AHauntingInApex #USA

Photo above is property of DarkPark Company: DarkPark Games Country: Netherlands 🇳🇱 Language: English, Dutch Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Date Played: November 17, 2020 Size of Team: Unlimited Time: Unlimited Price: €49/ €9.99 (Refill Kit) Check out our unboxing video below of "Conspiracy-19" and "Witchery Spell" to see what exciting items you'll receive in these two games! Puzzle Spoiler FREE! Video above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers Photo above is property of DarkPark Game: Conspiracy-19 Genre: Sci-Fi, Detective Difficulty (based on 2 players): 6/10 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Doctor Schmitz has discovered a deadly virus that's currently being produced by a secret agency. He's currently in hiding because they are after him. He has send you a box of evidence he's collected so far. Hopefully you'll be able to assist him on stopping this deadly attack. 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ "Conspiracy-19" came in a nicely packaged cardboard box. On the box cover, there's a mysterious barcode. In the box you'll find various documents, photos, a lock, blood vials and other clue components. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 We really enjoyed how the game began. It's a great way to get the player intrigued right from the beginning. There are 4 folders which essentially divided the game into 4 segments. It's best not to mix up the materials in each folder. Each folder contained a storyline from a different character. You can play the first three in any order but leave the green folder towards the end. Other than the clues that came in the game, you'll also be led to various websites so make sure to have internet ready. The clues used to build around each character made the game feel realistic. At times, you might think you're really ordering food from a restaurant or getting your fortune read. The choices the game pieces like vials, a nail, menus, etc...also made the game very different and more interesting than just paper documents. The storyline was easy to follow with the help of these elements as well. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The puzzles ranged widely in terms of difficulty. There were some that were quite easy and reminded us of things we would see in an escape room. Others like Math puzzles did take us awhile to figure out. We were confused by two puzzles in terms of the clarity of the clues but there's a hint system on their website that'll explain the solution with nudges. We liked the usage of the websites to add in the immersion factor with the tabletop experience. Some puzzles were actually interactive and the interface was really easy to use as well. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 This game had a good balance of use of physical props, paper clues and internet resources. All the items used stuck with the storyline and made it more immersive. Our favorite puzzle was the one that made us feel like chemists. There will be components that you will need to buy the refill pack if you decide to gift or resale the game. Don't miss the ending video! It definitely added a nice conclusion to the whole experience. Photo above is property of DarkPark Game: Witchery Spell Genre: Mystery, Magic Difficulty (based on 2 players): 6.5/10 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Margaret just turned 23 and has gone missing. Her friends are very worried. They've been friends since they were kids. The disappearance might be because of the ritual that they've performed when they were young. Will you be able to help to lift the spell and save her from the dark magic? 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ "Witchery Spell" arrived in a cardboard box package along with a note on the box that said "start here". Inside the box, you'll find an intro letter, black folder, photos, small pouch with stones, tarot cards, posters, ritual props (candle, salt, etc...) and other small objects. We really liked the added hay straws on the bottom of box. The smell of it added to the immersion of the theme of this game. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 Dark Park always have an innovative way to start a tabletop experience and this time was no exception. We started with a puzzle before we were even allowed to open the box. This gave us some context to the backstory and our adventure began soon after. Since there were a lot of items and documents packaged into the box. You might get lost as to where the starting point is. Our suggestion is to start with the website. Once you get into the website, you can use it as a guide to find out what you'll need to for the remaining of the game. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The puzzles were very different than some of the other tabletop games we've experienced. Every single item in the box is to be used in some form with a puzzle (although they also helped with building the backstory). We were impressed by how some of the props were used (too bad we can't explain further due to spoilers). Every time we decoded something, more of the story will unveil. The usage of other character's voice recordings also made the story feel more realistic to the audience. If you get stuck, there's a nudging hint system on their website. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 We really enjoyed the "secrecy" that's being portrayed throughout the game. There were many incidences where we had to find the secret saying or symbol in order to prove ourselves worthy to the coven. There was a nice build up to the storyline. Each character had a little backstory. The use of the witch's family tree, mythical creatures and tarot cards captivated us throughout the game play. Our favorite puzzle was of course yet another one that required physical interaction with the puzzle components from the box. Other than taste, we were fully immersed through the other 4 senses. If you want to make a nice "witchy" evening date with your family or friends, we highly recommend the Witchy Spell. Check out our interview with the creator 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 usa shoutout or tag us on social media so we know you heard it from "ESCAPETHEROOMers"!) Disclosure: We thank DarkPark 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 #DarkPark #Hacker #Fantasy #Netherlands

Photo above is property of DarkPark Company: DarkPark Games Game: Never House Country: Netherlands 🇳🇱 Language: English, Dutch Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Genre: Horror, Mystery, Supernatural Date Played: March 15, 2022 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 6/10 Size of Team: 1-4 Players (Ages 14+) Time: Approximately 90-120 Mins. Price: $58.54 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 A heavy box arrives at your doorstep with a letter from a family reaching out. Their house is haunted by some strange entities that have locked them out of the house…and things only get worse. Even though you never recall offering to help, you feel a sense of urgency in the words and decide to comb through archival records of the house and ephemera from the family to see if you can help unlock the mysteries of the house and stop these haunting before it is too late. As you start to unravel the mystery you realise there is a darkness lurking… 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ The game arrives in a stylized box that really adds to the theme Inside the box is are house schematics, a business telephone directory sheet, a map of the manor’s estate, a broke plate, spirit board, a horror subscription advertisement, a key, a hint QR code card, old photos of the house, hand drawn children’s illustrations, and various other ephemera. I found the overall appearance to be extremely exciting. There is such a variety to the items in the box that I just couldn't help but explore each item before diving into the journey. The components of the game were well made and aided the journey. The wooden spirit board was beautiful and is a wonderful keepsake to remember the