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Above photo provided by Identity Games Company: Identity Games (Distributed in North America by Kroeger inc.) Game: Escape Room The Game: Secret of the Scientist Country: Netherlands 🇳🇱 Language: English Type of Game: Puzzles By Mail 📬 Genre: Mystery Date Played: 4/28/2021 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 5/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Suggested 1-2 Players, ages 16+) Time: Unlimited Price: $19.99 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 There's been a report of an "annoying alarm" going off at the old mansion in town. The officers think it's probably nothing so they assigned this case to you, a rookie. When you arrived at the mansion, you noticed the front door is unlocked... Check out our puzzle spoiler-free unboxing video below: 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ The game came in a rectangular box covered with intriguing and colorful graphics. Inside you'll find 12 key pieces, a puzzle decoder, 10 hint coins and 2 mysterious parts. There's also 6 compartments that were build into the box which could be opened up like an advent calendar. 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 Read the instruction booklet to identify the starting point. If you rather watch a tutorial instead, you can check out this video HERE. You'll need a good amount of space for this game so make sure you have at least a 40in x 40in table. Once you open the first instructed compartment, read the narrative first. This will actually help you with the jigsaw part of the puzzle as the story might give away some location hints on where to place certain jigsaw pieces. Once the jigsaw puzzle is completed, you'll need to solve another puzzle (logic, deduction, observation, etc.) in order to identify the right code. The code will always be a 4 part code consists of numbers or shapes. Use the decoder wheel to determine if your solution is correct or not. If it is correct, you'll be able to match up a symbol on the leftover unopened compartments and that will be the next one that you'll need to open. You can play the game in "Escape Room Mode" or "Jigsaw Mode". "Escape Room Mode" will be timed and you can score yourself afterwards with the scoring chart provided in the instruction booklet. You'll be penalized if you took hints and that could be recorded with the hint tokens. We play the game in "Jigsaw Mode" since we want to be able to fully enjoy the game and appreciate the creator's ingenuity and creativity. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The puzzles weren't too difficult for enthusiasts but they really reminded us of ones we would experience in a real life escape room. The additional props that came in each compartment also seamlessly tied in with the completed jigsaw puzzle. The jigsaw puzzle was not your typical 4 square corner type of puzzle. It took us a bit of time trying to figure out how the edges would eventually connect together. We really enjoyed this innovative design. This design also made us feel like we're going through room to room in a real escape room as once we solved a puzzle, a new area will be revealed. We didn't need to use any hints but there is a hint and solution section printed on the back of the instruction booklet. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 First of all, we love jigsaw puzzles. Having a game that has jigsaw puzzles combined with escape room type of puzzles was like a match made in heaven. Secondly, the package design of the game was genius. I love how it made us wait to open each of the compartments through solving puzzles. We felt like kids impatiently waiting to open an advent calendar for Christmas. Every one of them was full of surprises. The storyline was also very enticing. Right from the start, there's a build up for a mystery. As the game progressed, we collected more information and characters and made the mystery even more convoluted. You could only discover the truth if you're able to make it to the end. Another great thing about this game is the replayability. It was quite easy to repackage the game back together (I just taped down the compartments). I can't wait to bring this game over for my family to try one day. If you're a fan of this game series, they'll have a new one coming out this Fall! 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 Identity Games 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. #CiciCao #AtHomeGames #PuzzlesByMail #IdentityGames #SciFi #Mystery #Netherlands

Photos above are property of Identity Games Company: Identity Games (Distributed in North America by Kroeger inc.) Game: Escape Room The Game: Da Vinci's Telescope Country: Netherlands 🇳🇱 Language: English Type of Game: Puzzles By Mail 📬 Genre: Mystery Date Played: August 28, 2021 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 7/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Suggested 3-5 Players, ages 16+) Time: Unlimited (but there is a 60 Min. timer running) Price: $12.99 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 While studying many of Leonardo da Vinci’s artifacts, collector Sam Anoli has come across an undiscovered item, Da Vinci's telescope. Stories say that hidden in Da Vinci’s different works is the key to using the telescope and when used to look at the solar eclipse, will reveal a secret that will help humanity in the future. Unfortunately, the next eclipse happens in one hour. Known for your reputation as the “Escape Room Champions”, he has recruited you and your team to go through his works and get the telescope ready for the eclipse. 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ This is an expansion to the Escape Room: The Game series so it requires the base game (or at least the Chrono Decoder and the keys) to play. Opening the box, you will get 3 envelopes labelled Part 1, 2 and 3 that will be opened in consecutive order as you play, as well as some hint cards, which you may need the Hint Decoder from the base game to view. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 To progress through each envelope, you will need to put the correct 4 keys into the Chrono Decoder, which has one of 8 different characteristics. Once you are ready, you can start the time on the Chrono Decoder, and it will countdown from 60 mins but don’t worry. It will count back up if you go past so play however you feel. This game did a great job on using many of Da Vinci’s well known (and not so well known) artwork and inventions with the game as well as stylizing the artwork to fit the era. The narrative on each envelope was also well written and added to the game. As you progressed, Sam Anoli would continue to make appearances, offering clues and comments to help you on your way. We did find there was one confusing aspect of the game though. At the start, the goal of the game was to reveal the secret of the telescope, but in the end, revealing the secret only gave you the answer to one key. This was a little anticlimactic as we revealed the secret, only to realize we still had to find more information afterwards. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 There were a good mix of easier and more difficult puzzles with a few we got right away and a few that had us scratch our heads for a bit. Our advice would be to use everything at your disposal. There were a few times we did not realized certain items could be used to solve the puzzle. We found there was one puzzles in this game that was very color specific. We are both red-green colorblind so this one was a little difficult to maneuver. We were able to get enough of the answer to determine the solution though. If you ever get stuck, there are the hint cards that can be used with the “Hint Decoder” to help you along. The hint cards suggest you look at them every 5 mins but feel free to look at them at your own leisure. If those hints are not enough, you can also go to their website and there is a walkthrough available which you are check out or even at the end, you can check out the walkthrough to see if you have missed anything. There were a few puzzles that required folding to solve so if you get this game used and want to play with some untouched puzzle pieces, you can check out their website to download some new pieces. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 If you are a fan of Leonardo Da Vinci, you are in for a treat with this game as there are many real references to him in this game (which you can learn more about in the Walkthrough document). As we went through each envelope, we felt like Robert Langdon from Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code”, researching and sifting through many of Da Vinci’s works, finding hidden messages and cryptic notes. Overall, we had a great experience diving into this mystery and solving the puzzles to discover Da Vinci’s secret, which isn’t a real message since this is just a game...right? 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"!) #MatthewLui #AtHomeGames #PuzzlesByMail #Mystery #IdentityGames #Netherlands

