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Photo above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers Company: Escape The Puzzle Box Game: Operation Swan Dive Country: United Kingdom 🇬🇧 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Genre: Spy Mission Date Played: April 10, 2022 Difficulty (based on 2 Players): 4/10 Size of Team: 2 ppl Time: Unlimited Price: £19.99 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Word is, that there is a mole in the bureau. A virus has been installed onto the computer system and four of the agents have been investigating tech companies recently and that had access to intel that allowed them to do this. Can you uncover who the rogue agent is? Where the agent was last seen? What the virus was called and who designed it? 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ The game comes packaged flat in a large envelope and contains a flat-packed cardboard box, setup instructions and a shiny dossier of information on stout A4 paper, plus a basic, light metal chain and a 3-digit padlock for locking up the box. Photos above are property of Escape The Puzzle Box 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 First things first, you need to build the box which is very easy if you have folded similar postal or storage boxes before (just follow the creases). If you struggle, searching for tips online might help. However, there are no directions on the Escape The Puzzle Box website. Then pop whatever you want to be the “treasure” inside (a gift or special item) and follow the instructions in the black leaflet to chain and lock the box. NOTE: One person will have to know and use the final answer to open the padlock and lock the box, so do not read the black leaflet if you want to solve the final code! However, you can get away with solving the puzzles that lead to the code. Once that is all set up, scramble the lock code, then either give the box and the dossier to your gift recipient or begin the mission yourselves! After reading the introductory letter, you will need to crack the clues and find the four pieces of information that are required. This will lead you to the code required. There is no online element and everything is self-contained. However, we did have to do a web search for some help towards one of the answers. There is however a series of hints and a final answer entry on the company’s website. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 There are only really 5-6 puzzles to solve in the game, but a fair amount of reading and transcribing to do for each, so it took us roughly half an hour of working through to solve everything. Two of the puzzles are the same type (which is a shame, as more variety would be nice), but the puzzles are simple enough and use familiar code breaking techniques, pattern matching and deduction. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 This is a very simple mystery puzzle game, designed to be a fun barrier to someone immediately ripping the paper off a present and the whole thing being over in seconds! It would be appreciated by an amateur puzzler as a great way to receive a gift with a fun activity attached to it. Clever kids may also be able to crack the clues, with a bit of help maybe, and this would be a great way to stop their present frenzy being over too soon, as well as a sense of accomplishment from solving the puzzles. It would also be a great introduction to in-person escape rooms before someone tries one for real. Why not buy a gift voucher for a real escape room and put that inside as the reward?! Seasoned puzzlers and escape room goers may find this too simple, but as two of them, we still really enjoyed it as a quick mystery and a fun use of time, with one locking a secret object in the box, solving the puzzles together and then the other using the final code to reveal the contents! There is even a discount code included for your next order, plus the chance to get a higher discount if you provide a photo or video of yourself playing the game! 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 Escape The Puzzle Box for providing us with a sample of their game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #HelenBailey #AtHomeGames #TabletopGames #Oneoffs #PuzzlesByMail #EscapeThePuzzleBox #UnitedKingdom #UK #SpyMission

Photo above is property of Escape The Puzzle Box Company: Escape The Puzzle Box Game: Chasing the Tree of Life Country: United Kingdom 🇬🇧 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Genre: Adventure Date Played: April 28, 2022 Difficulty (based on 2 Players): 6/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Ages 14+) Time: Unlimited Price: £19.99 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Your father has gone missing on his expedition where he was trying to find the next clue to locate the infamous "Tree of life". He sent your sister Lara his research in case he didn't return, but all the information was encoded in case it fell into the wrong hands. Lara has sent you his research to see if you can help her decode his findings and figure out which Mayan temple holds the next clue. Can you help her find his location? 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ The game comes packaged flat in a large envelope and contains a flat-packed cardboard box, setup instructions and a shiny facsimile of the father's journal on stout A4 paper, plus a basic, light metal chain and a 3-digit padlock for locking up the box. Photos above are property of Escape The Puzzle Box 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 First things first, you need to build the box, which is very easy if you have folded similar postal or storage boxes before, just follow the creases. If you struggle, searching for tips online might help, although there are no directions on the Escape The Puzzle Box website. Then pop whatever you want to be the “treasure” inside (a gift or special item) and follow the instructions in the black leaflet to chain and lock the box. NOTE: One person will have to know and use the final answer to open the padlock and lock the box, so do not read the black leaflet if you are wanting to solve the final code! You can get away with solving the puzzles that lead to the code, however. Once that is set up, scramble the lock code, then either give the box and the dossier to your gift recipient or begin the mission yourselves! After reading the introductory letter, you will need to crack the clues and decode the writings in your father’s journal, which will help you to decrypt the graphic Mayan alphabet and discover which temple he went to. There is no online element, everything is self-contained. There is however a series of hints and a final answer entry on the company’s website. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 There were more puzzles to this game than the previous game that we played - "Operation Swan Dive", and it did feel like a more cohesive and self contained story. You will need to crack around 6-7 puzzles at first to decode the alphabet, then determine the correct temple. Then you can open the folded paper to help you use that information along with other clues throughout the journal to determine the 3-digit code which will unlock the chained box and reveal its contents! The puzzles are varied and you need to cross-reference keys and locks which keeps you guessing! There are also two puzzles which require you to manipulate the papers and this was a nice touch. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 It took us roughly 40 minutes to solve all of the puzzles and we liked the theme and the way that all the puzzles were linked, and of different sorts. In comparison to "Operation Swan Dive", this is a fairly simple mystery game designed to present a gift to someone inside a locked box with puzzles to solve to find the combination for the box and win your gift! As before you can get a discount on your next order. This title is recommended for ages 14+ only because there are some more adult themes contained in the story due to the nature of the topic. 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 Escape The Puzzle Box for providing us with a sample of their game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #HelenBailey #AtHomeGames #TabletopGames #Oneoffs #PuzzlesByMail #EscapeThePuzzleBox #UnitedKingdom #UK #Adventure

Photo above is property of Weird City Games Company: Weird City Games Game: Canopy Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Genre: Nature, Strategy Date Played: March 1, 2022 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 5/10 Size of Team: 1-4 Players Time: ~30 Mins. (Replayable) Price: $29.95 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 "Canopy" is a tabletop card game, so the “stories” here are more the understory and canopy layers of your rainforest! Your goal is to create the most productive forest. 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ This is a beautiful, high-quality game. We loved the artwork! Each card in the main deck shows some aspect of the forest, whether they are plants, animals, or a “threat” like drought. The pieces to keep track of points are high-quality cardboard and come in cute leaf and tree shapes. There are also a variety of animal pieces (used to mark scored trees) that also add to the charm of your forest. They intentionally chose to have the entire game paper-based for sustainability reasons, so they even included little paper bags for the bits, rather than plastic ones. There is also a nice organizer in the box to help hold all of the cards and the small animal pieces. The whole box is quite compact, with a gorgeous rainforest scene on the cover, making it a rather portable game. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 In "Canopy", your goal is to have the most points at the end of three seasons (or two for the 3-4 player version). Points can be earned in four ways. First, you can complete trees each season, meaning having one or more trunk segments with a canopy on top. You earn bonus points for having the tallest tree completed in each season or the most completed trees at the end of the game. Second, you can have plants in your forest that are scored at the end of each season and then removed. Each type of plant is slightly different, but the number of points you get will vary with how many of the set you have. For instance, for ferns, you earn two points per fern if you have an odd number, but none if you have an even number. Third, you get 5 points for each sun-rain pair that you have accumulated in a season. Finally, there are animals, which are only scored at the very end of the game. There are two of each type of animal, one of which gives you a special “ability” to use once each season and the other that provides bonus points if you get a mated pair (having both of the same type of animal). In addition, there are various types of threats, including drought, fire, and disease in the basic game. However, these cards are not necessarily bad; they can be neutral or even beneficial at times. In some ways, the card mechanisms mimic the natural phenomena they represent in cool ways. Fire, for instance, has some positive effects on seeds (which allow you to get some extra cards at the end of a season). Fire also has no impact when it’s very small (one card), starts killing plants in your forest in a medium size (two cards), and spreads to also impact other players’ forests when it is large (three cards). Other aspects may not be quite as aligned with the natural world. For instance, when you have two fire cards, you lose two cards from your forest. When you have three fire cards, you only lose one card and another player loses one card; whereas, in real life, your forest would likely be at least as badly damaged by a bigger fire (so you might expect to still lose two cards while your opponent loses one as well). Drought cards can also be used to get rid of fire, for example, which is rather counterintuitive. These mechanisms, while not entirely biologically realistic, do add some extra dimensions to the strategy and gameplay. The main deck is divided into three piles - one for each season. There are also three “New Growth” piles, ordered from one to three. On your turn, you start by looking at the first pile and deciding whether to take it. If you do, you immediately play all of the cards in your forest; if not, you add a card to it from that season’s draw pile and move on to look at the second pile. Again, you either take it or add a card and move on to the third pile. If you reject the third pile, you again add a card and take one card off of the draw pile for your forest. Then the turn passes to the next player. This continues until all of the cards for that season have been played. You score plants and trees at the end of each season, then begin the next one. At the end of the last season, you also tally your wildlife points and bonus points for the person with the most completed trees. Whoever has the most points wins! The game also comes with a lot of ways to mix things up! The standard rules for Canopy are for two players, where all three new growth piles are shared by both players. In the 3-4 player variant, you share one pile with the player to your right, one with the player to your left, and the third pile with all players. In the solo variant, you play against the “Forest Spirit,” which has specific rules that determine how it will play, such as which pile it will pick and how it will complete trees. In addition, there are two additional sets of cards to add challenge and variation. There are “Advanced” cards that add more diversity to the forest, with new plants, animals, and threats. There are four different ways in which this set can be combined with the base deck, giving you lots of options! Finally, there are “Shifting Seasons” cards that add unique rules for each season of the game (in the 2-4 player versions). For instance, the “Season of Cleansing” allows you to draw an extra card every time you take a pile with a Threat card. Photos above are property of Weird City Games 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 This is not a puzzle game. However, the challenges of trying to figure out the odds of getting certain cards, the best overall strategy, and whether another player will take a pile if you pass on it all scratch a bit of that puzzly itch. Photos above are property of Weird City Games 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 We really enjoyed playing "Canopy" at both 2 and 4 players! I love that it comes with multiple variants of player counts and more “advanced” renditions, and we are definitely looking forward to trying more of those out. The base game is quite easy to teach and learn, so you could certainly play with kids (8+), but it has enough strategy and interest to keep adults engaged. While there is a competitive component and the ability to influence another player’s cards, it did not feel aggressive or overly personal. I actually found it very soothing to play, as you are building such lovely tableaus and imagining being out in a peaceful rainforest. It’s also a really nice length. With most tabletop escape games being an hour or more, "Canopy" is perfect for nights when we don’t have quite that much time but want to play something. As an ecologist, while there are a few mechanisms that might not be entirely biologically accurate, I also really appreciate the theme and incorporation of different aspects of the ecosystem, including the threats! Overall, "Canopy" is a joy to play, and we recommend it if you are looking to mix things up with a relatively light, quick, beautiful and affordable card game! (If you do decide to try this game, please remember to let them know that you heard it from"ESCAPETHEROOMers"!) Disclosure: We thank Weird City Games 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. #KristaJones #AtHomeGames #Puzzlebymail #TabletopGames #OneOffs #Nature #Strategy #CardGame #WeirdCityGames #USA

Photos provided by Bamboozle Brothers (Manufactured by The OP) Company: Bamboozle Brothers (Manufactured by The OP) Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Puzzles By Mail 📬 Date Played: 4/13/2021 Size of Team: 1+ Players Time: 120 Minutes (Approximately) Game: Scooby-Doo™: Escape from the Haunted Mansion – A Coded Chronicles® Game Genre: Adventure, Mystery Difficulty (based on 2 players): 5/10 Ages: 12+ Price: $24.49 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 As the Mystery, Incorporated gang travels into the night on a dark and winding road, their van suddenly breaks down. There's no where to go on this stormy night except for the creepy mansion that so happen to appear before their eyes. The butler slowly opens to door and warns the gang that the mansion is haunted. Just when the gang decides to escape, the door locks behind them... 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ This beautifully illustrated game came with 5 narrative books, 13 map tiles, 60 clue cards, 8 secret envelopes, 1 chapter two envelope, 5 character standees, and 1 mystery manual. 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 There are 5 characters in this game: Velma, Shaggy, Daphne, Scooby and Fred. Each of them has their own dialogue book. Ideally, it would have been great to have 5 players so each could take on a role but since there's only 2 of us, we took on multiple roles. Each of the characters has a certain ability (research, eat, use, smell and investigate). The instructions will inform the players on a starting point (backstory) and a map tile. As you go through the game, the characters will help you discover more map tiles and hidden clues. The clue cards has either 1, 2 or 3 digits on the images. By using the combination method of the first digit on the character's card with the map tiles and clue card numbers, you are able to explore and solve puzzles throughout the game. The simplest way to check if you are doing the right thing is to make sure that the solution codes are all 4 digit number. Once that's established, you'll be able to find and read the codes in one of the character's dialogue books. If your answer is correct, you'll be given the next instruction. If it's wrong, your journey might just end there and you'll have to go back to the previous step to find the right path to take. These instructions were easy for us to understand since we've played games that have similar type of game design like "Escape Tales". But if you've played escape rooms before, you may also be able to relate to the game play style as many involved "search and find", discovering hidden doors, etc...If you don't want to read the instructions, there's a video explanation on their website. This is where you'll be able to find how to repackage the game as well. Although it was quite nice the game was instructing the players to repack as we're playing the game. You'll get to a point where it's the end of Chapter 1 and if you like to take a break then you can save the tiles you have in your hands at that point into the chapter two envelope. This was quite thoughtful of the creators. We decided to push forward to Chapter 2 and completed the game in one shot. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 Make sure you have a good amount of table space when you are playing this game. The map tiles will keep expanding along with the number of clue cards. At certain times, you may be able to get rid of some clue cards based on the game's instructions. Hints were printed in the back of the instruction booklet. This part actually was more "puzzly" than the puzzles themselves. It would be nice if the hints were just printed separately in another booklet along with more detailed explanation on the solutions. If you decide to play the competitive way then for every hint you take, you'll need to cross off one of the Scooby snacks (20 in total). At the end of the game, you can score yourself by seeing how many snacks you have left in your possession. The puzzles were a lot of fun in this game. There were various hidden symbols, items and entry ways that we had to discover throughout the mansion. The way we're supposed to associate how a certain prop should be used in order to open a locked item or door felt very escape room like. One of my favorite moments was when Daphne and Fred was locked up in adjacent room and the only way to open that wall between them was by communicating with each other. One other thing I really enjoyed doing is opening these secret envelopes. They were full of surprises and it was interesting to see how they could be utilized on the map tiles and clue cards. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 Since there's no penalty in trying out different character's abilities with various items on the map tile, we each took on multiple characters but were testing out the solutions at the same time. This made the game play really confusing as we were collecting many clue cards simultaneously and wasn't sure if we made a mistake at one point or not. I strongly advise not to play this way. Each player should take turns and collect items one at a time. One useful hint I want to give to everyone is that you should definitely try every ability just incase you miss out on collecting some of the clue cards. Sometimes it might not seem like that ability would go with that item but you never know. One shortcoming for this game design is the fact that if you missed out on collecting a clue card or somehow skipped an envelope, it's hard to back track where you had done that. It would be great if the game designers could add clearer instructions on the hint section (for instance on this puzzle, what clue cards and map tiles should you have in our hands). It would make the game play much smoother. I love the graphics in this game. It's vibrant yet eerie at the same time. It immediately bought back memories of "Scooby Doo, Where Are you!" series. It's one of my favorite cartoons to watch when I was young and even till this day, I still leave it on if it so happens to pop up on my screen. Brandon was a lot more into the character than I was though. After the game, he was literally talking to me in "Ruh-roh--RAGGY!!!" language for almost 2 hours... Game: The Shining: Escape from the Overlook Hotel – A Coded Chronicles® Game Genre: Horror Difficulty (based on 2 players): 8/10 Ages: 17+ Price: $27.00 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Jack has gone mad and his wife Wendy has knocked him unconscious and locked him up in the pantry of the creepy Overlook hotel. She must find her son Danny before Jack wakes up so they can escape from this mad man! 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ This chilling adventure game included 4 journals, 4 room tiles, 44 clue cards, 2 character standees, 11 secret envelopes, 1 hotel guest guide and 1 act two envelope. 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 The game play is very similar to Scooby-Doo™: Escape from the Haunted Mansion (refer up for detailed game play) except for a few differences: There's much less space to explore (only 4 room tiles) Since there's only three characters (Wendy, Danny, Jack), each will have more than one ability (look, shine, use). Some characters may even combine their abilities in the latter part of the game. The introduction of Jack cards and Mr. Torrance cards bought the game to another level in of difficulty. Jack could potentially stop a character's actions and disturb the game play. If you want to score yourself, you'll need to count the number of unscripted endings that you've encountered. If your game ended abruptly due to your solution choice, you can go back and choose another answer and hopefully be able to continue on with the game. If you don't want to read the instructions, there's a video explanation on their website. This is where you'll be able to find how to repackage the game as well. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The puzzles felt much less coherent in this game than the Scooby-Doo™: Escape from the Haunted Mansion. We got lost right at the beginning and was never able to back track or continue from that point on. The hints were not helpful as it didn't really explain the solution and some were incorrectly printed. I strongly suggest reading this errata before starting the game. Similar to the issue in the first game, the hint system was very confusing. Since we weren't able to figure out how a solution was achieved from the hints, we didn't know what clue cards or tiles we were suppose to have for the next scene. At times we would have missing cards or extra cards that were not relating to the scene that we're on. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 Due to the issues with the print errors, we focused more on the narrative side of this game. I really liked the creativity side on the usage of "shine" as an ability on certain puzzles that went along the lines of being able to see through or sense things. This could've definitely been a really strong narrative type of game but fell short due to the above reasons. More play testing could have definitely avoided these issues. I am a big supporter for popular IPs being made into escape games/rooms so I definitely want to see more games from A Coded Chronicles® Game but just with more preparation and care this time. Check out our interview with the creators to understand more on the development side of these 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 Bamboozle Brothers (Manufactured by The OP) 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. #ESCAPETHEROOMers #AtHomeGames #EscapeRooms #BamboozleBrothers #TheOP #TheOPGames #ScoobyDooEscapefromtheHauntedMansion #ScoobyDoo #mystery #adventure #fun #spooky #PuzzlesByMail #Boardgame #Tabletopgame

Photo above is property of Bamboozle Brothers (Manufactured by The OP) Company: Bamboozle Brothers (Manufactured by The OP) Game: The Goonies: Escape with One-Eyed Willy's Rich Stuff Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Genre: 80's Nostalgia, Treasure Hunt Date Played: February 18, 2022 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 8/10 Size of Team: 1+ Players (Ages 12+) Time: Unlimited (Approx. 120+ Mins) Price: $29.00 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 You are a gang of intrepid kids looking for One-Eyed Willy’s rich stuff to save your families from eviction! The story closely follows the classic 80’s movie, with all of your favorite characters - Mikey, Data, Mouth, Alex, Brand, Chunk, Stef, the Fratellis, and - best of all - Sloth! You will need to stay ahead of the Fratellis as you try to follow the clues to find the missing pirate ship and its treasure in order to save the Goondocks, all while avoiding One-Eyed Willy's booby traps - and setting a few of your own along the way. Video above is property of Bamboozle Brothers (Manufactured by The OP) 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ The production quality is really good for the game, particularly given the price point! There are apparently more than 120 components, so there’s lots packed in. Much of the game revolves around cards, but there is also a laminated map (with a dry erase marker provided), 8 character notebooks (which totally look like some of the ones we might have brought to school), a rulebook, and a number of additional pieces that are best discovered along the way. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 Coded Chronicles games have a rather unique format that feels a bit like a combination of an escape room and a role-playing game. You will explore the world over time by adding new map tiles as you progress. Each tile has specific numbers on it that you can interact with. Each character in the game has its own “skill,” allowing them to do specific tasks like look at things, explain them, pick them up, decipher them, use them, or (in Data’s case) use inventions. Although there are 7 characters in this game, it can be played by any number of players, as each person can play as multiple characters. When you want a character to use their skill with a number on a card, you look up the corresponding passage in their notebook and read it aloud to see what happens. If you have picked the correct character to interact with the number, you will get some useful information, progress to a new map tile, get to open an envelope, or add an item card to your inventory. If you picked incorrectly, there might be nothing to read, or you might get some additional information or flavor text to help you out. Some of these passages are quite long and word for word from the movie, giving it an immersive, nostalgic feel. (We tended to each read to ourselves passages for our characters, but then read aloud the ones that were important or moved the story forward.) Folks who like to read in character will have a lot of fun with these! You also, of course, encounter puzzles along the way! These will also solve to numeric codes, leading you again to specific passages in the notebooks. The game is divided into three chapters, making some nice breakpoints; though, we found the first chapter to be by far the longest, at about two hours for us. In this chapter, you start with 5 characters, who are being chased by the Fratellis. At certain points during the game, you will move the Fratellis forward. Some of these are required in the progression of the game, but you will also move them forward if you get the wrong solution for a puzzle, use more than one hint for a given puzzle, or look up the solution. This really only affects your “score” at the end of the game though, not actual gameplay. In the second chapter, Chunk and Sloth are introduced, and they have their own independent path for a while, such that you need to be sure you are keeping their inventory separate from that of the rest of the characters. As with the movie, all of the characters are eventually reunited in Chapter 3. Photos above are property of Bamboozle Brothers (Manufactured by The OP) 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 This is a challenging game! We definitely required a lot of hints. Sometimes it was the great feeling of “oooh - how did we miss that?!?!” There were some other times where we felt like the directions were a bit more ambiguous, and one in particular with lots of red herrings, but we definitely appreciate that you usually knew when you “got” it! There were some fun, refreshing mechanisms and more tactile puzzles, in addition to more traditional card-based puzzles. For example, one of the characters periodically