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Photo above is property of The Conundrum Box Company: The Conundrum Box Game: Tall Tales Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Puzzles By Mail 📬 Genre: Adventure, Folklore Date Played: September 17, 2021 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 7/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Suggested 1-4 players, ages 12+) Time: Unlimited (Suggested 2 hrs) Price: $44.99 or subscribe - $29.99/ Month, $86.99/ 3 months, $161.99/ 6 months, $299.99/ 12 months 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 You are an FBI agent sent in to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a man. According to eyewitnesses, he was sucked into a painting in the midst of giving a museum tour! Now you have the night alone in the Museum of American Folklore to investigate and try to find him...along the way, you learn about all kinds of characters featured in the museum, from well-known ones like Paul Bunyan to more obscure legends like Stormalong. 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ The box itself that the game comes in is beautiful - very thick and sturdy, in full color, with a really pretty design on the front. The materials inside are exclusively paper products, with the exception of one magnet and one piece of string. The paper varies from glossy brochure type to a vellum overlay to more standard pieces of paper. The two biggest pieces - the museum map and visitor guide - are both high quality, colorful, and attractive. The remainder of the materials include a variety of qualities, from similar high-production quality to a few items that look like I could have printed them at home. Overall, the game has a fun and family-friendly table presence! Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 You start the game with 4 sealed envelopes, a magnet, a map, and a visitor’s guide to the museum. There is also an informational sheet that gives you some basic instructions (e.g., some items may be used more than once!) and the link for the game website. The site introduces you to the story and also gives you a practice puzzle to help you get accustomed to how things work. We appreciated that they were explicit about only using lowercase letters and never spaces when inputting your passwords. Notably, you are also guided to optional materials to enhance your experience, including a 60-min. Spotify playlist and recipes for drinks and m/cocktails! We were not expecting or prepared for the dinner & drinks recipes, but got the playlist started (free Spotify account was required) and dove on in! The main flow of the game was to have some story text to read, with clues for the next puzzle. At the bottom, there would be a link to where to go to enter the password once you solved it, as well as a tiered hint system. (It is fully optional whether you want to time your gameplay, and there is no “penalty’ for using hints if you do.) Once you solve the puzzle and enter the correct password, it sends you to the next page to repeat. At certain points throughout the game, you are directed to open the different sealed envelopes. Conundrum Box is a monthly subscription service, and there is some recurrence of specific characters across various boxes. However, each one is standalone, and we certainly did not feel like we needed to have played others to enjoy this one! Though, some tidbits at the end made us curious to see what future boxes might hold...They also provide you with reset instructions, and nothing was destroyed, meaning that you could easily pass this on to others to enjoy once you’re done! Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The puzzle flow was fairly linear here, as each webpage guides you to a specific puzzle. (Though, at the very beginning, we solved a few other puzzles early, because we had access to those paper materials and were not quite used to following the website step-by-step.) Among the 14 puzzles, there were a few quite simple ones, but definitely some very satisfying solves for us and some multi-step puzzles. We really liked that some items were used multiple times (and you typically needed to combine info from multiple places), and there was definitely some need for good observational skills! Despite the largely paper items, there were still puzzles that required construction and/or physical manipulation to solve them, which we always enjoy. All of the puzzles were fair, there was a nice variety of puzzle types, and the tiered hint system worked really nicely. While we have not played a lot of the subscription boxes, this certainly seemed tougher (and clearly far more puzzle-focused) than something like Deadbolt Mystery Society. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 This was our first Conundrum Box, so we were not quite sure what to expect. I must admit, we were a little disappointed when we first opened the gorgeous box and saw how little was inside it. (It does seem like it could ship in an envelope.) However, we were amazed at how much fun puzzling they packed in there! It took us 1 hour and 47 minutes as 2 experienced players going at a casual pace. The storyline was a lot of fun (things got crazy at the end!) and introduced us to some cool American folklore. While there were some parts of it that didn’t entirely make sense (like why the characters wanted us to solve puzzles for them), the puzzles themselves were very thematic and nicely tied to the specific character that they were associated with. If you are not into story, you could also largely skip the reading, as they kindly bolded the actual clues necessary to direct you towards the next puzzle. For us, the time flew by, and we really enjoyed the experience. The addition of the playlist (which fit the theme perfectly) really set the mood and enhanced the immersion of the game, and the inclusion of the recipes is a super fun idea as well. They really set up the idea of making a whole evening experience around your game, which is fantastic. The one miss for us on the efforts to improve immersion was the audio recordings of the story, which seemed to be computer-generated and really did not match the tone of the game. We do love that they have an audio option, though, and I think getting a real person to read them would be great. That was a minor thing, however. In all, we were really impressed with Tall Tales and are definitely looking forward to playing some more Conundrum Boxes in the future! 