Photos above are property of Identity Games Company: Identity Games (Distributed in North America by Kroeger inc.) Game: Escape Room The Game: The Baron, the Witch & the Thief Country: Netherlands 🇳🇱 Language: English Type of Game: Puzzles By Mail 📬 Genre: Suspense Date Played: December 19, 2021 Difficulty (based on 1 player): 7/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Recommended 1-2 Players) Time: Unlimited (Suggested 2-3 Hours) Price: $19.99 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 You come home after a long day to find your wife has been taken away by the Baron’s men as a result of an accusation of witchcraft. She is currently being held in the tower, awaiting her execution in the morning. You need to break in and find your way to her cell quickly or lose her to the stake. It feels like an impossible task…until you meet an unexpected ally.. 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ "The Baron, the Witch & the Thief" consists of a six compartment box. Five of the compartments contain jigsaw puzzles you must assemble, varying between 52-75 pieces. Alongside the puzzles is a decoder ring with 6 puzzle pieces to pair into the ring, an instruction manual with hint system, two rulers, and various smaller paper components housed in certain compartments to aid puzzling. I really liked the set-up of the game with the compartments. The images were crisp in detail and the little details provided awesome “aha” moments as you are puzzling along. Photos above are property of Identity Games 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 In "The Baron, the Witch & the Thief" you start off reading the manual to get the lay of the land. You will be directed to open one compartment when it's the right time. In the flap of the compartment is the story as well as the clues to solving the puzzle. The goal for each puzzle is to get either four numbers or four shapes corresponding to letters A, B, C, and D. Once you have matched them up, take the decoder jigsaw pieces that fit the number or shape you have uncovered and place them on the decoder ring with their assigned letter. On the jigsaw pieces there are positive or negative numbers that you must add up before rotating the jigsaw decoder in quarters turns either clockwise (positive number) or counterclockwise (negative). They will then reveal a colour, a line colour, and outside shape, and an inner design. If you have solved correctly, then four decoder pieces will match one of the 6 compartment symbols. Once you get the hang of the gameplay, I actually found it really well done. I like how, despite, the repetitive nature, that each compartment reveal provides a new story piece that builds the experience. I also found the added pieces outside the jigsaw puzzles helped let this game stand out from previous jigsaw escape games. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 I found the variety in puzzling in this game to be enjoyable. The styles are traditional, but they definitely make sure to challenge players with twists. These puzzles are primarily focused on logic and observation so take your time to look over all facets of the pieces and to review your work. It is quite easy to overlook something and without a solution guide on this game, you will have to double back to check your work. I enjoyed how the puzzles worked well with the components in the game in the sense they enhanced what is shown in the jigsaws and worked in tandem. This game does involve a rinse and repeat to gain solutions but the variety in the puzzles kept me engaged and interested. My one wish for this game was that the hint system also included a solution. There were quite a few times where I had the answer correct but I was missing a certain angle, or one thing was out of alignment. Because I did not know which code was incorrect, I ended up having to resolve all components which made things a little tedious. I recommend playing this with a friend in order to be able to check answers together to help break up the workload. There are quite a few hidden elements of this game that are so cool to find and they make take a few pass overs to catch. There is one component that becomes altered while playing but if you check their website, you can access a pdf copy to print and replace the item for replayability. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 "Escape Room The Game: The Baron, the Witch & the Thief" provides players with an array of well-done logic puzzles packed in a good story filled with twists and turns. For an affordable game, this experience provides top notch quality and effective use of time so you really get your money’s worth. This game is definitely tailored for more experienced players and caters to logic style puzzling. If you enjoy traditional puzzling and a good story, I recommend checking out this game! There is so much packed into this game and I am curious to try out their other games! 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 Identity Games 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 #PuzzlesByMail #Suspense #IdentityGames #Netherlands

Photos above are property of Identity Games Company: Identity Games (Distributed in North America by Kroeger inc.) Game: Nightmare Horror Adventures: Welcome to Crafton Mansion Country: Netherlands 🇳🇱 Language: English Type of Game: Puzzles By Mail 📬 Genre: Horror Date Played: December 29, 2021 Difficulty (based on 4 players): 2/10 Size of Team: 4-5 Players (Recommended Ages 16+) Time: Unlimited (Approx. 120 Mins.) Price: $51.90 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 After many years, the Crafton Family finally returns to solve the murder of their parents. A grisly scene that burned down the shed in the garden with everyone’s familial bonds inside, all perishing that evening. There is tension all around when you meet your siblings on the front steps of the old family house. What are you going to find out? What secrets hide behind the doors. Discovering what happened all those years ago is what drives this game at its very core. Each player will play one of five Crafton descendants. All follow a stereotypical horror trope but add their own unique character from not only the game’s contents, but through your own role-play during the night. Everyone will get a chance to shine throughout the night and discover all of the plot twists and turns that the story will take. Video above is property of Identity Games 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ The box is just as big as it needs to be. Cards telling players when to open them, inserts that hide hidden secrets, just by opening and revealing the components players will get excited to take on the role of the Crafton kids. When distributing contents, giving each player a blindfold, lets others know that this isn’t going to be your typical board game. Some players at my table weren’t too thrilled with the quality of the blindfold but I had no issues with it. The job to make sure information is hidden is the blindfold's purpose and it does just that. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 There are two types of play in this board game. There are the rules and how the game works but there is also the atmospheric aspect to this game. The rules are really very simple. Your group will decide on which action to take (move, search, reveal). After you choose your action, on the web app (that needs to be open during the whole experience), press the action button and time will move forward into the night. You only have a limited number of turns and every once in a while something will happen. Follow the prompts on the computer or tablet. When those are finished, continue taking actions as normally. The game only has a specific number of turns (the players are not told how many) which makes searching very important that you find the right information to finish the story. The second type of play in this game is the atmospheric portion. This blows the game out of the water if done correctly. There are a lot of mentions about making sure the lights are low, candles lit, and be ready for a night of horror. Listen to this game, make an evening out of it! There are so many things that add to the feel and the characterization of not only the characters but the mansion's mysteries itself. If I were to replay this, I would send out “personal” invites to my players and tell them to expect a “Horror Adventure”. The app will tell you things to do during the game that add even more of an unexpected twist and allows everyone to get involved. Some of these include gathering “real” items, creating sound effects and interacting with other players and the decks. Each player will also play as a Crafton kid. The game does a wonderful job of setting up role play for all types of groups. On certain cards, there are scripts that each character will read and not only does it give people an opportunity to play out their character, it also develops the personalities of the group. When the players stay in character for the 2hr experience the whole table will be invested in the story. If your group isn’t as experienced as role playing, the game does a great job in the scripts to allow players to dip their feet and go as far as they feel comfortable while not detracting from the game as a whole. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 There were very few puzzles in this game. Think of it more as a storytelling experience. The puzzle is piecing together what happened the night of the fire and by revealing flashbacks and placing them in chronological order. The other major puzzle of the game is gathering a dossier on who the potential killer is/was. None were too difficult to figure out if you have the information, although where the information hides in Crafton mansion is the true puzzle. Do your siblings and cousins know something you don’t? Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 This game has the potential to be a memorable evening for those who play it! On the box it reads “A Story-Driven Game”, that is the best description I can think of for this game. The issue our group had was trying to decipher what that meant before we played it. Well, after playing the game, my word of advice is that this plays more like a Role-Playing Game with board game elements. For those who are familiar with the world of RPG’s the app and the game mechanics acts as your Game Master and allows all people at the table to be players at the table. The characters are fun and memorable all while being vastly different in their characteristics. The storyline was well written and quite unique. Our table thought we had a solid idea of what happened but there were some pieces of information that we didn’t reveal that made the final picture completely clear at the end. It was set up to work in this world and as the app described the events of the game at the conclusion, we were all listening intently to see what we got right or wrong. This is a completely re-playable experience for different groups and the game includes instructions on how to set it up again for new players. I am excited to see what comes out of the Nightmare Horror Series and expect to be playing future games. If a night of horror role play sounds good for you and your group, Welcome to Crafton Mansion. NOTES: The game shows that it can be played with 4-5 players. I recommend 5, as with 4 players one has to play two characters and it doesn’t make the game as enjoyable. There is touching of other players during the game, make sure everyone is comfortable with it (ex. taps on heads, shoulder taps). For the best experience, do what the app tells you to do! Set that atmosphere, have everyone follow the actions. You are all there to have a good, horrific time. This would be best played during the spooky season. (unless you are like me and Halloween doesn’t end) Hint: pay attention to the size of the event deck to help with timing 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 Identity Games 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. #MikeSchnurr #AtHomeGames #PuzzlesByMail #Horror #IdentityGames #Netherlands

Photos above are property of Identity Games Company: Identity Games (Distributed in North America by Kroeger inc.) Game: Escape Room The Game: Dagger of the Sultan & Viking Funeral Country: Netherlands 🇳🇱 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Genre: Adventure Date Played: March 25, 2023 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 6/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Recommended 2 Players, Ages 16+) Time: Unlimited (Approx. 60 Mins.) Price: $19.99 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 In "Dagger of the Sultan", during the last raid of your village, the Sultan has stolen a family heirloom of yours, the Yassir dagger. After training and planning for many years, today is the day that you are to enter the palace and steal the dagger back and maybe enact some revenge along the way. In "Viking Funeral", after serving Viking Jarl Ragnar with a few others for the past seven years, he has passed away. As is customary in Viking tradition, you too must be offered up in ritual to continue serving him in the afterlife. In an hour’s time, the sun will set and the funeral will proceed. Can you and the others make it to the harbor and gain your freedom? Video above is property of Identity Games 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ Opening up the smaller square box, there are 3 packages no bigger than the size of a novel. One is labelled “Kidnapping”, a small introductory game and the others are labelled with the full game. There is also a red transparent card that you will need to use for hints. Photo above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 If you have played other “Escape Room The Game”, these ones play in a similar fashion. Each phase of the game, you will need to find 4 keys based on a certain characteristic. This can be a number, shape, letter or more. Once you find the keys, you can either use the Escape Room Chrono Decoder (which comes in one of their core games) or you can use the app online to confirm the answer. If correct, you can move onto the next phase of the game. Compared to other “Escape Room The Game” games, these ones are smaller in size. The format is different too. Rather than envelopes to open as you progress, this game looks like a large poster that has been folded up. Once you have solved one phase of the game, you will unfold the poster, which will lead you to the next section of the game. Sometimes, there will be components in the fold that you need to help you solve the puzzles. The short introductory game was a good way to teach you the format of the game and show you how to play. The stories of the games were well written to the theme. Though not completely original, they were different enough to be enjoyable and progressed well in each phase of the game to keep it exciting. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 There was a variety of puzzles that ranged from logic to observation to deduction. Some of them led to some nice aha moments. If you have played other “Escape Room The Game”, you will notice their flavor and style in the puzzles. There were even a couple of creative puzzles that we did not expect to find in a mass-produced game. One piece of feedback are the hints could have been better. Each section had 3 hint boxes that you would need the red transparent card to view. The issue was that since there were multiple puzzles that needed to be worked on in each phase, you needed to scan all the hint boxes to find the hint that related to your puzzle. Also, sometimes there might only be one hint for your puzzles before you have to look at the solution. Our game specifically had print errors in it as well, giving the incorrect answers in the solution area. We recommend using the walkthrough found online for solutions. Photo above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 For a smaller, novel size puzzle experience, these ones were a lot of fun to go through with decent stories and inventive puzzles. These games are more compact than their other games, which could be nice for people on the go. You would simply need the package and your phone to input the answers. The smaller size and play surface, we would recommend playing with 2 people to enjoy the game, possibly 3 as a maximum. This game would be great for someone who likes games that can be played in one sitting, adventure themed games and people on the go. 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 Identity Games 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. #MatthewLui #AtHomeGames #TabletopGames #PuzzlesByMail #Adventure #IdentityGames #Netherlands