game. The mixing of tangible and digital was a good balance and helps guide players through the experience while letting them have a truly immersive and tactile experience. Let’s just say this box has got a lot of material for you to work with! Photos above are property of DarkPark 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 The story begins by examining the letter from the family before you dive into the first puzzle pointed out underneath the lid of the box. This game generally follows a linear progression and utilizes paper, digital, and physical components to guide players along. You will be in a chat log with a character guiding you through the experience to keep you on task. I recommend having a computer available to make exploring websites and accessing the chat log to make things easier to view. Internet is required to complete this game One thing I loved about this game was the way in which things were hidden in plain sight. The materials are exciting and grab your attention but the nuance to the game means you won’t catch what you need until it is the right time which is thrilling and makes for some amazing moments of excitement. PLEASE NOTE: you will be handling a spirit board during this game. Photos above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 In terms of puzzles, I was really happy with how well clued and developed these puzzles are. You could solve the puzzles separately (I admit my partner and I ended up digging through them eagerly before even logging onto the first website) but there is a linear progression provided by a character who seeks to guide you through your investigation. As such this game is on the easier side but the immersion and "aha" moments cannot be beat! There is one part of the game where the solution made me say, “No…this can’t be!” as I followed through. The puzzles consist of tracking, manipulation, orientation, etc. I felt with these puzzles there was an emphasis to physically handle the puzzles from writing on them, adjusting them, etc, which was refreshing. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 Overall, "Never House" provides a well crafted, true-to-life paranormal experience that is rich in story, immersion, and puzzling. The layering up until the end was well done and I thoroughly enjoyed combing back through the box to see if I could tease apart more clues. The puzzles were engaging and encouraged players to really dig into the game with a freshness that reminded me why I love puzzling. Once again DarkPark has provided another thrilling experience and I can’t wait to see what they develop next! Check out our unboxing video below of "Conspiracy-19" and "Witchery Spell" to see what exciting items you'll receive in these two games! Puzzle Spoiler FREE! Video above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers Check out our interview with the creator 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"!) #JillianRaymond #AtHomeGames #TabletopGames #PuzzlesByMail #Horror #Mystery #Supernatural #DarkPark #Netherlands

Photo above is property of Key Enigma Company: Key Enigma Game: Hack Forward Country: Spain 🇪🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Puzzles By Mail 📬 Genre: Suspense, Mystery Date Played: 6/22/2021 Difficulty (based on 2 adult players): 6.5/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (ages 14+) Time: Unlimited (Suggested time 8 hrs) Price: €55.90 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 There has been a recent hacker attack that caused a lot of damage to many large businesses and individuals. Key enigma has resorted to you to crack this case. You've received a box of clues and evidences that they've been collecting since the incident. Hopefully you'll be able to solve this mystery and find the people behind this evil doing. Video above is property of Key Enigma 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ "Hack Forward" came in a chic designed cardboard box. The black and white colors really bought out the mysterious vibe. Inside you'll find various instructions and letters indicated by numbers. There are 8 chapters to this game and you're only suppose to open the specific numbered envelope when you are told to do so. Other than the physical props, you'll also need to interact with websites, videos, phone calls, chats and more! Photos above are properties of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 The game was packaged in the order of game play. We made a mistake of shuffling around the material as we had to take photos for the review and that did mess up our progression as we missed the instructions to one of the chapters. I would advise organizing the envelopes in order before game play as there were a lot of materials in this game. The instructions for each chapter was very clear. We had an easy start to begin chapter 1. Since there's a lot of game play that would involve private chat and web search, it's best to play this game on a laptop. Once you register an account, your game will be automatically saved so if you do return in a future date (and you will, as it's simply impossible to binge this game and it wouldn't be as fun by the end), you can start from where you left off. Nudging hints and solutions are build into the game so there's no need to check back on any of the paper materials. There's a leaderboard for each chapter so time, hint and solution usage will all be factored in for your final ranking. One thing we found that was semi unfair was the fact that we have to start from hint 1 in order to proceed to hint 2 etc...Usually we have to get to hint 3/4 in order to actually get something useful as most of time we have a general idea on what we have to do but there's no way to bypass those. Photos above are properties of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 Key Enigma really tried to incorporate every type of puzzle and prop you've ever seen into this one game. The amazing thing is that throughout the entire game, there's no repetition. I loved the fact that every time when we opened an envelope or a new chapter, we're surprised by something different. Some puzzles were simple riddles where as others really had us pondering for a long time. If you are a beginner, you'll learn a lot by playing this game. If you're a more advanced puzzler, you'll be super satisfied with the puzzle quantity and quality. My favorite part of this game was the moment when personalization was incorporated. I literally felt a chill down my spine. You'll know exactly what I'm talking about when you get to that point. It'll make you want to check if your door is locked or not. Photos above are properties of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 "Hack Forward" was the first game that we decided not to binge through. We really wanted to savor each chapter and mostly because we didn't want it to end. There were so many twist and turns that by the time we got to Chapter 6, we forgot how we got there. The creators were really clever at designing the last chapter which forced us to string the story together ourselves. This game was really immersive and made me feel like I was a real hacker by the end. Although it wasn't through writing codes or understanding complicated operating systems, decoding encrypted messages and getting into hidden portals on the web was sufficient to make this experience feel extremely realistic. Key Enigma used every inch of this box to give us a full 8+ hours of game play. It really exceeded our expectations and it's truly worth the value. You can even repackage this game and it's entirely replay-able. We highly recommend giving this game a try. You won't be disappointed! 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, give us a shoutout or tag us on social media so we know you heard it from "ESCAPETHEROOMers"!) Disclosure: We thank Key Enigma 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 #Spain #Hacker #Mystery #KeyEnigma