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 experience, give us a shoutout or tag us on social media so we know you heard it from "ESCAPETHEROOMers"!) Disclosure: We thank The Conundrum 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. #KristaJones #AtHomeGames #SubscriptionGames #PuzzlesByMail #TheConundrumBox #USA #Mystery #Detective #BehindTheMasterMinds

Photo above is property of The Conundrum Box Company: The Conundrum Box Game: The Great Explorers Society and the Forbidden Temple Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Puzzles By Mail 📬 Genre: Adventure, Greek Mythology Date Played: November 6, 2021 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 7/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Suggested 1-4 players, ages 12+) Time: Unlimited (Suggested 2 hrs) Price: $44.99 or subscribe - $29.99/ Month, $86.99/ 3 months, $161.99/ 6 months, $299.99/ 12 months 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 As an F.B.I. agent, you have been tracking down a shadow organization called C.H.A.O.S for most of your career. When you receive a tip that Andreas Anders, a lead member of the C.H.A.O.S organization is seeking a mythical treasure within a mysterious temple in Greece, you head to the Great Explorers Society looking for information and help to get to the treasure before he does. 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ The game came in a box with 4 envelopes marked with locations and “Do Not Open Until Told” stickers, a letter from the FBI, a large circular “plate” and a pamphlet with a plethora of information. There is also a help sheet if this is your first time playing a Conundrum Box or any type of at home puzzle game. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 To navigate through the game, you are given a website where you can read the story or listen to the audio clip. At the bottom, there will then be a place to input your answer to the puzzles. If you are correct, the next part of the story will unlock. One thing we appreciated was that the website explicitly told us how many letters/numbers the answer should be as well as there should be no spaces or capital letters in the answer so that eliminated the guesswork. The hint system was easy to use and gave many layers of hints. We were able to go through a few layers of them without having our “Aha” moment spoiled. The introduction and the beginning of the game was strong with story as was the ending. There could have been a little more story in the middle of the game as there was not a lot going on. We did learn a lot of Greek mythology through this game though. There was a reference guide to help us through but a few times we did try to reach deep into our memories to see if we could remember what we learned in elementary school about the Greek gods. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 We were very impressed with how many puzzles were in this game. There were so many more than we expected. With so many puzzles as well, we did not find much repetition of the same type of puzzles. There was also a nice range of difficulty throughout the game with some puzzles that we were able to see right away, some that were straight forward logic puzzles while there were others that made us scratch our heads a little more to figure out what needed to be done for the solution. A lot of the puzzles in this game also required us to do stuff and interact with pieces rather than just cross referencing which we found creative and made us smile as we solved them. One puzzle we thought was very clever for a take home game which helped simulate being in an in-person escape room. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 We learned a lot about Greek mythology through this game, which if you are a fan, you would absolutely enjoy this game. If you are Greek mythology buff, you could add an extra challenge and not use the references to solve the puzzles. We are always a fan of extras so there was a nice list of recipes and drinks that could be enjoyed while playing this game, which Conundrum Box seems to have for all their games. It did seem odd that the game came in such a large box since it seemed everything could fit into a flat envelope. We would suggest 2-4 novice players for this game or even 4 to 6 beginners as some areas you had access to multiple puzzles so there would be a lot for everyone to check out. If you are ready to take an odyssey to ancient Greece, grab a few friends and give this box a try! 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 experience, give us a shoutout or tag us on social media so we know you heard it from "ESCAPETHEROOMers"!) Disclosure: We thank The Conundrum 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. #MatthewLui #AtHomeGames #SubscriptionGames #PuzzlesByMail #TheConundrumBox #USA #Temple #BehindTheMasterMinds #Adventure