Photos above are property of Identity Games Company: Identity Games (Distributed in North America by Kroeger inc.) Game: Escape Room The Game: Candy Factory & Next Generation Superheroes Country: Netherlands 🇳🇱 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Genre: Adventure, Family Date Played: May 13, 2023 Difficulty (based on 1 Adult, 2 Kids): 6/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Recommended 3-5 ppl, Age 10+) Time: Unlimited (Approx. 60 Mins.) Price: $36.99 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 In "Candy Factory", your Uncle Lucas, who owns a Candy Factory, has just sent you a message. A giant bubblegum bubble just popped in the factory and has not only trapped him but stopped the machines. Since it’s Halloween, he has a large order that needs to be fulfilled and needs your help to get it done! In "Next Generation Superheroes", all your parents who make up Super Team X have been hit with an aging ray that has turned them into powerless old folks. As the next generation of superheroes, can you determine who did this and reverse the effects before they are permanent? Video above is property of Identity Games 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ Opening the package, first we found the Chrono Decoder we used to input our answers along with the 16 keys. There is also a quick, 15 min introduction game to ease everyone in. For both main games, there are 3 envelopes with narration on each of them and instructions on when to open them. Each game also comes with a deck of hint cards and a red screen card that will be needed to read the hint cards. Photos above are property of Identity Games 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 For each part of the game, you will need to find 4 keys based on a certain characteristic before moving onto the next envelope. This can be a number, shape, letter or more. Once you find the keys, you can either use the Escape Room Chrono Decoder that comes with the game or you can use the app online to confirm the answer. Photo above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers Starting off with "Candy Factory", the game played similarly to other “Escape Room: The Game” games. After reading the narrative on the envelope, we opened it up, where we found some pictures and items that we needed to interact with and solve the puzzles. Once we found what the 4 keys were, we could either input the answer into Chrono Decoder or use the app online. The story for Candy Factory was a whimsical one and definitely geared for kids. "Next Generations Superheroes" was more of a different game as it was told through a comic book format which as a comic book fan, was a fun way to go through it. The kids enjoyed this one more with the more dynamic and visual style of play. This was a fun theme and the use of the comic style changed up the game play. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 Puzzles ranged from counting, communication, logic and finding hidden information. Having played some of the other games in the “Escape Room: The Game” series, I found these puzzles more geared for family play and playing with my kids. The puzzles did feel easier and a little more straightforward. One thing "Candy Factory" did well was the puzzles ramped up nicely difficulty wise. The comic book style for "Next Generation Superheroes" was used for a few unique puzzles that led to some fun solving. The hint system consisted of using a red lens to read a hidden message on the cards. Each card back had a time and once that time had passed, they recommended looking at the card if you were stuck. We did have a little trouble with the hints as we made some progress in the game but had to sift through a few cards before we got to one where the hint was relevant to our current puzzle. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 "Next Generations Superheroes" and "Candy Factory" were both fun games to play with the kids. For the puzzles, I did have to guide them a little bit to get them started but found they were able to solve most of them afterwards. The puzzles are easier though than other games in this series and the stories. The stories were written to keep the kids interested and the highlight was definitely the comic book style of Next Generation Superheroes. We played with 1 adult and 2 kids but could be played with 4 people. There was not a lot to pass around. For the ones who love some quirky or action packed fun, check this family game out. 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 Identity Games 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. #MatthewLui #AtHomeGames #TabletopGames #PuzzlesByMail #Adventure #IdentityGames #Netherlands #Kids

Photos above are property of Identity Games Company: Identity Games (Distributed in North America by Kroeger inc.) Game: Escape Room The Game: Fall of the Dawnstar Country: Netherlands 🇳🇱 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Genre: Sci-Fi Date Played: September 2, 2023 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 6/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Recommended 1 to 2 Players) Time: Unlimited (Approx. 2 Hrs.) Price: $19.99 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Residing in the year 2281, you have just completed a fix of the malfunctioning telescope in the Xanite galaxy. Packing up and ready to head home, you get a pressing communication from command center. A terrestrial scout ship not far from you has sent out an SOS signal and the responsibility falls on you to investigate the situation. 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ Opening the box, you are greeted with some cardboard pop outs that include the puzzle decoder and its keys which will tell you if you have the correct answer. You will also see 6 closed boxes as well as instructions on how to play the game and an introduction. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 Reading through the instructions and the introduction, we were then directed to open a specific box. Inside, there were puzzle pieces and some items. On the inside of the lid, was some narrative that continued the story. After assembling the jigsaw puzzle, we had to solve the enigma at hand by looking at the picture we put together and sometimes using the other items provided. The jigsaw puzzles typically consisted of less than 100 pieces and were not your traditional rectangular pictures. The story to the game was fun little mystery. As we opened each box and read the next pieces of the story, it transitioned nicely to the "next room" that needed to be explored. Once we though we solved the puzzle, using the circular decoder, we would put the key discs on top of it and rotate the keys based on the numbers of each key. Once rotated, 4 characteristics will be revealed. If the 4 characteristics match the symbol on one of the boxes, you are correct and can open that box to continue the game. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 Having played a few of their other jigsaw puzzle games, it was nice to see some different puzzles than before. There were a few surprisingly clever puzzles that blended nicely into the game. They included some eureka ones, following instructions and logic puzzles. The hints for hte game were givin on the back of the instructions. Unfortunately, they are grouped together so if you only need one hint, there is a chance you may see more. They did do a great job in alternating the hints though so that the hints for the first puzzle are right side up, while the hints for the second puzzle are upside down to avoid accidentally revealing too much. Photo above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 "Fall of the Dawnstar" (and the other Identity Game puzzles) are a nice blend for those who like to build jigsaw puzzles and solve enigmas together. The jigsaw puzzles are small, but challenging with their unique shapes. The enigmas integrate nicely to the game and this one stands out by using the jigsaw puzzles in unique ways. The story is also a nice mystery that keeps you on the edge of your seats as you play. We played with 2 people, but another person would have worked nicely with the game. More people, and you will be on top of each other to see the puzzle. This one is recommended for those who like sci-fi themes as well as thosse who like a combination of jigsaw puzzles and enigmas! 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 Identity Games 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. #MatthewLui #AtHomeGames #TabletopGames #PuzzlesByMail #SciFi #IdentityGames #Netherlands