Photo above is property of Key Enigma Company: Key Enigma Game: Calling Card (Deluxe Edition) Country: Spain 🇪🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Genre: Murder Mystery Date Played: March 31, 2022 Difficulty (based on 2 adult players): 7/10 Size of Team: 1-6 Players (Ages 14+) Time: Unlimited (Suggested time 8 hrs) Price: €65.90 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 It all starts with a missing persons case. Roy Mirlo is having serious financial problems and has disappeared, as indicated on the milk carton bearing his image. You decide to investigate both the individual(s) behind the ad on the carton, and Roy himself. As the story progresses, you learn more about the missing boy and find yourself slowly, inexorably drawn into a dangerous world of backstabbing, deceit, and dirty tactics worthy of any reality TV show. Eventually, you must hunt down the criminal mastermind behind it all and work through their final puzzle gauntlet! Video above is property of Key Enigma 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ The standard box really sets the tone for the game, with a few nods to some of the details you'll uncover as you play. The largely black/white/grey color scheme gives it an appropriate film noir flair. The inside is similarly appropriately decorated. The thoughtful intent behind the box design is reflected in the variety of envelopes and immediate immersion in a different world. As you open the envelopes, you are given a wide variety of highly detailed objects that are sometimes straightforward and other times complex. There are even some different textures to play with, which add a fun dimension. The deluxe box kicks things up a notch with a much larger, snazzy external box, and a series of additional tangibles. Everything here feels very high-quality and professionally produced. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 This is really a hybrid game, with both extensive tabletop and digital elements. There is a main website where you start each chapter, enter codes and puzzle solutions, interact with various chatbots and callers, play games, and more. You progress through seven chapters in a linear fashion, opening a series of envelopes. Each chapter is a different unit in the website and can take from 20 minutes to an hour or more to complete, providing convenient break points. There is a tiered hint system accessible at all times through the chat bot. While the storyline and progression are linear, not all puzzles are one-and-done, so it helps to explore each piece fully when you open the envelope. While you may think you're studying a red herring, you may later find out it was worth paying attention to potentially meaningless details so you can more easily 'connect the dots'. After completing each chapter, you can see your time on the leaderboard and find out where you ranked among your fellow puzzle aficionados. Although it took a little work to find, there are also reset instructions available here. Photos above are property of Key Enigma 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 There were a wide variety of puzzles, from traditional to entirely new and unique. As a result, sometimes it took some exploration of a given piece of collateral to understand what aspect of it might be the puzzle, and then another step to solve it. There are codes to crack, physical items to manipulate, QR codes to scan, online games to play, and external websites to comb for clues. With seven envelopes, it never felt like 'oh, another one of those'. The contents always felt fresh and interesting. Along with the fun of having additional tangibles, the deluxe version also adds a few extra puzzles along the way! Beyond the physical puzzles, there is also the fully active chat interface that serves to move the story along and also provides the means for entering answers. Characters pop in and out of the chat - (if you've played other Key Enigma games you may recognize a name or two), and also make and take phone calls from you! There are some fun digital puzzles as well. The variety in both the physical puzzles as well as the online interface is commendable; although, sometimes the chat required us to repeat answers a few times if something was off with the chat sequence immediately prior. That was one of a very few inconveniences, along with some confusing wording in a couple of spots. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 This is a great game for small groups of dedicated puzzlers who are willing to either take a full afternoon (and possibly evening) to power through all the chapters or savor it over a period of days. Letting too much time pass could lead to forgetting some of the many intricacies you'll discover as you explore the materials, so stay with it! The variety of physical manipulations as well could make it fun for some kids, although the expository chat dialogue could slow that process back down, and there are some dark aspects to the story. Fortunately, the narrative is engaging and cohesive, and the characters’ actions make sense, so the segments that do involve some click-through dialogue are still interesting. Overall, the immersive and multi-faceted experience makes it tempting to 'just start one more chapter', and the more difficult puzzles are also more rewarding once you find your way inside. The way the story is interwoven with the puzzles helps maintain the feel of being in the game, not just playing it. And the satisfying conclusion wraps up the adventure quite nicely. We previously enjoyed Key Enigma’s "Hack Forward", but thought this one even kicked it up a notch further. This is a fabulously fun and immersive game that we can recommend without hesitation! 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, give us a shoutout or tag us on social media so we know you heard it from "ESCAPETHEROOMers"!) Disclosure: We thank Key Enigma 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 #Puzzlebymail #OneOffs #Spain #Murder #Mystery #KeyEnigma

Photo above is property of Key Enigma Company: Key Enigma Game: The Butterfly Curse Country: Spain 🇪🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Genre: Murder Mystery Date Played: May 5, 2022 Difficulty (based on 1 player): 6/10 Size of Team: 1-6 Players (Ages 14+) Time: Unlimited (Suggested time 1-2 hrs) Price: €25,00 (on sale) 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Some weird things have begun to happen and you are not sure why. After going about your day, you stumble onto an article online that finally reveals what has been going on and why you seem so good at solving ciphers and complex puzzles. You descend from a dark pact of blood and have been marked with "The Butterfly Curse", a curse that has taken the lives of many. Using your gift, can you figure out what this curse is and stop it before it is too late? Video above is property of Key Enigma 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ You will receive an envelope with a butterfly on it. Inside will have everything you need to stop the curse which includes a map, a picture of coins, some photographs, pictures of ingredients, a special board, a black envelope and more. Photos above are property of Key Enigma 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 The game requires you to play through a digital platform as well as use items that are sent to you through the mail. At the start of the game you will meet Freddy Madoff through his website and chat as you research together a way to stop the curse. Through chat, he will guide you through this linear game. The gameplay seemed pretty straightforward and I never felt lost as Madoff would lead you to what needs to be solved next, though you might have to sift through everything to find the method to solve it. This game has a few unique items that they were able to mix into the game smoothly. They did not seem out of place as you make your way through the game. It was impressive that they were able to set up the game with just an envelope. The game sprinkled in some quality audio clips through some of the key moments and reveals in the game which added more to the atmosphere. There was also a simple layered hint system in place through the chat which would finish with a solution if you needed help. One of the things I did like with the hint system was for some puzzles, you were sent a picture to communicate the solution better. This game was a full-blown horror game. Granted, I scare easily and had to play this game in the middle of day with all the lights on. There are some creepy jump scares along the way as well and creepy music to go along with it just to prepare you. If you or your friends are into the horror genre, you may want to try this at night with the lights turned down. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The puzzles work seamlessly through the game with the theme. Everything was clued well to the point that the few times I did ask for a hint, I had to give my head a shake and think “How did I miss that?!”. A reminder that this game requires no outside knowledge and make sure to utilize the website. Near the beginning, there were some moments that I thought I had to do some external research but found that I simply needed to navigate the website to find the information. For an at-home escape game, there were a lot of tangible things to do, especially for something that arrived in an envelope. The puzzles also ramped up quite nicely as some of the earlier puzzles were simple enough to teach you how to use the unique items and navigate the website. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 "The Butterfly Curse" was an amazing game that did the horror genre justice. It had some solid puzzles which fit well into the theme of the story. There is also a free demo prequel game which you can play to get more of a feel of the story (and more puzzling!). I did play this on my own but this can easily be played with 3 or 4 people and allow everyone to see everything as well since there were a few puzzles that encouraged collaboration if you had the people available. I am quite a jumpy person so there were some good scares and creepy music which made my heart jump a few times. Overall, this was a fantastic game that ensures the Butterfly Curses never sees the light of day again… right?? 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, give us a shoutout or tag us on social media so we know you heard it from "ESCAPETHEROOMers"!) Disclosure: We thank Key Enigma 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 #OneOffs #Spain #Horror #KeyEnigma

Photo above is property of Escape Tales (by LockMe) Company: Escape Tales (by LockMe) Country: Poland 🇵🇱 Language: English/ Polish Type of Game: Escape Room Card Games 📬 Size of Team: 1-4 Players (Age 16+) Escape Tales currently offers 2 games (The Awakening and Low Memory) with a new one on its way (Children of Wyrmwoods). We played both of their available games and below are our thoughts. Photo above is property of Escape Tales (by LockMe) Game: The Awakening Genre: Mystery Date Played: June 22, 2020 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 6.5/10 Time: Approximately 3-6 Hours of Play Price: $24.29 on Amazon 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Sam's daughter fell into a coma 2 months ago and no one knows why this is happening. Our goal is to find out the mystery behind this occurrence and hopefully save his daughter! 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ The packaging was well made. The games were shipped to us from Poland and they were in perfect condition when they arrived. This game had the following components: 122 game cards, 9 doom cards, 18 location cards, story book, game board, 18 action tokens. All the cards were made with colorful glossy prints. We found that this design element worked well with the game play since the cards were not sticking onto each other. The tokens were made from wood pieces. Since they were quite small, I would keep them away from children. We didn't actually use all of it for the entire game, so if you lost 1 or 2 of them, you'll still be able to complete the game without the entire set. There was a game board that hosted all the location cards. This was made to feel like a mini board game. 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 I'll give you guys a quick summary of the rules of the game here so you can save 15 minutes of reading time and go straight to game play. Your first step is to read the first page of the story book. At the end, you'll get a page number to read in the story book. From there you'll be instructed to place locations cards (cards that start with the letter L), game cards (cards that start with the letter C), and action tokens. The next step is to set up the location cards on the game board. Once that's done, you can follow the instructions on the story pages and place the action tokens accordingly. If there are no specific rules on where to place them, you can chose a grid box you like to explore (just like how you will do a search in a real escape room) and see what you'll discover. You'll need to open the game app at this point. Each game card you accumulate will have symbols on them which will coordinate to symbols on the app. It's best to check to see how many C cards you'll need for that specific puzzles as you might have all the pieces already to solve it. Once you correctly enter an answer on the app, you'll be awarded with another page number to continue on with the story. If you run out of action tokens, you'll have to use a doom card to get more (we didn't feel like there were any negative impact for us to take zoom cards in this game). During the game, you'll also run into choice cards and exit cards where you will have to chose different scenarios or give up the room entirely and enter a new location. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 It took us a bit to get use to how we were suppose to play the game. Initially we were a bit lost on how we were able to solve the puzzles by the C cards that were given. It became much clearer once we found the correlation of the symbols on the C cards to the app symbols. It was really helpful to check the app for how many cards were needed for that puzzle. The self guided hint system was very easy to use on the app as well. If you really couldn't figure out the mini hints, the answer will be revealed to you on the final hint. We enjoyed the mini puzzles as they varied in difficulty and type. Some were as easy as color recognition and others were multi layered puzzles. We can't believe how many puzzles they were able to fit on these tiny cards! Since some were actually really tiny, we had to use a magnifying app on our phone in order to visualize it better. We developed a system where I would be reading the stories and Brandon would be in charge of placing all the cards and entering answers in the app. It worked well as a two player game. Be prepared on how long the game would take as we didn't realize 4.5 hours had passed by the time we finished. It was hard to stop on this game as we got more into the story line. We did take a little snack break but got confused on where we left off. Our suggestion is to take a break when you "exit" a location and write down the page number of where you'll need to go next. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 This was the first time we've tried an escape room card game. We were surprised by how much detail went into the game. When we finished the game, we felt like we just watched an entire movie. The choice element made the game more engaging since we felt like we were part of the game when we made choices for the characters. It also bought out the curiosity out of us. There were a few times we went back to see what would happen if we chose the other ending. Since we didn't use less than half of the cards because of the decisions we made, we'll definitely go back to replay this game one day! Photos above are property of Escape Tales (by LockMe) Photo above is property of Escape Tales (by LockMe) Game: Low Memory Genre: Mystery Date Played: June 24, 2020 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 6/10 Time: Approximately 6-9 Hours of Play Price: $28.61 on Amazon 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 This story happens in the year 2060. Elizabeth was supposed to go on a family trip with her husband but because of work she stayed behind. The next morning, she woke up with a terrible headache and couldn't remember anything. We need to help her regain her memory from the memory scanner. 