received instructions throughout the game to add specific things to a drawing, without knowing quite what they were making. The final drawing revealed an answer to a puzzle towards the end of the game. There were also many puzzles that required good observational skills and pulling together information from multiple places. Photos above are property of Bamboozle Brothers (Manufactured by The OP) 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 We rewatched the movie in preparation for playing (though not necessary, it could be helpful), and the game really delivered on all of that good old 80s nostalgia! The reading passages and character-based play make this a fun variation from many tabletop escape games. As more of a mass-market game with a very popular theme, we were definitely not expecting it to be as tough as it was from a puzzling perspective! There were a few points of frustration with the puzzles along the way, but also some very satisfying solves, and we appreciated that hints and solutions were always available. This box is definitely packed with components, and there was lots of fun anticipation every time we got to open a new envelope. You do need a lot of table space, as the map is quite elaborate by the end of the game, not to mention all of the items in your inventory, the notebooks, etc. We would estimate this will provide about 3-4.5 hours of gameplay (3.5 for us), so that is definitely great value for the price. If you’ve always wanted to be one of the Goonies and find One-Eyed Willy’s rich stuff, this is your chance! Check out our interview with the creators to understand more on the development side of these 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 Bamboozle Brothers (Manufactured by The OP) 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. #KristaJones #AtHomeGames #TabletopGames #PuzzlesByMail #OneOffs #80sNostalgia #TreasureHunt #TheGoonies #BamboozleBrothers #CodedChronicles #TheOP #Canada #OneEyedWilly

Photo above is property of Greater Than Games Company: Greater Than Games (Designed by Patrick Rothfuss & James Ernest) Game: Tak: A Beautiful Game (2nd Edition) Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Genre: Board Game Date Played: January 31, 2022 Difficulty (based on 2 Players): 3/10 Size of Team: 2 Players Time: Unlimited (Suggested 20-60 Mins.) Price: $59.95 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 (Written by Christopher Cureton) In the world of "The Kingkiller Chronicles", the abstract strategy game of "Tak: A Beautiful Game (2nd Edition)" was invented in the ancient past, withstanding the test of time to achieve a legendary status like chess, mancala, or go. In the Four Corners (The Kingkiller Chronicles world), Tak is played by the lowest farmers to the highest of lords. In fact, the different shapes of the pieces are inspired, most likely, by the trapezoid-shape of Cealdish coins and the more simple round shape of a tree branch with a notch cut into it. It became a fashionable custom among Tak aficionados, particularly among nobility, to carry an individualized pair of capstones with you. In the real world, board game designer James Earnest approached Patrick Rothfuss, wanting to attempt to design Tak as a real, playable game. Though initially skeptical, Rothfuss gave the go-ahead, and Earnest came back with a game that was simple in its design and deep in its strategy, to quote the books, “a beautiful game.” In the last six years, Tak has gained a cult following–the US Tak Association holds regular online tournaments, as well as in-person tournaments at GenCon. 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ The contents in Tak are well laid out and make setting up a breeze! When you first open the box, you are greeted with three boards of varying sizes and designs. One side is supposed to represent the higher nobility playing the game, filled with colors and textures of marble and tiles. On the other side of the board are designs that embody the common folk, looks like etching on a table, or pieces of paper that one would lay out to play this game in a tavern. No matter the design, the boards depict a 3x3, 4x4, 5x5, 6x6, or 7x7 grid in which the game is played. Underneath the boards are the pieces needed to play placed in a velvet insert dividing colors and number of pieces. This is quite important due to the fact that each board size uses a different amount of pieces each player receives. With this setup, players simply just choose a color/shape and all of the pieces up to the size grid they want to play with. There are 62 wooden pieces and 3 double sided game boards. The pieces are in a light tan half circle shape and a dark brown trapezoidal shape. Both are easily distinguishable and, for playing the game, work well for their tasks. One thing that I wish the designer could have done better is choosing a better quality wood for the game pieces. Although they look like wood, they are made with much lighter materials. The quality felt not justifiable for the hefty price tag (retail $60). Photos above are property of Greater Than Games 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 In order to play the game of Tak, each player will be controlling their own pieces to create a path from one side of the grid to the other. The two types of pieces the player can control are the standard stones and the Capstone. In order to play, each player decides on how big of a board they want to play on. Each size board provides very different puzzles and battles for the completion of Tak. If we want to play on a 4x4 or lower board, note that the capstone is not used in these variations. To set up the game, grab the corresponding amount of stones needed for the size grid you have chosen, give one of your colored pieces to the opposite player and the opposite player will give one to you. Take the opposing piece and place it anywhere on the board you wish for your opponent to start. They will do the same with your piece. Now you are ready to play Tak! On each player's turn, they can do one of two things. Place a stone or move a stack. If you place a stone, you can put it on any empty tile on the grid. Placing it in the correct orientation matters as well, you can play it flat to help you score your line or place a wall to hopefully hinder your opponent from scoring their line. The other action one can take is moving a stack. A stack is defined as any piece or pieces on the board on the same tile which you have control over (your piece is the top piece) You can then choose a cardinal direction and drop any amount of pieces along that straight line path to hopefully gain control over other stacks and create the path to lead you to victory. The wrench in the game though is each player’s capstone. The capstone has special properties in that it can knock down walls when moving (yours or your opponents) and prevents other pieces from being placed on top of it or continuing movement past the capstone. The capstone is a very powerful piece but if used incorrectly, it might just cost you the game. Play continues back and forth until a player achieves a path from one outside wall of the grid to the direct opposite wall that they are connecting. It does not have to be a straight path and it can lead to the other walls but as long as there is that connection between opposing sides that player has won the game. The game can be scored and the rulebook includes point denominations for different scenarios but most of the time we just declared the winner was whoever connected their path first. The only time points matter is in the ending in which one player runs out of pieces to place. If that is the case the opponent has one more turn and then the winner is declared based on how many of their pieces are in the stone (flat) position on the board. This method will most likely occur on smaller boards (3x3 4x4) without a capstone. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 Tak sets out to achieve a game that is similar to one of the most played games of all time and by doing so, creates a new puzzle that is both engaging and demonstrably clever. After just a couple of games, each player will have a full understanding of the rules and start to question whether each placement, each wall, each stack move was the best move to take. The puzzle changes drastically depending on the size board that you will play on. The larger boards will yield longer games, with larger stacks to move and more long term strategies. On the smaller boards, each game goes much faster and each player feels like they are trying to play catchup to what the other player does. The game's rules are simple enough to pick up so that players with different experience levels with the game can get on a similar footing relatively quickly. One thing that the designers could improve on is the materials. Currently it's quite basic (while functional) and doesn’t quite fit the aesthetic the game is trying to convey. I'm not sure why there was a need for three separate boards. Overall, Tak is a wonderful, abstract strategy game that Rothfuss and Ernest put a lot of care and work into its design. It pays off by offering a wide variety of strategies and puzzles based on two simple rules in 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 Greater Than Games 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 #Oneoffs #PuzzlesByMail #GreaterThanGames #USA #BoardGame