Photo above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers Company: Odes Unboxed Game: Suite Heart Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Game 📦 Genre: Romance Date Played: February 14, 2023 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 2/10 Size of Team: 2 Players Time: Unlimited Price: Since they haven’t yet finalized the experience, they haven’t determined a final rate. Roughly, it's expected to be between $1,000-$2,500. 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 We first discovered Odes Unboxed when our reviewers Krista & Dave wrote their article "Commissioning a Bespoke Puzzle Game" for their wedding. The level of quality, creativity, and thought that Josh Rosenfeld, creator of Odes Unboxed, and the rest of the team put into their experiences is phenomenal. Timing-wise, their romantic experience - "Suite Heart" was the perfect way to spend our Valentine's Day together. We all have crazy hectic work schedules and sometimes we forget to just sit down and carve out some quality time with each other. "Suite Heart" is that weekend getaway for you and your significant other to "check out" from your everyday routine and "check in" to a romantic and intimate experience. 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ "Suite Heart" was delivered to us in a huge cardboard box with a sealed envelope addressed to me - Brandon (the planner). The envelope contained instructions on how to set up the game and recommendations on when to start. Inside the cardboard box was a beautiful, gold gift-wrapped box with a silver ribbon, a red "Suite Heart" box, and a purple pouch that read "Property of Brandon & Cici" with another sealed envelope, and another mysterious item. You can tell the creator was very organized. After removing the gift wrap, we unveiled a black box that read "C&B" in gold on the cover. Inside, there were 7 pouches with locks on almost all of them and each pouch resembled a location within the hotel that we would get to explore. The attention to detail ranged from having our names/photos on almost every item down to labeling all the locks that were assigned to the pouches. There were many surprises that we encountered during our journey as we opened each box but our favorite was definitely the cryptex! All the items were high quality and well thought out for this customized experience. Photos above are the property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 One of the first instructions that we had was to light a candle. This definitely set the mood for us with the pleasant smell and the ambient lighting. Each pouch (room) that we explored tapped into some form of emotional intimacy whether it was something from the past or just a reminder to enjoy one another's time and company. The gameplay for "Suite Heart" utilized all 5 of our senses to strengthen the love that we have for each other. Photos above are the property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 This game's focus is not on the puzzles. For beginners, you'll definitely learn a thing or two a decoding messages but the goal of the game is for you to not be stuck on a difficult puzzle for hours but to enjoy each other's company and solve it together. In fact, a lot of codes will be given to you to continue on to the next chapter of the journey. The "wow" moments in this game revolved around the memories that we've created together and by piecing together the puzzles, we rediscovered them. Photos above are the property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 Brandon (planner) - In order for Odes Unboxed to customize your "Suite Heart" experience, one person is going to have to provide the necessary information and details required. This might take a couple of hours to do as there's a good amount of information the creator would need in order to make this special for that significant someone (trust me, it's all worth it in the end!) When Josh (the creator) first reached out to me, he was extremely organized and knew exactly what he needed in order to streamline this process. The questions were thought-provoking and also got me to reminisce while flipping through old photos of Cici and me from when we first met back in 2010 until now. The entire experience was well structured and did exactly what it was designed to do... be in the moment! Cici (that significant someone) - I was amazed by this entire experience. First of all, Brandon definitely got a great helper this year for planning something special for Valentine's Day. This is a lot of work! The numbered instruction cards, candle scent, blindfold chocolate tasting, our wedding music, wish list, jigsaw puzzle, memory photos, and more! If I didn't know beforehand what this was, I would have thought I'm being proposed to again. The personal messages throughout the experience were my favorite. The final item that I was able to create as I went through each step will be on my desk forever. The experience brought out emotions that we've never thought to express for each other. Sometimes we would be laughing and remembering the good old days and other times we actually had tears coming down our cheeks. There were also moments that felt like therapy or meditation that helped released a lot of unwanted tension. If you're looking to rekindle your love for each other, strengthen your relationship, or create a memory that would last for a lifetime, Odes Unboxed will make it happen! Photos above are the 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 Odes Unboxed 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 #OdesUnboxed #SuiteHeart #Romance #ValentinesDay #USA

Photo above is property of Scavenger Box Company: Scavenger Box Game: Romantic Scavenger Hunt Kit Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: DIY Scavenger Hunt 🔎 Genre: Romance Date Played: February 11, 2023 Difficulty (based on 1 player): 2/10 (Customizable) Size of Team: Unlimited Time: Unlimited Price: $84.99 For Valentine's Day, we received a beautiful surprise from Scavenger Box and we decided to document how we set up and solved the entire Romantic Scavenger Hunt Kit in the video below. Hope this gives you some ideas on what you can do to plan your next romantic date night! Video above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ Photos above are the property of ESCAPETHEROOMers Victory! Photos above are 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"!) Disclosure: We thank Scavenger Box 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 #DIY #ScavengerBox #ScavengerHunt #Romance #ValentinesDay #USA

Photo above is property of The Great Gotham Challenge Company: The Great Gotham Challenge Games: The Crate Gotham Challenge: Holiday Edition Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Genre: Mystery Date Played: December 31, 2022 Difficulty (based on 3 players): 6/10 Size of Team: 2-4 Players Time: 3 Hours (Solution portal is open for at least 24 Hrs.) Price: $120.00 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Take a seat and let us journey through the ages as we learn about Christmas, some different holiday traditions, solve some puzzles and just enjoy the company of family and friends. Photo above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ Receiving the crate and looking inside (when told to do so), we find what appears to be random items carefully packed which includes a mug, some M&Ms, a candle, a matchbook, coffee in a can and more. We also received a letter from the gamemaster telling us “No cheating” and you won’t know what to do with the items anyways without additional information in the game. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 Starting off the game, every team gathered at the “starting line”, a zoom call that introduced us to the game. The gamemasters greeted us and then sent out a link to the web app that we would use to input the answers, progress through the game, get hints and keep track of our time. After logging in with our teams, we were off to begin the game. On each page, there was a blurb with some history and facts about Christmas and at the end, there was a paragraph that would clue us to how we would solve the next puzzle. Once we believe we knew the answer, we would input it into the web app. One great feature was that if one person did anything in the system, we would all see it such as if there was the correct solution, we would all progress to the next step or if someone took a hint, we would all see the hint pop up. Something we liked was that there were some custom-made items by smaller companies in the area including the coffee and the candle, which not surprisingly held secrets and mysteries of their own. The format and set up of the game can be played how you would like to. If you wanted to be competitive and go for the best time, you could do that (The top team finished in an hour and 40 mins). Our group played fairly relaxed, were chatting between puzzles and still had a great time playing. There was no in-depth story to follow but we did learn a lot about Santa and Christmas (did you know that Thomas Nast, a cartoonist, originally identified the North Pole as Santa’s home just because there was always snow there?). After about 3 hours of playtime, we were all invited back to the initial zoom call to celebrate and congratulate the top teams and thank us for playing along. The web app would stay open for at least another 24 hours for us to complete the game though if we were not finished at this time. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 There were definitely some clever puzzles in this box. There were a lot of items that needed to be manipulated but others that needed to be assembled, some ciphers, some online research and even some unexpected tools. The GGC website described the puzzles as some of their favorites that they had created for some private games over the past 2 years, and we were not disappointed. There were so many jaw dropping moments when we discovered what needed to be done and so many “That can’t be what they want us to do, right?” moments that ended up being correct. The hint system was sneaky so that you could not cheat the system. There was a countdown timer for the hints. If you wanted a hint, you would have to lock in the time and take it as a penalty. You would then click forwards through the hint questions (“What items you need?”, “What to do with the phrase?”, etc.) to choose what point of the puzzle you are stuck on, but you could only click backwards up to one hint. That way you couldn’t just read the hint questions and deduce what you wanted. If you were total stuck and just needed the answer, there was also a walkthrough option that would give you another time penalty. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 "The Crate Gotham Challenge (Holiday Edition)" was a fun break from the holidays. The box was packed with many enjoyable items and had hidden secrets that made for an exciting game. A lot of the items could also be enjoyed (coffee), used (notebook) and tinkered with (music box!) after the game. The puzzles were challenging, crafty and an absolute “best of” box. Though this game is no longer available, anyone who loves some impressive puzzles should check out their future games. There was no overall story to the game, but it was fun to learn about the history of Christmas and hang out with friends, plus there were items to make mulled apple cider at the end, a well earned holiday treat. *** This game is no longer available. Follow their website for future events*** (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 The Great Gotham Challenge 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 #TabletopGames #PuzzlesByMail #Adventure #Holiday #GreatGothamChallenge #USA

Photo above is property of Spencer is Puzzling Company: Spencer is Puzzling Game: Lost in the Shuffle Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Game 📬 Genre: Puzzle Game Date Played: October 10, 2022 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 6/10 Size of Team: Unlimited Time: Unlimited (Approximately 3-5 Hours) Price: $20.00 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 This is a not a normal deck of playing cards. It's a deck of cards filled with puzzles handcrafted by the creator, Spencer Beebe. You'll have unlimited time to solve 53 puzzles. He claims that the game will turn any player into a genius. Ready to unleash your brain power and claim your genius title? 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ You'll receive a normal sized deck of cards (54 cards plus an intro card with a website domain) held inside a card box. The cards are filled with drawings, lines, dots, symbols colors and more. The card box also looks like it holds a lot of puzzles and hidden information. You can easily be mesmerized by the appearance of this game. Puzzle lovers would be eager to dive in. Photos above are property of Spencer is Puzzling 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 Your deck of cards might arrive scrambled because the puzzles don't need to be played in a certain order. It is already a puzzle to be able to identify which cards might need to go together for a puzzle (although some only require a single card). The welcome card should be the one on the top. It'll give you directions to set up your game on a website. This is where you'll input answers, get hints and receive the narrative videos. The introductory video would be a great place to start as towards the end of the video you will actually get a little clue on where to begin. There are 52 puzzles in total and if you complete all of them, you'll unlock the meta puzzle #53. Since this game is not linear at all, it was great to be able to divide the puzzles amongst ourselves. Sometimes things I missed was easily detected by Brandon and vise versa. We left the ones we couldn't solve towards the end. You know how sometimes a puzzle is too difficult and you might just leave it for a long time before going back to it? Well the "reveal" system for this game was quite clever. As we input information, we gained brain matter which allowed us to level up. Once we leveled up, the website would show us more information (e.g. how many letters are required for the answers and later on even the first letter would be revealed) which really pushed us to complete the game. We were not given any rules on how to solve the puzzles and we really liked that type of freedom. Incremental hints were also available and this was done really well too as there were many steps to the hints and you'll also receive a warning before the answer was disclosed. The solution was also explained in detail and very easy to understand. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 There are many types of puzzles in this game. It pretty much covered all the ciphers we knew and more! We loved that the game provided us with a "common code sheet" so there's no discrepancy on which cipher decoder we should use since there are various version online. The creator was also great at letting the players know right at the beginning of the game that the internet might come in handy especially with riddles and trivia. Some of our favorite puzzles were actually visual puzzles. The creator was able to hide messages and clues in the cards in many innovative ways that by the end of the game, we started to look at normal things in a different perspective. The meta puzzle really gave us that "wow" moment as I can't just imagine the amount of work that went into the graphic design aspect of this game. Another thing that really amazed us was how many puzzles the creator was able to embed on a tiny little card. There was a card that we had to use 8 times! He definitely filled up every single space he could in order to give the players the maximum amount of play time. We brought this game with us on a cruise (since it was so easy to carry around) and it was the perfect game for "inquisitive and prying" eyes. People thought we were playing an intricate card game until they realized we were solving puzzles. So Spencer, you might be getting a lot of backers from the sea! (You welcome!) Although the game does need internet (and you know how slow cruise internet could be), we had no issues playing this game while cruising in the Mediterranean Sea. A great thing with the online system is that it actually stores your progress so you can come back to the game at any time. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 This game is great for beginner or experienced puzzlers. For beginners, it's a awesome learning experience as you'll encounter all types of ciphers and riddles. For experienced puzzlers, you'll still be challenged as there's endless amount of puzzles (at least it feels like it) and pending on if you want to use the hints or not, you can make the game easier or harder for yourself. I know some tabletop games require multi-player but this is a great game to enjoy as a solo player as well. One thing I looked forward to whenever I solved a puzzle was the chance to level up with my brain matter score. This is because I know I'll be awarded with a hilarious video. We highly recommend this game as some puzzles were not too difficult where for a moment it actually feels like you've been turned into a genius but a short moment later, a difficult puzzle will put you right back to reality. It's definitely a roller coaster ride but a FUN one! And you know the best part about this game? It's fully re-playable since none of the cards will be damaged in any way! 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 Spencer is Puzzling 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 #PuzzleGame #Cards #USA