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ Refer to "The Awakening" to see details on the packaging of the game. This game had the following components: 148 games cards, 19 locations cards, 14 stress cards, 24 action tokens, 4 progress tokens, 1 game board, 3 story books, and 1 rule book. The progress tokens were just like the action tokens except they were blue. We did use them throughout the game so try not to lose them. 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 If you have played "The Awakening" before, the rules were very similar. If you haven't played "The Awakening" yet, read the above review to get a quick overview on the rules. The only differences in this game versus "The Awakening" were: 1. Doom cards were now called stress cards 2. You could only activate something if you filled your progress cards with progress tokens (which you'll earn as you solve puzzles) 3. There were no exit cards 4. Story cards will be used when time comes. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The puzzles felt like they were in the similar format as the previous game but we're glad we did not see any repetitiveness in the designs. We still had some minor issues with seeing some tiny items on the cards at times but the magnifying app definitely helped. With the added progress token and no exit cards, we felt like we needed to strategize more in this game. When we used the stress cards, the story line was actually impacted by our decisions. We didn't feel it as much in "The Awakening". This made us become more cautious when we decided on which areas to pick to explore since we only had limited action tokens. We enjoyed how Escape Tales were able to create this type of "search and find" and "piece and solve" format throughout the game which really made us feel like we're in an actual escape room. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 We enjoyed this game more out of the two. Since there were 3 stories in this game box, we were able to finish the first one in 2 hours or so and it was very easy to continue with the other two the next day. Each story had a mini ending so we didn't feel like we had to continue to the next one right away. For the value, this game felt like we bought three games for the price of one. Since the story lines were not connected with "The Awakening" and "Low Memory", you could play them in different orders. "Low Memory" also felt like it had a better flow in terms of the puzzle design but it could also be that we are quite use to the game rules by now. The stress card usage also made the story line easier to follow and most importantly it made sense. The choices we had to make in this game became more difficult due to these stress cards. The twisted ending gave us a surprise. We hope it's not because we chose the wrong path. Since there were still a lot of cards we haven't used yet, we're eager to find a "better" ending for our character. Photos above are property of Escape Tales (by LockMe) 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 Escape Tales (by LockMe) 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. #CiciCao #AtHomeGames #TabletopGames #PuzzlesByMail #EscapeTales #LockMe #TheAwakening #LowMemory #PuzzlesByMail #BoardGames #Mystery #Detective

Photo above is property of Escape Tales (by LockMe) Company: Escape Tales (by LockMe) Game:. Children of Wyrmwoods Country: Poland 🇵🇱 Language: English/ Polish Type of Game: Escape Room Card Games 📬 Genre: Sci-Fi, Supernatural Date Played: December 26, 2021 Difficulty (based on 3 players): 6/10 Size of Team: 1-4 Players (Age 16+) Time: Approximately 6+ Hours of Play Price: $60.12 (Amazon) 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 You, Gilbert, have been living in a small town your entire life with your relationship to Sevillia being the only thing that brings you joy. Outside the town are Wyrmvines, a deadly fusion of plant and animal that will drive mad anyone who touches them. When you find out the mayor, who is also Sevillia’s father, has something sinister hidden in his basement, you are thrown into a world of mystery that will take you beyond the town walls. 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ Opening the box, you will be greeted with an instruction manual, action tokens, 3 books marked with the 3 chapters of the game, and many cards that will serve as either the game cards, location cards, or rest/focus cards. Everything will be marked and decorated with the theme of the game. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 If you are not familiar with any of the other Escape Tale games ("The Awakening" and "Low Memory"), these games play very much like a simpler Dungeons and Dragons. Starting from the beginning of the book, you are given a narration and told to set up a map with locations and areas you are allowed to visit. Each location will direct you to a different excerpt to read from the book which may provide helpful information, items or nothing. Beware though, because you will only have a certain amount of action tokens to explore with and if you run out, you will either have to take a rest or focus through, which can affect an outcome in the future. This is Escape Tales’ third game and they just keep getting better and better.  It feels like they take feedback from their previous games and continue to improve with their next game.  The way the game runs really immerses you into the world that they have set up.  New concepts that have been included in this game is that the app allows you to combine item cards as well as allow Gilbert to inspect items more closely. Your character now also has stats which can change depending on items you obtain and people you meet. "Children of Wyrmwoods" also continues with a well written story which has more decision branches than in their past games, which can result in one of many endings.  One thing we appreciate with this game is that the story is also broken up into 3 different chapters.  This allows for good stopping points rather than guessing how far you are into the game and where are ideal places to stop. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The puzzles offer a wide range of different types for everyone.  There were some good logic puzzles while others were visual puzzles that would need to be deduced.  In our game, there was enough puzzle diversity that everyone was involved with solving the puzzles in one way or another. In the game tutorial at the beginning, they suggested that we use the “Card Required” feature in the app.  This allows you to see if you have all the necessary cards and items to solve the puzzle. If you want to move though the game a little faster, we recommend using this feature. This has always been with their previous games but it was a nice reminder to use it more often. A small warning for the puzzles is that a bulk of them were color orientated.  Us, red/green color-blind people, were able to fumble our way past most of them but there were a few that even the one of us who was fine with color had some trouble with. The game’s hint system was built into the app and had 3 level of hints for each of the puzzles.  We did find the hints lacking for a couple of puzzles. We went through all 3 hints and still were not able to figure out what was required so we just had to ultimately take the solution. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 This game hits all the right notes with its in-depth narrative and weaving of puzzles through the game.  The game can be played up to 4, which would be a maximum number but less would also be fine. It's also replayable which is always a bonus feature with Escape Tales games. They continue to strive for a better customer experience.  A helpful tip would be to have some scrap paper or page protectors with a dry erase marker on hand which can help when you need to draw out some puzzles or mark cards.  Keep in mind this is a time consuming game as the box recommends a 7+ hour play time (well worth the value). We had to play through it in 4 different sittings but if you are looking for a puzzle game with a strong narrative to take you on an adventure, this one is highly recommended. 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 Escape Tales (by LockMe) 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 #OneOffs #Mystery #EscapeTales #LockMe #Poland #TableTopGames #BehindTheMasterMinds