Photo above is property of Escape The Crate Company: Escape The Crate Game: Escape On The High Seas Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Puzzles By Mail 📬 Genre: Adventure Date Played: January 4, 2022 Difficulty (based on 1 player): 5/10 Size of Team: Unlimited Time: Unlimited (Suggested 45 minutes per each adventure) Price: $39.99 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 A great treasure has been taken by some of the most infamous pirates to ever sail the Caribbean, Calico Jack and Anne Bonny. The pair have recently fled the safety of Nassau and are on a spree attacking ships big and small, including other pirate ships. Among their recent takes is an object you need… a time machine, hidden within a chest of gold. It is up to you to infiltrate the crew, gain their trust, and escape with the treasure before they grow wise of your plan. The only issue is that Anne Bonny is not an easy pirate to deceive. Wicked and clever, she sees through your rouse and is ready to make you pay for your deception. Video above is property of Escape The Crate 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ Two sailing vessels are locked in combat on the high seas! The striking image of this box immediately grabbed my attention, and continued to do so as I opened the box to find out the interior of the box is also a part of the game, including a pirate map! I can’t tell you how happy it makes me that the box is used as part of the game and not just for shipping and decoration! The contents of the box are mostly paper items that are nicely printed, and a few pirate themed trinkets that feels inexpensive and a couple that are really nice. The introductory paper from the Clockmaker looks like it was made without a mastery of Desktop Publishing…and that continues onto a few of the other paper items that appear to also be made in Microsoft Word without a full understanding of tabs versus indentation (for example) and how to properly center images on a page. To be fair, none of this takes away from the gameplay itself, but improving upon these portions of the products would make the entire package feel more professional and polished. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 The game is divided into three mini-games that increase in difficulty. The game is started online where you follow the directions, watch some videos, and find your hints if you need them (I needed four, although a couple were just me getting used to playing this format of game). I really enjoy that many people may play in a group, so online there is an audio version of the instructions that everyone can listen to. This game fully embraces the fact that it is a game versus an immersive experience and requires a few minutes of setup time in each chapter, plus occasionally paper flipping and setup during the game...I feel some of this could be enhanced, perhaps with printed booklets versus flipping pages, however that would detract from those who play with a group of players. The online instructions work nicely, provide pictures, and provide links for any missing or damaged pieces you want to reprint (or extra copies for your friends who are playing)...this is a really nice feature! The next step provides the rules of the game (again, strongly leaning into that fact this is a game, not an experience), provides a tutorial video if you need it and a trial puzzle. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 If you like puzzles as the primary game focus, then Escape the Crate is for you! It is solely a bunch of puzzles that are organized narratively through the story of the box. You solve a puzzle, move on, read the narrative. Solve a puzzle, move on, read a narrative. The puzzles ranged from super easy, to a fairly tricky logic puzzle, one puzzle that was “too obvious” (which made it tricky), and many in between. Overall this was a box of fun puzzles with a nice variety of types and varying degrees of difficulty (including one puzzle that allows you to choose your difficulty level…that is a really nice touch!) 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 As a big fan of Anne Bonny and Calico Jack, I had high expectations and excitement for this game! I could not wait to time travel to this time period, especially since this would be my introduction into a new series of games for me: Escape The Crate! The premise of Escape the Crate is that you, as the player, are a time traveler being sent on various missions through time, and in this one you need to recover a lost time machine in the golden age of pirates. I really enjoy how the story pulls you through the game and makes progress feel like moving forward through the narrative. There were a few narrative choices that could have been explained better–like why did someone ask me to solve an issue when there was no good reason given why I was chosen over any trusted people onboard the ship? A few more lines of story text could overcome logical issues such as that. Escape the Crate provides a nice at-home escape room type feel that is fun to play but there are items that could be enhanced to match up to the value. Even though this is my first “Escape the Crate” game and I do have a few issues with it, it definitely will not be my last! I definitely recommend this game to people who want an easy to mid-level puzzling experience! P.S. if you want to try their style and puzzles, they currently have a free mini online game called: "Escape: Christmas Past". 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 Escape The Crate 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. #BrentPrice #AtHomeGames #PuzzlesByMail #EscapeTheCrate #SubscriptionGames #Adventure #USA

Above Photos are property of Escape The Crate Company: Escape The Crate Game: Escape The Ripper Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Puzzles By Mail 📬 Genre: Detective Date Played: December 9, 2020 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 5/10 Size of Team: Unlimited Time: Unlimited (Suggested 45 minutes per each adventure) Price: $29.99/2 month, $57.98/4 month, $63.98/6 month. Can be purchased as individual retired games if still available. 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 The notorious serial killer Jack the Ripper has been strolling the streets of the Whitechapel in London, looking for new blood. He's already killed 5 women. Will you be able to stop this maniac in time before the next murder? Above Video is property of Escape The Crate 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ The game came in a box with engaging artwork that attracted our attention right away. The cloaked figure holding a knife felt like he was taunting us. We're eager to dive in and catch this killer. Inside the box we found 2 newspaper articles, 2 envelopes, a piece of laced fabric, glossy papers, a magnifying glass, a heart and some other paper materials that requires cutting. For this game you'll need internet, pencil and a pair of scissor. Above Photos are property of Escape The Crate 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 As we opened the box, an instruction sheet directed us to a website address. Once we entered the password, we're able to start the adventure with clear audio instructions. After checking to make sure we had all the game pieces, we're given a choice of playing either "Residence" or "Whitechapel". This is a very unique concept we haven't seen before. You're able to play two games for the price of one. "The residence" is an easier game targeted towards a family-friendly audience. "The Whitechapel" is a PG-13 adventure which will lead you deeper into the investigation with some added "ghastly" vibe. It's up to you on which game you like to start on first. We started with "Residence" and finished in about 30 minutes before moving onto "The Whitechapel" which took around 45 minutes to finish. We really like the option of the added audio component on the websites. Playing as a group, it was much easier to not have to crowd over each other in order to read the story on the computer screen. One person was designated to input passwords and every time when we solved a code, we'll be given clear instructions on how to assemble the next "scene". It was very much like directing a movie. Once you figured out new information from the investigation, you'll be able to open new doors and move forward. If you want to score and time yourself, there's an option for that as well. The "nudging" hint system was easy to use and really took mini "nudging" steps in case the audience doesn't want a fast reveal to the solution. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 If you want to start with the easier puzzle game, then go with "The Residence". After you're all warmed up, continue your adventure to "The Whitechapel". We liked the choice options as players are very different in terms of their comfort level with puzzles and the options give them freedom at choosing which path they like to take this time. It also gives them the option to go back into the game at a later time to try the harder puzzle. Even the ending to "The Whitechapel" had a choice (we gladly took the easier option since we played this game at 2AM). The puzzles reminded us of an escape room vibe. Setting up a room or scene with the clue pieces and revealing more area or information once the puzzle is solved with a number or letter code bought back memories of a physical escape room. There was a lot of "search and find" components in the game. Overall most of the puzzles were quite reasonable. We did get stuck on two that seemed confusing to us from the art design and the connection with the story. The "Whitechapel" puzzles (especially the ones that needed "constructing") was one of my favorites. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 This is probably one of the most organized tabletop games we've ever played. From paper to audio instructions, we knew exactly what our next steps were going to be. Going from one scene to the next sort of bought out the vibe of "Catch Me If You Can". As we case down the killer, we also had to make sure we won't fall into his traps too. It was quite the adventure to be able to experience that on a tabletop game. Escape the Crate is also very good at keeping the audience intrigued about their next adventure as you'll get hear where you'll be taken next by The Clockmaker if you want to continue on the journey. We certainly will. "Escape on the High Seas", here we come! P.S. if you want to try their style and puzzles, they currently have a free mini online game called: Escape: Christmas Past. Check out our interview with the creators to understand more on the development side of these 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 Escape The Crate 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 #PuzzlesByMail #SubscriptionGames #Detective #MurderMystery #EscapeTheCrate #USA