Company: Trip 1907 (by Georgios Kiafas) Country: Greece 🇬🇷 Language: English (can be played in German, Polish, French, Italian, Czech and Hungarian) Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Date Played: June 20, 2022 Size of Team: Unlimited Photos above are property of Trip 1907 (by Georgios Kiafas) Game: Trip 1907: Dark Sails Genre: Mystery Difficulty (based on 1 player): 8/10 Size of Team: Unlimited Time: Unlimited Price: $16.99 (Paperback) 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 It has been many years since you have had those dreams, but they seem to be returning. Why now and what do they mean? You decide to start up a journal to record your thoughts and have something to sketch in. Let’s hope that the journal will keep you sane when you head out to sea. Photos above are property of Georgios Kiafas Game: Trip 1907: Forbidden Mine Genre: Horror Difficulty (based on 1 player): 6/10 Size of Team: Unlimited Time: Unlimited Price: $16.99 (Paperback) 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Having found a job with the Cobycha Mining Co., you head off to the Norton Mine. Excited for finding work in the 2 things you love doing, drilling and sketching, you cannot wait to start this new position. Being underground though for such an extended period of time can mess with someone’s sanity and you never know what you might find down there… 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ Both are a soft cover books with an enigmatic symbol on the front. Flipping through the book, you can find each page beautifully sketched with eerie scribbles that I’m sure will have more meaning as we dive deeper in. 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 Opening the books, you can find a small introduction on how your journey begins and how to start playing the game. As you solve the puzzles, you enter the answers into the website. If you are stuck on a puzzle, there are 2 hints at the bottom on the answer input website which you can use but they will use up sanity points. You gain sanity as you solve puzzles but using hints will cost you sanity. Once you are out of sanity, the game is over and you need to start from the beginning (but don’t worry if you continue on, we won’t tell). When you get the correct solution you will then be given a code word which will unlock the next puzzle for you. Having these codeword does limit your gameplay though since you need the previous answer to move on to the next puzzle so you will have the play the game linearly. The art for both books was amazingly done with black and white pencil drawings, straight from the sketch book of someone who is documenting in their journal, sitting on the bunk. I also really enjoyed the stories that accompanied this. It guided me through a creepy tale but left enough to my imagination that I am still left in suspense what is out there. While "Forbidden Mine" is the second book in the Trip 1907 series, "Dark Sails" is the 2nd Edition of the first book in the series. The updates for the 2nd edition mostly consist of taking components offline and putting them in the book such as the narration and the sanity tracker. There are 5 puzzles as well that have been changed from the original. Photos above are property of Georgios Kiafas 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The puzzles did ramp up well at the start but the quality and difficulty did fluctuate throughout the game. Some puzzles I was able to get with no issues, while some I needed to use the hints and felt there was no cluing to the solution. There were also some that required me to put the book away and come back at a later time as the hints did not help and solutions are not available. Of the puzzles that were solid, there were some clever and creative ones that required some fun outside the box thinking. Some of the puzzles were also puzzlehunt style and did require outside knowledge. Between both books though, I did find the puzzles more refined in "Forbidden Mine". Photos above are property of Georgios Kiafas Photos above are property of Georgios Kiafas 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 Overall, there were some satisfying moments playing the Trip 1907 books with some clever puzzles, unnerving sketches, and haunting account of the characters, but there were some frustrating moments as well. There were puzzles I would be stuck on for weeks without any proper means of moving forward. If you are into puzzlehunt style games or one to avoid hints, I would recommend trying this out. If you are planning on trying these books out though, I would recommend playing with more people, each having your own book to bounce ideas off of. Without a viable way to get the solution if you get stuck, this is a game you would want to play over a long span of time and over many sittings. Trip 1907 (2nd Edition): Dark Sails Trip 1907: Forbidden Mine (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 Trip 1907 (by Georgios Kiafas) 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 #Horror #Mystery #PuzzlesByMail #GeorgiosKiafas #Trip1907 #Greece

Videos/ Photos provided by Crux Club Company: Crux Club Game: Mob Treasure Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Puzzles By Mail 📬 Genre: Adventure Date Played: 2/1/2021 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 5/10 Size of Team: Unlimited Time: Unlimited Price: $15.99 ($13.99 - Early Bird package on Kickstarter) 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 There are many stories and rumors on where the legendary mobster Dutch Schultz hid his treasure in New York City. Perhaps you'll be able to find a clue or two in this puzzling adventure and hopefully be the first to discover this fortune? 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ We received a reviewers copy of Mob Treasure. The finished product (as explained to us) should have improvements on the artwork and other tweaks. This is a puzzle book illustrated in black and white. It made us feel nostalgic. Kind of like watching a black and white TV show. There's a nice mixture of the gradient colors of white, gray and black. This made it quite easy to read through the book. The changes in fonts also made it more interesting. Our favorite part was definitely the artwork. Every page felt like a fresh new story. 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 There's a total of 15 chapters and 76 unique puzzles. Each chapter had a short introductory that connected the previous chapter's findings to where you're currently at now. It definitely felt like a treasure hunt. One minute, you could be in a tunnel and the next, in a secret area behind a poker room. Within each chapter, you might have to go back and forth on different pages to figure out the solution for various puzzles. Each chapter has a break page so you'll know not to go forward if you haven't solved all the puzzles yet in that particular chapter. There's a hint and a solution section in the back of the book. It's great that these two sections are separated so in case you just needed a little nudge, you won't accidentally see the answer. It would've been great if these pages could be given to us in a separate small pamphlet as flipping back and forth was a bit of a hassle. Other than that the cluing system worked great for us. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 There's large variation in puzzle types in this book. You'll encounter logic, spatial, word, Math, visual types of puzzles. Our favorite ones were when we had to go through tunnels or find certain objects. This really bought out that treasure hunting vibe. Some puzzles may require folding. You'll need a scissor at one point although I feel like you can just rip and fold the clue pieces if you didn't have one handy. Don't be shy about using Google as some solutions may be related to the storyline and you'll need to know the history behind certain character or location. We did notice a few minor errors in puzzles as we went through our reviewers copy so we'll be reporting those to the creator so when you get your final copy, it should be error free (hopefully). 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 Our first encounter with Crux Club was when we played their live version of this story called "The Dutchman's Loot". Those were the good old days when we're able to roam around freely through the streets of NY while searching for our treasure (which ended up being food). It's nice to see that Clux Club was able to translate this game into a puzzle book so it can be enjoyed by players around the world. We love the story line and the mystery behind it. Most of the puzzles were not too difficult so this book could easily be played by beginners as well as experienced players. It's great to have the chapter breakers since each chapter is like a mini section and you can take a break and come back to it whenever possible. Being that we're in NY, there's an urge to keep digging for the truth behind this legend. Who knows? Maybe one day we'll find the millions! (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 Crux Club 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 #CruxClub #MobTreasure #PuzzlesByMail #PuzzleBook #PuzzleSolving #Mob #TreasureHunt #Decipher