Photo above is property of Escape Tales (by LockMe) Company: Escape Tales (by LockMe) Game: The Book of Rituals Country: Poland 🇵🇱 Language: English/ Polish Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Genre: Alchemy Date Played: May 1, 2021 Difficulty (based on 1 player): 8/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Recommended 1-2 Players) Time: Unlimited (Approx. 30+ Hours) Price: €13,50 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Set in the world of Escape Tales ("The Awakening", "Low Memory" and "Children of Wyrmwood"), you thumb through the pages of this book. Not fully understanding the symbols, pictures or writing, you peruse through the book hoping you can make sense of the contents and see if the rumors are true. By learning the secrets of alchemy, you can become an omniscient being. Beware though, not everything in the book can be trusted. 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ Picking up this book, the fabric on this hardcover book feels like something I just pulled off a long-forgotten Alchemist’s shelf and blew the dust off of. Thumbing through the number of pages, the design of each page mimics art and writing done by an inked quill with some showing cryptic puzzles that need to be solved while others are of artwork and symbols that may be useful during the game. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 The book is broken up into 3 chapters: Elements, Ingredients and Rituals. Each chapter will lead into the next, but inside each one you can read the pages and play the puzzles in any order. Your goal is to solve each puzzle and input the answer into the app that is provided. After inputting the solution, you will then be given the Alchemical Name and the value of each element and ingredient, which you record in the Alchemy Table. These names and numbers may be required in other puzzles. On the top corner of each page is the alchemical symbol of the element but at times, they will also tell you what other symbols are required to solve this puzzle. They also give you a question mark sometimes which you will need to discover how the book is to be used to solve the puzzle. LockMe did a few small things that shows how much thought they put into this book. For an example, the code page and the Alchemy table pages both fold out to allow you to reference and write on them without having to flip back through the pages. I was also able to test the offline capacities of the app as I worked on this game on an airplane. The hint system was also great as they did more multi-level hints. Some will give you 3 layers of hints while others will give you 6 or more to make sure you are guided to the answer. They have also provided a walkthrough video that is linked through the app if you don’t fully understand how to solve the puzzles, or better yet, if you aren’t sure how certain logic puzzles are solved. I did use the walkthrough video a few times to even help me get started on some of the logic puzzles. Photo above is property of Escape Tales (by LockMe) 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 Going from the first chapter to the second, there was a steep difficulty curve. As an experienced player, I was able to breeze through the first section quite quickly but getting to the second chapter, I had to thumb around all over and play this over time. One nice thing was that the puzzles were set up to easily allow you to pick up and put down the book whenever you can. I was able to solve some puzzles here and there over a few weeks to be able to complete the book. All the puzzles made sense to the story overall and how the puzzles were set up made me nervous filling out the alchemy table, wondering what powers each answer was going to unlock. The puzzles ranged from logic puzzles to eureka-type puzzles, but both were challenging. The logic puzzles, you knew what to do but had to figure out how to do it while the eureka ones made you figure what to do but once you found it, they are quite doable. A bulk of the puzzles will require you to write on the pages, where at times I would write my notes on the side or for all the logic puzzles, the book provides the puzzles in the back that can be torn out if needed. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 "The Book of Rituals" was created by the same people who put together the Escape Room Championships (ER Champ). They absolutely nailed the alchemist theme. Going through the puzzles and the design of the book, the art and writing truly made me feel like I was unraveling the secrets of some mystical, old magic. All the puzzles could be worked on fairly individually which was nice because I was able to work on some puzzles, put the book down, come back a few days later and not miss a beat. They recommend 30 hours to play but I definitely felt like it took me longer. Since there is one small book to read from, I would recommend only 1 or 2 people to play this game, but more can easily be added by each having your own book or copying out pages. I am a huge fan of alchemy and I can absolutely say that this is one of my favorite alchemy puzzle games. This is not an easy book and definitely not a beginner’s book, but it makes sense that you have to work at it if you want to unlock the secrets of alchemy. 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 Escape Tales (by LockMe) 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 #OneOffs #Alchemy #EscapeTales #Poland #TableTopGames #BehindTheMasterMinds

Photos provided by Real Escape Game by SCRAP Company: Real Escape Game by SCRAP Game: Escape from the Two Base Stations Country: Japan 🇯🇵 Language: English, Japanese Type of Game: Puzzles By Mail 📬 Genre: Adventure Date Played: 4/25/2021 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 5/10 Size of Team: 2 Players Time: Unlimited Price: $37.13 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 There's a secret organization that's been developing deadly weapons in the North and South pole area. Your mission is to infiltrate these stations and stop them from completing those terrifying weapons! Just when you thought everything was going so well, the alarm started to go off. Now you and your partner must work together to decode the security protocol in order to make it out alive! 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 Our game came with 2 envelopes both marked with the word "Confidential". If you like to play this game the proper way, you would want to set up a video conferencing call with your teammate. This game utilizes the functionalities of turning on/off various options such as video, audio and chat functions on the video conferencing device for specific puzzles. Since we lived in the same household, we decided to play this game face to face sitting on opposite ends of a table. When we needed to "chat", we just wrote on our notebook and passed it to each other. When camera had to be turned off, we just turned our faces away from each other. When mic was supposed to be turned off, we just didn't speak to each other. This also worked out fine as an alternative incase you want to play it more like a tabletop game. There are 4 smaller envelopes in each of the 2 big envelopes. As you read through the instructions, you'll know which envelope to open first. One you begin to solve the puzzles, more clues will reveal on which envelope to open next. Besides the paper clues, you'll also need a QR scanner so you can open the chatbot portal on their website. Some clues and answer inputs will be operated on there. One of our favorite parts about this game is the skit between the two players. In each of the envelopes, before we started on the puzzles, each player has to take turns reading dialogues with each other. You never know what the other player would say next. Some correspondences were hilarious. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The puzzles were not really the typical logic or deduction puzzles that you will see in an escape room or subscription puzzle game but more like things you'll find in Taboo, Pictionary, Spot The Differences, Telephone, Charades etc. It really stresses the importance of teamwork and communication. Think of it as a mega board game mesh up! We were able to fly through some of the challenges and took some time on others. Describing some of the items without being allow to see each other was pretty challenging. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 This game was very unique. We've seen companies that have incorporated drawing or acting into their games before but not to this extent. Narrative has always been a strong suit for Real Escape Game by SCRAP and they definitely bought it out in this game as well. Since the current situation might not allow players who normally would come together to play games IRL with each other, this game is a great alternative to plan a board game night over the internet! [ US Version ] [ Japanese Version ] (If you do decide to try this game, please remember to let them know that you heard it from"ESCAPETHEROOMers"!) Disclosure: We thank Real Escape Game by SCRAP 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. #ESCAPETHEROOMers #AtHomeGames #EscapeRooms #RealEscapeGamebySCRAP #EscapefromtheTwoBaseStations #CooperativeGame #Communication #Teamwork #OnlineEscapeRoom #DigitalEscapeGame #scrap #japan #adventure #puzzlelover

Photo above is property of Dispatch - Presented by Breakout (w/ Angels & Airwaves) Company: Dispatch - Presented by Breakout (w/ Angels & Airwaves) Game: Lifeforms Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Puzzles By Mail 📬 Genre: Paranormal Date Played: December 21, 2021 Difficulty (based on 1 player): 7/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Recommended 1-2 Players) Time: Unlimited (Suggested 2+ Hours) Price: $29.99 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 At the center of your mission is a woman. A woman who went missing to reappear only days later with no memories of her past…Previous agents who travelled to Albuquerque have left you their case notes and files in untangle the strange circumstances of her disappearance. You see, Vivian is not all that she seems, and one name stuck with her despite her strange happenstances…Victor. You need to get to the bottom of this and it seems finding this Victor may be the key to unlocking this strange case. 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ "Lifeforms" comes inside a stylized box containing a memo book from a previous agent, two envelopes (one having a sealed sticker on it), a "what’s inside" card, a room key with a black light, a herbal tea tag, a metal coin, a dog tag, a red magnifying glass, two magazine pages, a missing poster, a photo-booth set of photos, three newspaper clipping, a postcard, a binary alphabet page, a map of Albuquerque, and a schematics page. The paper quality of the components has a vice variety and feels like something out of a classic paranormal story. I felt the coin provided an excellent way to offer cipher alphabets without being too obvious. Photo above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 "Lifeforms" takes on a more ARG element to its gameplay. With the exception of the one sealed envelope, all items are accessible from the beginning. I recommend starting with the memo journal as it introduces the story and leads you through the beginning by referencing certain game components to start with. As you begin your investigation you will be directed to websites that will need unlocked, numbers that need calling, and files to unpack. This game is not linear. There is an end goal and some direction occasionally provided but ultimately you are trying to piece together who is Victor and what happened to Vivian. This definitely utilizes a stronger storyline but it can be non-linear as you piece it together, so I recommend keeping notes and reading things carefully. Note down key things about each item you come across because you never know if that clue may be the key to unlock something or add that vital piece of the story you’ve been missing. One thing that is a signature of "Dispatch" games is that they do not provide any hints or solutions. They really like their game community and encourages their players to ask questions in their Facebook or Slack group and help each other. You can of course also email the "detective" that can help you in the game. This unfortunately does mean that you might have to take a "break" during the game if you get stuck and help is not provided immediately. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The puzzles in Lifeform are interesting and tailor themselves more to an ARG game than a puzzle experience. What this means is the puzzles themselves aren’t hard, but the open world nature of the game can mean you might become a little lost if you aren’t keeping track. There were lots of ciphers, searching puzzles, riddles, and observational puzzles. Majority of the puzzles were key to providing passwords and usernames for online content but there were a few that were provided more for atmosphere than contributing to the story and mystery. I found a few of these extra puzzles were fun but there were others where I wish the solution tied back to the experience a bit better. I enjoyed the investigative feeling these puzzles gave during the play-through. I truly felt like I was solving a mystery as I bounced between website and the physical artifacts to see what relationships I could find. There were some good “aha” moments when a cipher provided the vital password I needed to get through the midway point of the game. There is also a good deal of story revealed behind each puzzle which I appreciated as someone who enjoys stories. Photos above are properties of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 "Lifeforms" is a paranormal mystery that has you exploring online and digging deep into physical components to uncover the truth behind such strange circumstances. It provided an excellent atmospheric feel to the experience, and I enjoyed the nostalgic element and the little touches that harkened to the genre. This game is tricky because of its open world feel but for those who enjoy a little ARG to their experiences this is an awesome idea. For the price, I got about 2 hours of gameplay which is a good deal! I recommend this for those who enjoy paranormal, exploration, and ciphers with their gaming! Are you ready to explore the phenomena in this adventure or will you also be lost to the memories? (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 Dispatch - Presented by Breakout 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 #SubscriptionGames #PuzzlesByMail #Dispatch #BreakoutGames #AngelsandAirwaves #USA #Paranormal