Photo above is property of Andrews McMeel Publishing Company: Andrews McMeel Publishing Game: Escape Book: The Cursed Temple Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Puzzles By Mail 📬 Genre: Adventure, Kids Date Played: January 2, 2022 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 3/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Recommended Ages 8-12) Time: Unlimited Price: $9.99 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 A mysterious, cursed temple has emerged from the sea. Based on the characters from the book series “Diary of an 8-bit Warrior”, you, as Runt, learn that your friend Breeze was sent to investigate the temple and has not returned. Heading there, you must find your friend and discover why the temple is cursed and how to escape. Video above is the property of Andrews McMeel Publishing 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ This is your standard hardcover novel book with artwork that you would recognize if you have read any “Diary of an 8-bit Warrior” books. Inside there are excerpts that are numbered with some drawings peppered throughout. Photos above are the property of Andrews McMeel Publishing 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 Opening the book, you simply need to start reading and the book will take you on your journey. This was a nice combination of Choose Your Own Adventure books with escape room style puzzles. At certain points in the story, you will be directed to look at entry X if you want to explore this room or you will have to solve a puzzle that results in a number and that will be the entry that you will need to go to next. You will also need to keep note of items that you pick up along the way. The hint system consisted of the appendix in the back that you could check out with the corresponding number. There were also times you could combine certain items (sword + potion) or items and events (shield + monster attacking) together and referencing the chart in the back, you could then continue the story. The first few times you did it, the book guided you to the chart but as you advanced further into the story, you will have to remember that you can combine items. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 Reading this with my 8 year old son, the puzzles were the right amount of challenge for him. None of the puzzles stumped him but you can see the gears turning as he attempted to solve each of them. The puzzles contained a mix of logic puzzles, mazes or following cryptic instructions. There was also a good puzzle to story ratio as we were not bogged down with either or. The puzzle setup reminded me of the old dungeon exploring video games and how we had to investigate and search different areas to find an item to be able to access other areas. One small tip, there is a page in the back of the book that will need to be torn out so make sure to photocopy it if you would like to keep your book intact. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 This is the first book in this Escape Book series and we will definitely be trying out the others. If you need a gift for a kid who is a fan of Minecraft and puzzles, this is a winner right here. If you were like me growing up, remember to keep some bookmarks on hand or have your finger hold onto the previous pages because you never know when you take a wrong turn and might want to rewind the story a little. This took us about 1.5 hours to complete. Sitting on the couch, reading through the book, my son was completely engaged and captivated the entire time. Even as an adult going through this book, I found I was drawn into the writing and light storytelling and loved spending time together doing something we both enjoyed. (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 Andrews McMeel Publishing 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 #PuzzlesByMail #Adventure #KidsGames #AndrewsMcMeelPublishing #USA #Missouri #PuzzleBook

Photo above is property of Andrews McMeel Publishing Company: Andrews McMeel Publishing Game: Trapped in a Video Game (The Complete Series) by Dustin Brady Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Kids Book 📬 Genre: Video Games, Action Adventure Date Played: February 18, 2022 Difficulty (based on 1 player): 3/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Recommended Ages 8-12) Time: Unlimited Price: $29.64/ The Complete Series (Books 1-5) 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 What happens when you find yourself in the middle of a video game? What about an AR game a la Pokemon Go? Or - What happens when your beloved video game characters find that breach in between their and our worlds and come to life? In the series of five (5) books in TRAPPED in a Video Game, author Dustin Brady recounts, perhaps, the most action-packed period of the lives of 6th Graders Jesse and Eric. Finding themselves in the middle of a whirlwind of video game environments, they realise that being trapped in a beloved video game was going to be the least of their worries. Video above is the property of Andrews McMeel Publishing 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ This brightly coloured box set comes with a set of five chapter books ranging between 150 to 200 pages each, filled with the main story at hand and associated images. Each book also has a number corresponding to its reading order, with each of their covers representing various game formats - 8-bit, action, robots, monsters. In the middle of the books and the box was a little green envelope with a single instruction - To open only after finishing all five books. Photos above are the property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 Apart from the envelope marked with the instructions to only open after reading, I followed the reading order of the books. I was actually quite surprised to find that there were no puzzles to participate in with this series. The books came with an envelope that was marked to only be opened after reading all five books - Therefore, the expectation that I was going to be faced with in-book puzzles I could participate in with the characters in the stories. Regardless, the stories were a fun, fast-paced telling of an immersive experience, topped up with accompanying activities for budding game makers and enthusiasts. Books 1 and 2 dove into how it would feel to be immersed in common video games we love and know so well - level-based video games and alternate reality (AR) games that have taken the world by storm with examples like Pokemon Go. Using familiar stages like tutorials and only being able to see game components through your phone cameras and turning them on their heads, Brady manages to weave an exciting story with some extras at the end of each book. Books 3 to 5 focussed more on the lore of the story series - talking about how these incidents of kids being trapped in games came to be, with additional elements of other kinds of gameplay - crafting equipment in games, massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG). However, my personal favourite was Book 4, where the plans of the big bad started to unravel and the characters took a more emotional turn. At the end of the day, the kids were still children in reality, relying on their instincts and ingenuity in a familiar-yet-unfamiliar setting to survive. However, it was in Book 4 when they discovered the power behind their decisions, making them as empowered individuals, not kids running away from consequences. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 Given the fast-paced nature of the stories, the storyline and the back-of-the-book activities still worked well together despite the lack of participatory puzzles. The only difference was me finding myself to be observing fictional characters jumping through their obstacles without having a participatory arm in the story, which was a bit of a bummer. Photos above are the property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 If you have or know a child (or child-at-heart!) who is interested in Escape Rooms, puzzles, or the behind-the-scenes of creating their favourite games, this might be the series for you. It’s an exciting read-along for the family with bonus activities for kids to peer into the world of game-making and programming, and that final envelope that comes with the series? Make sure it’s only opened after you’re done with the series! Recommended for Ages 8-12. (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 Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing us with a sample of their game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #JoelynAlexandra #AtHomeGames #TabletopGames #PuzzlesByMail #VideoGames #Action #Adventure #KidsGames #AndrewsMcMeelPublishing #USA #Missouri #PuzzleBook