Photo above is property of Crux Club Company: Crux Club Game: Puzzle Rap Star Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Puzzles By Mail 📬 Genre: Music, Hip Hop Date Played: June 12, 2022 Difficulty (based on 1 player): 6/10 Size of Team: Unlimited Time: Unlimited Price: $12.99 (Paperback) 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 You and your friends have started up a rap crew but mysteriously your boy Craz has gone missing. Traveling through the underground, Brooklyn’s Wonderville Arcade and more while exploring the rap world, it won’t be easy though to find the truth and more as you must solve puzzles and find clues along the way in boom boxes, graffiti and subways. Video above is property of Crux Club 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ Looking at the book, it has a colorful cover of a rapper and as you flip through the book, you see a lot of black and white cryptic images ready to be solved. One thing I like is that even the tagline on the front rhymes - "Wordplay your way to fame/ In a puzzle book game"!! Photo above is property of Crux Club 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 This book plays straightforward as you start from the beginning and go through page-by-page. Some pages will go through the story and some will give you the flavor text for some of the puzzles. One thing I love about the book is that it stays true to the theme and everything is done in rhymes and in rap style. In my head, I was absolutely rapping along with the story. The photos and artwork throughout the book really embodied the hip hop culture with music, breakdancing, graffiti, etc. There were 2 ways to access the hints, an online way and inside the book itself. The online system is using their website and getting hints one at a time or getting the solution. The other way had the hints in the back of the book listed out and then a separate section for the solutions. Having the option for hints within the book was nice to have, especially when I played the game on the go. My only concern, was that you could easily see all the hints at once, where you might have only been looking for one in particular. Photos above are property of Crux Club 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 This book had 60 puzzles and I was impressed with the different variations of them all. The puzzles ramp up well with a lot of variety from word, matching and music related puzzles. For one person playing this book, I never found myself stuck for too long and even the ones I did, the hints were helpful to get me through them. Certain puzzles would require you to use the answers from previous puzzles to be able to finish it so definitely keep track of your answers. Though not tying directly into the story, the puzzles also stuck to the theme and I even got to learn a few things about flow, rhythm, and beats. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 I am a sucker for rhymes which helped make this book a ton of fun to play. With so many puzzles in the game, I was amazed by the wide variety. This book was also easy to carry around and travel with, having the hints and solution in the back of the book. Theme-wise, this was an amusing and different game to play, even as someone who knows very little about rap. The promotional trailer had a rap song written and performed by InvAsian, co-founder of ESCAPETHEROOMers, and even had a beat which I may or may not have used to rap my way through the book (I will be keeping my day job). This was a niche themed game but they did it right. I hope this book inspires others to create puzzle books on other niche themes as well (Cheese Making puzzle book anyone?). (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 Crux Club 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 #PuzzleBooks #Music #HipHop #Rap #CruxClub #USA

Photo above is property of Flying Leap Games Company: Flying Leap Games Game: Wing It: The Game of Extreme Storytelling Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Game 📬 Genre: Party Game Date Played: May 31, 2022 Difficulty (based on 4 players): 1/10 Size of Team: 4-6 Players (Recommended ages 7+) Time: 20-60 Minutes/ Round Price: $28.73 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ With it being a simple game, the packaging it comes with keeps it nice and clean. It is a fun little theme of penguins with a jetpack for some illustrations. The main draw of the game is the words on the cards. They are in a nice large font that is easy to read and while the situation cards have smaller text, they are unique enough that a second reading isn’t normally needed. The basic rules of the game are outlined on the back of the box but for the more in depth details, a small rules book, a couple pages in length, is provided. It shows how to play the game, gives some optional rules, and introduces a couple of variants. This is a great option, that if your group really enjoys this game, you can get some very interesting improv moments. Photos above are property of Flying Leap Games 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 "Wing It: The Game of Extreme Storytelling" takes a traditional party game format and lets the player dictate how the game will turn out and it's very easy to play! First, each player draws a hand of 5 resource cards. One player will draw a situation card and they will be a judge for the round. The situations are farcical and ridiculous and that is what makes the game so much fun. One round you might be trying to rob a private estate when as soon as you grab the loot, you run into your ex who is cooking dinner. Another situation could be having the players assume they are hairstylists cutting hair for a very important client, then they sneeze and destroy the hairdo of said client. How do you get out of these situations? Once the judge has read aloud the situation, each player takes a look at their hand and finds 3 resource cards to combine and come up with a story to try and remedy or fix the situation. Then, every player describes their story and the judge picks the winner. Photos above are property of Flying Leap Games 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 When finally gathering our group to play this game, we had an absolute blast! "Wing It: The Game of Extreme Storytelling" is a game about being weird and wacky with your friends and gives agency to the players. It is a raucous party game that gets your creative juices flowing. Creativity is best formed with restrictions, by only having five cards in your hand and having to choose three of them, it forces the players to think really hard about how the story should resolve and how the situation will end up. With those five cards it gives a large enough pool to create a concise story without being too overwhelmed with choices for your resources. Because this is your story as well, you can take it into any ending you want to go. If you are told that you are a spy and your mission is about to fail you can try and recover that mission or if you have the cards in your hand, you might make up some sort of story that uses you as a double agent trying to steal a large rubber ducky only using gum on the bottom of your shoe. As much fun as our group had playing this game, I would expect that this game might be a little too freeform for other groups. Coming up with a story on the spot that you then have to announce to your friends might be a social hurdle for some. Understand the group that you are bringing this game to and if it might be a little intimidating for someone, maybe try a different game. On the other hand though, with the cute art design and the simple nature of the game it does present itself as a medium to get hesitant players out of their comfort zone and they just might have just discovered their next favorite game. Wing It is a great game that is easy to learn by all, play by all, and laugh by all. This is truly a family-friendly game. When going through the decks, all of the suggestions for resources and situations are PG friendly and the humor of the game comes from the players themselves. If you are looking for a more raunchy game, turn your stories in that direction. Players who want to sit and have fun in a non-intimidating environment create other differing yet intriguing stories that will captivate the audience. This is a game that doesn’t tell each group what is funny or what is correct, the game gives you a shell that you then fill up with your own groups dynamic that allows you to enjoy each other's company together! (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 GTG Marketing 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. #MikeSchnurr #AtHomeGames #TabletopGames #Puzzlebymail #FlyingLeapGames #OneOffs #Party #Cards #USA