Photo above is property of Immersion Interactive, Inc. Company: Immersion Interactive, Inc. Game: The Messenger: An Immersive Mystery Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Puzzles By Mail 📬 Genre: Supernatural, Horror Date Played: May 6, 2021 Difficulty (based on 1 player): 8/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Recommend 1-4 ppl) (Ages 16+) Time: Unlimited (Approximately 8 Hrs) Price: $65.00 - Standard Edition (plus shipping)/ $130.00 - Collector's Edition (plus shipping) 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 The hair on the back of your neck stands as you open your door to find a peculiar, wrapped package on your doorstep. It contains a ledge of names, a wooden diary, contract and a collection of odd ephemera and objects that, at least initially, bear no connection. You get the sense there is more than meets the eye and must unravel the mystery to find out what is this package. You learn about the last recipient, Shaun Lyons, and realize in his investigation that he discovered there is a curse that haunts this package that you must break… or be lost forever. 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ "The Messenger" is a beautifully aged game with handcrafted components. Wrapped in burlap, each game contains an aged and stained wooden diary, a series of aged papers, old tarot cards, a poker chip, dog tags, a cassette, a gold amulet, and an introduction manual to the game. In the Collector’s Edition you also received a wooden box to store the game and a challenge coin to commemorate the event. This game also contains an online interface the holds a series of videos, audio tracks, and documents that will aid you journey (access to this must be unlocked in the beginning of the game). There is also a hint system available. ** Note: Some parts of this game will be altered during play-through. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 The game starts off a little open ended, but the goal is to solve a series of puzzles contained within the wooden diary using the other ephemera and objects contained in the box. Separately, Shaun, the last recipient, has left a hidden online portal that contains his research into the box. You must solve his puzzles to access different files that may help shed light on this strange package. What this game excels at is it use of not just the bespoke components that truly look like someone out of a horror film, but also an extensive online portal that feels well interwoven with the game. Each video is top quality, and the files contain just the right amount of tension in leading players through the story. I truly felt like I was learning the story alongside Shaun. I will add the ending is a little open ended with a choice, but the final puzzle reveal made it quite satisfying – read more about the puzzles below! This game does require online access to play. Photo above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 "The Messenger" utilized a wide variety of puzzles to create a full experience from logic, pattern identification, searching for clues, riddles, ciphers, manipulation, and more. There is a layered element to these puzzles that I enjoyed as each solution added to the goal of the game. I also loved the mix of tactile, written, and auditory puzzles that made for a rounded experience. In addition, the online portal contains scans of the documents you receive in the package so if you would like to write or draw on them (which I recommend), you can easily print copies. I recommend solving the puzzle that gives you access to the online portal first as it helps you follow Shaun’s journey for more linearity. This game, in appearance, can be overwhelming since all the content appears to be right in front of you but once I had the online portal, I found it much easier to focus and build. I will also note some of these puzzles are tough. They require paying close attention to little details and you need to listen and watch carefully. This means this is the kind of game that requires focus so make sure you’re well refreshed when you begin as it is easy to miss something if you’re doing this after a long day of work. That said, the reveal on some of these puzzles are excellent. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 "The Messenger" is a richly crafted puzzle mystery experience that effectively uses online and physical components to build a tense and moving story. I felt that with each puzzle solution I was being rewarding with new information that helped paint a complex picture that brought up themes surrounding loss and love. This experience really encourages you to engage in all ways with the game and you end up not realizing that you just spent 8 hours solving the mystery. I highly recommend this experience for those who love strong narratives, challenging (yet rewarding) puzzles, and a paranormal theme that tingles the spine. I cannot wait to see what Immersion Interactive does next. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers (If you do decide to try this game, please remember to let them know that you heard it from"ESCAPETHEROOMers"!) #JillianRaymond #AtHomeGames #PuzzlesByMail #OneOffs #Supernatural #ImmersionInteractive #Canada

Photos provided by BlueMatter Games & ThinkFun Company: BlueMatter Games (Manufactured by ThinkFun) Game: Escape The Room: Secret of Dr. Gravely's Retreat Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Puzzles By Mail 📬 Genre: Mystery, Suspense Date Played: 9/29/2020 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 4.5/10 Size of Team: 3-8 Players Time: 90 Minutes (Approximately) Price: $21.99 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 It is the year 1913. You've entered a contest and won an all-expense-paid stay at Foxcrest Retreat. Dr. Gravely is well known for his spa treatments to improve one's vitality. This all seems to good to be true... 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ Just like Mystery at the Stargazer's Manor, the beautiful box cover artwork gave us a glimpse of what's to come in the game. An evil looking old man extends his hand and welcomes you into his "retreat". Inside, the game pieces were nicely protected with cardboard frames. The contents included an instruction manual, scene card 1, 4 sealed envelopes with mysteries secret items (The Desk, The Safe, The Alcove and The Laboratory Door) and a solution wheel. Most of the items were made with high quality thick cardboard that felt like it would last for many game plays since the game is designed to be replay-able. 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 Although the recommended number of players is 3-8, we had no issues playing as a team of two (or you can even attempted as a solo player). There are no puzzles that actually require a collaboration effort. However, if you want to host a party, the game does provide an invitation that you will be able to customize. There's also a music list for you to set the mood for the game. A website link with hint system and reassembling instructions was also given. The game play is just like what we wrote in the review for Mystery at the Stargazer's Manor. Usually we don't really play with a timer since we want to enjoy and study every single detail of the game for review purposes but we did like the timer effect with this game. This is because of the choice option at the end of the game. Just like in an escape room, if your 60 minute is almost up, would you go for an extra mission or escape safely? Although if you chose to complete the extra mission, you'll get a time extension in this game. Playing it with the timer made us feel closer to a real escape room experience especially when we were getting close to that last code and time was almost running out. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 As we stated in our last review, BlueMatter Games really had escape rooms in their mind when designing these games. Once again they had a lot of searching, pattern/color recognition, and association of clues in this game. One particular room's puzzles were the most memorable for us. They almost had a "magic" feel. We literally felt that we were "unlocking" locks. This game's puzzles felt easier than the previous one but we enjoyed it more due to the the way clever way the puzzles were embedded with the story line. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 If you enjoyed this game, give Mystery at the Stargazer's Manor and The Cursed Dollhouse a try. There are definitely signatures we're seeing in these game designs from BlueMatter Games. We've grown to become fans of how organized and well instructed these games are. They are easy to follow and always have a great game flow. For enthusiasts, you probably won't even need to use any hints. For beginners, it's definitely a great way to break into harder puzzle games in the future. (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 BlueMatter Games & 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. #ESCAPETHEROOMers #BlueMatterGames #ThinkFun #EscapeTheRoom #SecretofDrGravelysRetreat #puzzlesathome #PuzzlesByMail #Suspense #Experimentation #Asylum #locks