Photo above is property of Andrews McMeel Publishing Company: Andrews McMeel Publishing Game: Escape from a Video Game: The Secret of Phantom Island Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Kids Book 📬 Genre: Video Games, Action Adventure Date Played: February 19, 2022 Difficulty (based on 2 player): 4/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Recommended Ages 8-12) Time: Unlimited Price: $10.79 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Cooper Hawke and the Secret of Phantom Island was supposed to be the greatest video game ever! But a month before its release, Bionosoft unexpectedly shut down. Now as you pick up this book, you suddenly realize that you have been transported into the video game and you have become Cooper Hawke. Can you solve the puzzles, discover the secrets, defeat the bad guys and escape from a video game? Video above is the property of Andrews McMeel Publishing 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ This is your standard novel with the cover depicting a cartoon style view of Phantom Island and a kraken-like monster attacking your boat. The graphics on the front and back look amazing and definitely have adventure written all over it. Photos above are the property of Andrews McMeel Publishing 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 Right from the first page, the kids were in stitches from the humor of the book. Even as an adult, I found the writing highly entertaining! If you are familiar with "Choose Your Own Adventure" books, this is a very similar format but with a couple of fun differences. At times, you can choose which direction you want to go in the story while at other times, you will have to solve a puzzle. At times, you are also given the choice whether you want to solve the puzzle or not, which added a fun new element because solving the puzzle was not always the best choice. We loved the artwork that was utilized throughout the book. Every time a key event occurred, there was a great picture to help immerse us. The book also had some places where you can ad lib lines which when reading with the kids which was something that they loved. This book also has many video game style elements; like achievements along the way and life hearts to keep track of how many times you take a wrong turn. One nice thing is that there is a website that you can print sheets from so that you don't have to mark up the book and you can keep track of your life hearts. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 We were very impressed with the puzzles that were laid out in the game. There were some different variations of puzzles that included word puzzles, logic puzzles and some where you had to interpret pictures as well. The puzzles were geared more toward kids and teens but there were a few puzzles that really impressed even me as an adult. Some puzzles were used more than once though, which confused us a few times. It left us wondering if we had gone to the wrong page and looped back. One thing that was also lacking was that there was no hint system for the puzzles. The back of the book only contained the solutions. That being said, for most of the puzzles, there was no eureka moment so it would be difficult to clue those types of puzzles. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 "The Secret of Phantom Island" holds many secrets that we were excited to discover. This will keep kids and teens entertained and reading for days. When I asked the kids what their favorite part was, they couldn’t name just one thing. They loved the logic puzzles, the fun dialogue and the different endings. There were so many side quests through the book, unlocking different achievements and the ability to unlock a secret ending. This all gave us a full video game feel. That also means this book is not something you can only go through once. We absolutely went back a few times to search for other endings and fun secrets in the book. We are fairly certain that we have yet to find everything that this book has to offer. (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 Andrews McMeel Publishing 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 #PuzzlesByMail #VideoGames #Action #Adventure #KidsGames #AndrewsMcMeelPublishing #USA #Missouri #PuzzleBook

Photo above is property of Andrews McMeel Publishing Company: Andrews McMeel Publishing Game: Diary of an 8-Bit Warrior Graphic Novels - Vol. 1 & 2 Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games (Kids Book) 📬 Genre: Video Games, Action Adventure Date Played: May 13, 2022 Difficulty (based on 1 player): 3/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Recommended Ages 7-11) Time: Unlimited Price: Diary of an 8-Bit Warrior Graphic Novel: An Op Alliance (Vol. 1) - $11.99 (Hardcover), $8.99 (Paperback) Diary of an 8-Bit Warrior Graphic Novel: An Ominous Threat (Vol. 2) - $9.49 (Hardcover), $7.59 (Paperback) 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Runt is a villager in Minecraft, where villagers are destined to a life of farming. This might be enough for some but not for Runt. He wants to be more. He dreams of being a Warrior, like his hero Steve. Leaving his village, Runt sets off on an adventure to fulfill his dream. Along the way, he meets a zombie named Blurp who also dreams of being more. Together these friends attempt to break the norms and find their own calling while making some allies and enemies along the way. Video above is the property of Andrews McMeel Publishing 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ These are your smaller graphic novels (not big as a comic, not as small as a novel) with colorful artwork of our heroes on the front. Flipping through the pages, this is your standard colored graphic novel, each with about 100 pages. Photos above are the property of Andrew McMeel Publishing 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 This is a straightforward graphic novel about Runt from the "Diary of an 8-Bit Warrior" books. Knowing little about Minecraft, I found the book does a good job with explaining the world of Minecraft to the casual reader, so you still understand what is going on. That being said, there is lots to enjoy if you do know lots about Minecraft. I really enjoyed how well written this story was. It was also packed with humor that will make you appreciate the characters and make your kids laugh. Even I chuckled aloud a few times through the book. I also love the art as it is a cartoony and fits the style of the story. Knowing this book is geared to kids, I liked the positive themes and lessons that this book shows. Things like acceptance of people (and zombies), no matter what they look like, breaking out of social norms and showing integrity. Photos above are the property of Andrew McMeel Publishing 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 N/A - No puzzles to be found here. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 "The Diary of an 8-Bit Warrior Graphic Novels" were a pleasure to read as an adult and asking my children, they also loved reading it (4 out of 5 stars they say). If you have a little one who is a fan of Minecraft, this would be a great book for them. Not only will these books encourage your young ones to ready but they also have some great lessons of acceptance of others and never giving up on yourself. Diary of an 8-Bit Warrior Graphic Novel: An OP Alliance (Volume 1) (8-Bit Warrior Graphic Novels) Diary of an 8-Bit Warrior Graphic Novel: An Ominous Threat (Volume 2) (8-Bit Warrior Graphic Novels) (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 Andrews McMeel Publishing 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 #PuzzlesByMail #VideoGames #Action #Adventure #KidsGames #AndrewsMcMeelPublishing #USA #Missouri #PuzzleBook

Photo above is the property of ESCAPETHEROOMers Company: Andrews McMeel Publishing Game: Escape Book Vol. 2: Mystery Island, Vol. 3: Madam Mortell's Haunted House, Vol. 4: The Museum Heist Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Game (Kids Book) 📬 Genre: Kids, Pirate, Detective, Haunted House Date Played: May 15, 2022 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 4/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Recommended Ages 8-12) Time: 90 Mins. Price: (see below) Escape Book Vol. 2: Mystery Island - $13.99 (Hardcover), $7.99 (Paperback) Escape Book Vol. 3: Madam Mortell's Haunted House - $8.22 (Hardcover), $6.39 (Paperback) Escape Book Vol. 4: The Museum Heist - $13.85 (Hardcover), $7.99 (Paperback) 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Each book in the Escape Book series tells a different story. In "Escape Book Vol. 2: Mystery Island", the volcano is about to erupt on this exotic island but the pirate captain knows that there is treasure here and is not going to leave until it is found. Can you get off this island and maybe find some treasure along the way. Video above is property of Andrews McMeel Publishing In "Escape Book Vol. 3: Madam Mortell's Haunted House", you discover a mysterious haunted house in the middle of a carnival. Going in, you are now trapped. Visiting with all the different monsters and ghouls, can you figure out how to leave this house before you become a permanent visitor? In "Escape Book Vol. 4: The Museum Heist", you must play detective as a visit to the local museum turns into a mystery. You and your grandfather were the only ones in attendance when a priceless masterpiece was stolen, making you both the prime suspects. Can you find the real culprit? 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ Each book as a fun colorful cover of the adventure. Flipping through each book, all entries are divided into excerpts rather than pages with a themed border on each page. Each book is just shy of 100 pages. Photos above are the property of Andrews McMeel Publishing 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 Opening the books, in the front there is a map of the area (whether it’s the island, haunted house or museum). Each location has a number on it. If you want to visit the location, you go to that excerpt number. There are some locations that will be marked differently and those locations will need to be unlocked someway through the book. As you start at the beginning and read the book you will be guided to use the map and go to different excerpts. You will encounter different items that you can also add to your inventory which you will need to get pass certain obstacles. When you encounter an obstacle in the book, you will be prompted to refer to a chart in the front or back with the obstacles listed out. Cross check the items you have with the obstacle and it will direct you to an excerpt to read telling you if that is the correct item to use. The book is more geared to a younger audience with the writing and the way the book is set up. A few nice things is that the inventory is a checklist, so you do not have to write everything down. One thing I did noticed is that a lot of the challenges and puzzles has the corresponding excerpt on the next few pages. That way, there is not a lot of flipping around to different pages but can also spoil the answer with a wandering eye. Photos above are the property of Andrews McMeel Publishing 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 These were fairly basic puzzles with math, fun facts and pattern recognition. The kids really enjoyed them because they were easy for them. There were a few puzzles that did require outside knowledge but was still fun because we had to go and research the answer. The puzzles worked well with the flow of the game. The kids were even hoping for more puzzles throughout. A bulk of the puzzles contained a visual picture that you normally needed to solve the puzzle. There is also no “wrong ending” to the story. During the puzzles, if you do choose incorrectly, the excerpt will tell you to simply go back to the start of puzzle and try again. This was easy to manage as we read the book. Photos above are the property of Andrews McMeel Publishing 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 Though geared for a younger audience, these Escape Books are great books for the young puzzle solver, especially if you want to get your kids into escape rooms. If your kids enjoy "choose your own adventure" books or standard puzzle books like mazes and word searches, these books a nice variation for them to read. Obviously as well, my kids really enjoyed these and anything to help lessen their screen time and get them to read more is a plus. Photo above is 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 Andrews McMeel Publishing 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 #PuzzlesByMail #Adventure #KidsGames #AndrewsMcMeelPublishing #USA #Missouri #PuzzleBook

Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers Company: Andrews McMeel Publishing Game: Escape from a Video Game: Mystery on the Starship Crusader (Vol. 2) & The Endgame (Vol. 3) Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Kids Book 📬 Genre: Video Games, Action Adventure Date Played: May 29, 2022 Difficulty (based on 1 adult/ 2 kids): 4/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Recommended Ages 8-12) Time: Unlimited Price: Vol. 2 - Mystery on the Starship Crusader - $8.39 (Paperback)/ $9.84 (Hardcover) Vol. 3 - The Endgame - $10.79 (Paperback)/ $10.79 (Hardcover) 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 In "Mystery on the Starship Crusader", opening a bizarre book you get in the mail, you are suddenly thrust into a video game. On the Starship Crusader you are the lizard - Doctor Iz, who as part of a team, are ready to battle the aliens. Unfortunately, someone on the team is a traitor and whoever is able to identify them will win $1 million dollar. Can you find out who cannot be trusted, get out of this game, and discover the secrets of this mysterious book? In "The Endgame", after a strange encounter with a woman at the mall, you find a book stuffed into your backpack. Opening the book up and finding yourself in a video game, you find you are Alpha, one of over 100 supervillains on Grim Island who are looking to battle it out. Be the last person standing at the Endgame and you will become the Greatest Supervillain of all time (both books deal with a bankrupt tech company called Bionosoft, that had the ability to transport players right into the middle of a video game which you learn about in "Vol. 1 - The Secret of Phantom Island". You will be able to follow most of the book without knowledge of Vol. 1, but you should definitely from the beginning). 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ Both books are your typical novels that you would find in the young adult section in the bookstore. The covers were colorful with dynamic scenes, representing part of the book. Thumbing through each, there were fun illustrations throughout with certain pages properly marked for the "Choose your own Adventure" style of play. 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 If you have ever read those “Choose your own Adventure” books, then this style of play will be very similar to you, where the book is not read front to back. At certain points in the book, you will encounter a choice and from there, it'll direct you to a designated page number. Along the way though, sometimes you may have to solve a puzzle instead that will give you a number and that is the page you will have to flip to. One of the things that makes this a great book, is that there are different options that will still lead you to the good ending. For example, do you stay with the crew or explore the ship? Both options are correct, but one might give you a clue for a puzzle or just give you a different experience. Playing like an actual video game, there are multiple checkpoints and endings in the book that will give you a letter. If you collect all the letters, you get a phrase that you can use to unlock more of the story that adds to the ending. The back of the book has the solutions to the puzzles in case you do get stuck. One thing that could be better, is a more layered hint system. There is also a website that will allow you to print out the puzzles as well to use as a checkpoint list to keep track of your letters so you don't need to write them in the book. Photos above are the property of Andrews McMeel Publishing 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 There were less puzzles than we expected and most of them were traditional puzzles such as searching for something in a picture, matching or logic puzzles. "Mystery on a Starship Cruiser" was more of a mystery, where at the end you had to identify the traitor in the group. As you play though, there are multiple clues that you pick up on if you are paying attention to the hints. Along the way, you will also make decisions and sometimes there will also be clues to help you if you choose the correct option. Photos above are the property of ESCAPETHEROOMers "The Endgame" did also try to add some “video game-like” challenges to make it more exciting as well as an interesting way for you to navigate the pages which integrated into the story, which the kids seemed to really enjoy completing. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 The young adult in me loves these books and probably would have binged these books as a teenager. I had no issues reading these to the kids and playing along with them, each taking about an hour and a half to get through one storyline (and not counting checking out the bonus material). As a big video game and choose your own adventure fan, I also love all the checkpoints at all the different endings. Dustin Brady is a fantastic writer that made this book a pleasure to read as an adult and had my kids laughing along the way. At face value, these books are a fun read but diving in deeper, you find a completely different layer with more content and story which makes these books that much better. "Escape from a Video Game - Vol. 1: The Secret of Phantom Island" "Escape from a Video Game - Vol. 2: Mystery on the Starship Crusader" "Escape from a Video Game - Vol. 3: The Endgame" "Escape from a Video Game - The Complete Series" (If you do decide to try this game, give us a shoutout or tag us on social media so we know you heard it from "ESCAPETHEROOMers"!) Disclosure: We thank Andrews McMeel Publishing 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 #PuzzlesByMail #VideoGames #Action #Adventure #KidsGames #AndrewsMcMeelPublishing #USA #Missouri #PuzzleBook

Photo above is property of Andrews McMeel Publishing Company: Andrews McMeel Publishing Game: Diary of an 8-Bit Warrior - Vol. 1 & 2 Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games (Kids Book) 📬 Genre: Video Games, Action Adventure Date Played: June 25, 2022 Difficulty (based on 1 player): 4/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Recommended Ages 8-12) Time: Unlimited Price: Diary of an 8-Bit Warrior (Vol. 1) - $10.49 (Hardcover), $7.49 (Paperback) Diary of an 8-Bit Warrior: From Seeds to Swords (Vol. 2) - $25.98 (Hardcover), $8.48 (Paperback) 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Diary of an 8-Bit Warrior (Vol. 1) Runt is about to choose his future career at the Minecraftia school. As a villager, his options are all less than exciting. What Runt truly wants to be is a warrior like his hero Steve so when he finds out that the top 5 students in school gets to join warrior training, he is up for the challenge. Diary of an 8-Bit Warrior: From Seeds to Swords (Vol. 2) As Runt continues his training as a warrior, he finds he has a new nemesis in Pebble. Pebble is willing to do whatever it takes to become number one. When some mysterious mob attacks begin to happen, Runt must work with allies and enemies alike to be able to help take them down. Photo above is property of Andrews McMeel Publishing 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ A colorful looking novel with an 8-bit theme. On the cover is our hero Runt with some fun Minecraft nods everywhere. Photo above is the property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 I gave these books to my 8 year old son to read since he is into Minecraft. A few days later, when I went back to see how he was doing with them, he told me that he had already read then both and was seeing if we could get more. That should tell you how good these books are. If your kids have read the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series, they will be familiar with the format of this book as it is written like a diary from the perspective of Runt.. Asking my son what he enjoys about the books (which he was excited to tell me all) he said he found them funny and also enjoyed the art of the book which helped emphasize and added to the story. The personality of Runt can be felt in the diary style writing because he feels authentic when he writes and breaks the 4th wall when he talks to you, the reader (or the diary). You do not need to know Minecraft to get into these books but you would definitely get more out of the book and enjoy it more if you did. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 N/A - No puzzles here. More just puzzling how we haven’t discovered these books earlier. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 If you have a child who is a fan of Minecraft and/or Diary of a Wimpy Kid, they would enjoy this book series. They are funny, well written and a fun read for kids. Any book that encourages my kids to read is always a win to me. Diary of an 8-Bit Warrior: An Unofficial Minecraft Adventure (Volume 1) Diary of an 8-Bit Warrior: From Seeds to Swords: An Unofficial Minecraft Adventure (Volume 2) (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 Andrews McMeel Publishing 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 #PuzzlesByMail #VideoGames #Action #Adventure #KidsGames #AndrewsMcMeelPublishing #USA #Missouri #PuzzleBook