Photos above are properties of dV Games Company: dV Games Game: DECKSCAPE - Crew Vs. Crew: The Pirates' Island Country: Italy 🇮🇹 Language: English Type of Game: Puzzles By Mail 📬 Genre: Pirate Date Played: August 1, 2021 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 3/10 Size of Team: 2-6 (Ages 12-99) Time: Unlimited (Suggested 30min - 1 hr) Price: $14.90 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Somewhere in the Caribbean Sea, you and your crew are ready to set sail to search for the treasure of the Blackbeard when you hear of another crew that's also going after it. Who will make it to Governor Louis Hierritos first? You must obtain the treasure map in order to find the Gold! 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ This game came in a palm sized card box. Inside you'll find 64 cards organized by number. The first 10 cards will give you instructions on "how to play" and "how to win". The final 2 cards will give you scoring and reset rules. Photos above are properties of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 This game will require the players to play the cards in order so make sure to rearrange them if they got mixed up during the set up. You'll need at least 2 players for this game as you will be split up into two teams. One team will be the red team and the other team will be the blue team. You'll encounter 3 types of cards in this game: 1. puzzle cards 2. colored cards and 3. victory cards. Puzzle cards contain puzzles on the front side. Players from both team can view it at the same time. Whoever yells "stop" gets to answer the puzzle first. Whoever answers the puzzle correctly (solution is in the back of the card) will be the winner and will earn gold coins. The colored cards are to be used in conjunction with the puzzle cards. Each team will receive their own cards and will them in private. You will need to look at both the front and the back of these cards. You can talk amongst yourselves or with the other team but any information you give them could help them solve the puzzle before you do so choose your choice wisely. The victory cards have gold coins in the back, Each puzzle will award different amounts of gold coins. The winner team will receive that card and does not need to reveal the amount of gold coins to the other team. There's no time limit as to how fast each team will need to answer a certain puzzle. So you can take your time figuring out the puzzle as long as the other team is willing to wait. If both teams can't figure out the answer or answer the puzzle incorrectly, then no one gets the victory card. The goal of the game is to get as many gold coins as possible. Your score will be calculated at the end. Photos above are properties of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 Most of the puzzles within the game were logic or deduction type of puzzles. You won't find complicated decryptions or sudokus here. There were a few clever ways where spatial puzzles were utilized in a way where there were no special tools to be used (like a black light in an escape room) with the puzzles but we still had to visualize it in our minds. We really liked a few of the collaborative puzzles that reminded us of battleship and magic cards. Photos above are properties of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 Crew Vs. Crew: The Pirates' Island is a new concept at DECKSCAPE which they really tried to bring out a new type of gaming which it would involve team collaboration and competition. It's easy to carry around while traveling and great for players who want a quick puzzle fix. The instructions are really simple and you don't need a huge space to play the game. I probably wouldn't categorized this game as an "escape room" (although the storyline was about a pirate trying to escape captivity) as there weren't enough puzzles in the game that portrayed an escape. It felt more like a bunch of mini puzzles bundled together. The graphics were great and gave the players the feeling of being on a pirate ship and traveling to various destinations. I wish there were a few more puzzles that could be incorporated where the cards could be utilized in a tactile way versus all visual. We haven't tried a traditional DECKSCAPE game yet so I wonder how different the puzzle and set up is from this team style game? We look forward to speaking to the creators at dV GIOCHI next year on our "Behind the MasterMinds" show to learn about their inspirations and other production developments at dV GIOCHI. So remember to follow us to be alerted on the date! (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 dV 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. #CiciCao #AtHomeGames #Puzzlebymail #OneOffs #Pirate #Team #CooperativeGame #dvGIOCHI #Italy

Photo above is property of dV Games Company: dV Games Game: DECKSCAPE: Test Time Country: Italy 🇮🇹 Language: English Type of Game: Puzzles By Mail 📬 Genre: Sci-Fi, Time Travel Date Played: August 6, 2021 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 3/10 Size of Team: 1-6 (Ages 12-99) Time: Unlimited (Suggested 1 hr) Price: $14.90 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Your professor Doc Thyme has selected you (based on your brilliance, of course) to potentially help with an incredible new invention...but he will first need to test your skills to ensure you’re up for the task! Unfortunately, while explaining things, he accidentally hits a button that seals the laboratory and sends him falling through a trapdoor. What do you do now?! 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ This was our first foray into the Deckscape series, which are purely card-based, tabletop “escape” games, in some ways similar to the Unlock series. These cards (~3.5 x 4.5”) are a bit larger than the Unlock ones, and there were 60 cards in the deck. The cards are a nice thickness with a slick feel and a simple, colorful art style. Photos above are properties of dV GIOCHI 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 You begin with card number 1, and simply follow the directions on the cards as you work your way through the deck. The first few cards introduce the story and how the cards work, after which you largely progress to cards that have either a puzzle or an item that you find (with occasional story elements mixed in). For most of the game, you are actually working off of four different, color-coded decks. There is a score-based system to see how you do, based on completion time and mistakes. They are very clear about exactly when to start and stop the timer, as well as the time penalty for mistakes, which are both helpful if you’re the competitive type and really want to see how you measure up to others! However, notably, there is no penalty for using hints. At the finish, you get to make a decision that will determine which ending to the story you receive (as well as impacting your final “score”). This is definitely a unique element (from what we have played) compared to other card-based games like Unlock and Exit. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The puzzle flow here was not entirely linear, since you had the four different decks to play off of. This was nice to give a few options when you were not sure what to do with one. If you are playing with more people, it also gives more folks a chance to look at different things simultaneously. (Though, we would probably recommend sticking to 1-4 players.) You do need to be mindful to pick up a whole deck when you are investigating the cards, however, so as not to reveal anything before its time. Dave would often pick up the top card to look at it, and I found myself unintentionally viewing the next card in the deck! You also need to be mindful that the solution to each puzzle is on the back of the card, so you do not want to inadvertently show it to someone sitting across from you. Overall, the puzzles were very approachable, with a lot of aha moments. Sometimes they required combining knowledge from other cards (which you did not always have when you first saw the puzzle...tricky, tricky!). However, there were no meta-puzzles. There were a variety of logic, deduction, spatial, and basic decryption puzzles. This deck requires far less “searching” than Unlock games, and we did not feel the need for a magnifying glass! Hints are provided on two distinct cards that you pull out of the deck early on. You can look up a puzzle card by its number and color (not given in order) to find one hint written backwards. (They specifically forbid you from using a mirror to read it! Presumably, this helps prevent you from inadvertently reading other hints at the same time.) We typically like tiered hint systems, but we did not use any hints in this game. Since they are more approachable (and typically single-step) puzzles, these hints are likely to be sufficient. As mentioned, the back of each puzzle card also verifies and explains the solution, so you always would have that option if you were really stuck or just wanted clarification. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 There are currently 7 cooperative games in the Deckscape series, along with the recently released competitive version (Crew vs. Crew). This was the first that we have played, but we look forward to checking out some more! This is definitely a game that you could play with kids or those who are newer to puzzles. While most of the puzzles were on the easier side, there was one we got hung up on for quite a while until we had that great aha moment! Overall, we had a smooth experience that took us a little under an hour. As with many card-based games, the actual story is pretty light, but it does have a fun twist in the middle. While we were not 100% on-board with the logic behind each specific outcome, we loved the creative mechanism of having a key decision that we make which determines the final ending to the story. This game is accessible in a lot of ways - affordable, small enough to take anywhere, and with approachable puzzles. If you are someone who really wants tangible items or to interact with cards in more physical ways (as is sometimes seen in the Exit games), then this may not be for you. However, if you are a fan of Unlock or open to purely card-based games and looking for something on the more approachable end of the spectrum, then Test Time might be up your alley! (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"!) #KristaJones #AtHomeGames #Puzzlebymail #OneOffs #SciFi #TimeTravel #dvGIOCHI #Italy #Deckscape

Photo above is property of dV Games Company: dV Games Game: DECKSCAPE: Escape from Alcatraz Country: Italy 🇮🇹 Language: English Type of Game: Puzzles By Mail 📬 Genre: Mystery, Prison Date Played: December 4, 2021 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 4/10 Size of Team: 1-6 ppl (Ages 12+) Time: Unlimited (Suggested 60 Mins.) Price: $14.99 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 In the 1950s, you wake up in Alcatraz, having no memories of who you are or how you got there. Looks like you may have to try and break out of the prison to find some answers. 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ Opening the box, you will find a deck of cards with instructions telling you how to proceed through them. You will also see what looks like a folded-up newsletter that you will be instructed about later. Photos above are properties of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 If you have not played a Deckscape game before, these games are fairly straightforward, which makes for a game with little to no setup required. Starting at the top of the deck, you read the cards and follow the instructions. The first few cards will introduce you to the game and tell you how to proceed, either moving onto the next card or flipping the card over and reading the back. As you begin the game, the cards will then vary in what the instructions tell you to do. Sometimes it will give you instructions to follow such as split the deck into piles and sometimes you will have to actually solve a puzzle. Once you think you have solved the puzzle, flip the card over to check the answer. If you need a hint, there is a hint card that has a list of hints. The hints require a mirror to be able to read as they are printed backwards to avoid spoilers. This game in particular was a fun one to play. Having played a few other Deckscape games, we enjoyed the story which we found entertaining with some twists throughout. Though sometimes there is some eye-rolling farfetched story concepts, the story still kept us enthralled. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 Deckscape puzzles are a little different than other escape experiences. These puzzles will only allow you one chance to solve the puzzle. After reading the front of the card, you'll need to flip over to see if you've answered correctly or not. If the answer is incorrect, you will give yourself an "X". At the end of the game, seeing how long the game took and how many "X"s you have, you can determine your star rating. Having played a few Deckscape games, this one had a nice escape room feel to it as there were some hunting around for information and referencing items to solve the puzzles. Some of the puzzles reminded me of those “outside the box” riddle books that you had as child that would trick you when you gave the answer. The answer is the most logical one out of multiple other options. There was one puzzle that did require some outside knowledge that if you have never done certain things before or have certain experience, you might not know the answer. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 We enjoy Deckscape games for their simple setup and the fact that it does not take up a lot of room to play. These ones are quick games that can be finished in a shorter time than most. The one answer set up does allow you to pace the game more to your liking, if you want to just flip the card over quicker to reveal the answer or look over it a little more to make sure the answer is correct. Overall, this one in particular is a solid Deckscape game for beginners to start out on but also for veterans of escape games. Knowing the nuances that they put into their games, some Deckscape enthusiast could solve this game a little faster. We played with 2 people and would not recommend more than 4 people to play. There is only one deck of cards to look though and it could easily get crowded. We also did play this game when the power was out at our house which was perfect since no internet connection or outside source was needed to play. If you need a game to play while on an airplane trip or camping, this is one we would recommend. P.S. Headlamp recommendation for emergency game night click HERE. Photo above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers (If you do decide to try this game, give us a shoutout or tag us on social media so we know you heard it from "ESCAPETHEROOMers"!) #MatthewLui #AtHomeGames #Puzzlebymail #OneOffs #Mystery #Prison #dvGIOCHI #Italy #Deckscape

Photo above is property of dV Games Company: dV Games Game: DECKTECTIVE: Nightmare in the Mirror Country: Italy 🇮🇹 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Genre: Kidnapping, Mystery Date Played: May 16, 2023 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 7/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Recommended 1-6 ppl) (Ages 12+) Time: Unlimited (Suggested 60 Mins.) Price: $16.99 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Danielle Dove has been kidnapped. Luckily, she was able to take a photo of herself in a mirror where she is being held captive. Can you find the clues, review the articles, interview witnesses, and find out where she is before it is too late? Along the way, you will also need to figure out why she has been kidnapped and piece together the story. 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ Opening the pocket-sized game, you find a deck of cards that tell you not to shuffle them as well as a few red clips. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 Starting the game off, the deck of cards you receive come in a preset order. The game is easy to setup as you simply go through the cards one at a time and follow the instructions. Once the game starts, each player gets a certain number of cards based on how many players there are. Each card has information that may or may not be relevant to the case depending on how you connect the cards. You are not allowed to share or discuss with other players what is on your cards except for the title while it is in your hand. On your turn, you can either play the card and share the information with everyone or discard the card. The twist though, is that each card has a point value assigned to it. You can only play the card if the point value is equal to or less than the number of cards in the discard pile. At the end of the game, you are given a set of questions about the mystery and story. If you answer them correctly, then you get a certain number of points. The number of points will then determine how well you did in the game. Knowing little of the story at the start, we found it fun to have mini eureka moments along the way as we discovered new plot points through the cards. Having played similar games like this except the clues were randomly distributed, the preset clues and point system to share them is what makes this game unique and more enjoyable than the rest. We also enjoyed that some of the clues would come in fragments. For example, the witness statements would come on 2 different cards. If a player played one half, you may need to decide if this is relevant enough to play the other half or at times, each half might not make complete sense until both were revealed. It was also fun to be able to build a mini 3D crime scene that would evolve through the game and make sense to the story. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 This was more a detective game than a puzzle game. There were no ciphers or cryptic puzzles. The game consisted of being observant and making the connections between cards and items. There are a lot of little details to notice but we felt there were fair connections that could be made if we had the right clue cards in play. Even at the end, after getting some conclusions wrong and reading the solution, we had to shake our head in wondering how we missed some key details. Having played a few Deckscape games, this one had a nice escape room feel to it as there were some hunting around for information and referencing items to solve the puzzles. Some of the puzzles reminded me of those “outside the box” riddle books that you had as child that would trick you when you gave the answer. The answer is the most logical one out of multiple other options. There was one puzzle that did require some outside knowledge that if you have never done certain things before or have certain experience, you might not know the answer. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 This was a cleverly designed game. I usually shy away from detective games but the rules and the way the clues progress in a set order made this game enjoyable to play. The deduction aspect made sense and we loved that there were no red herrings in any of the clues. Paired with the correct cards, everything would lead you to a discovery. If you are looking for a light detective game, this one is perfect as we were able to finish it in under an hour. We played with 2 people which allowed easy access to everything but if you played with 4 people and kept everything out in the open, that would be manageable. The highlight of the game was being able to build the mini crime scene which evolved throughout the game to give us more information. This game may have sparked my love for detective games. (If you do decide to try this game, give us a shoutout or tag us on social media so we know you heard it from "ESCAPETHEROOMers"!) #MatthewLui #AtHomeGames #TabletopGames #Puzzlebymail #OneOffs #Mystery #Kidnapping #dvGIOCHI #Italy #Decktective

LOCATION: Edmonton, AB, Canada Photo above is property of Operation Lockbox Company: Operation Lockbox Game: Uncle Walter's Garage Sale Country: Canada 🇨🇦 Language: English Type of Game: Rental Gamebox 📬 (Need to be picked up or add delivery fee) Genre: Adventure Date Played: May 22, 2022 Difficulty (based on 2 adults & 2 kids): 5/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Age 7+) Time: 24 Hours (Which is the rental time, but recommended time is 45-60 Mins) Price: $65 CAD (One day)/ $130 CAD (Two days) 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Your Uncle Walter is getting things ready for his garage sale but needs your help to find his “secret stash” before the big sale (don’t worry, it’s family friendly). Can you sort through his odds and ends to find it before the big sale day?? 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ Picking up the rental box, you get an old trunk decorated with a bunch of items you would find hanging in the garage. On top, you will see a zipper that says “You’ve Got Mail”. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 Once we got into the trunk, there was a lot of fun stuff to play with. We did take notes of anything suspicious as we looked over everything. At the start, we were a little bit overwhelmed since you get the bulk of what you need from the get-go. We did need to ask for a hint for the first puzzle, but once we got that solved, we were able to make our way through the whole thing on our own. There is not a lot of storytelling through the game if that's what you're looking for, but we found this experience didn't really need it. Knowing our goal from the start and progressing with that was all we needed. How the hint system worked was that they provide you with a phone number that you could text when you were about to begin and they would be on standby for 2 hours if you needed hints (though if you messaged after the 2 hours, they would still respond but would probably take a little longer). Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 A bulk of the puzzles require you to find out how items relate to one another or how things work, but there were a lot of hands on things that needed to be done which made this a fun experience for the kids and adults. This is a no tech game but Operation Lockbox is very creative in how certain items are used. There were a couple of times our jaws dropped with the creative nature we needed to solve the puzzles. Even after the game was over, I had to look over everything again because I was still amazed how everything worked together. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 Uncle Walter’s Garage Sale was an entertaining game for the entire family. It was easy enough for the kids to enjoy but also had enough hands on items to keep the adults amused. One thing I love about this game (and all the other Operation Lockbox games) is that they try to up-cycle old items as much as they can, and they are extremely creative in how they are able to do this. This game in particular had some very nostalgic toys and items to play with. We played as a family which we thought was perfect, but this could easily be a great game for some beginners to escape rooms and the plus side, you can do it from the comfort of your own home. (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 Operation Lockbox for providing us with a sample of their game. Although a media discount was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #MatthewLiu #AtHomeGames #RentalGameBox #OneOffs #Adventure #OperationLockbox #Canada

LOCATION: Edmonton, AB, Canada Photo above is property of Operation Lockbox Company: Operation Lockbox Game: Rising Star Country: Canada 🇨🇦 Language: English Type of Game: Rental Gamebox 📬 (Need to be picked up or add delivery fee) Genre: Adventure Date Played: October 13, 2021 Difficulty (based on 2 adults & 2 kids): 7/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Age 7+) Time: 24 Hours (Which is the rental time, but recommended time is 45 Mins) Price: $65 CAD (Weekdays)/ $75 CAD (Weekends) 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Looking to become the world’s next musical sensation, do you have what it takes to make it to the Big Stage and become the Best New Artist? 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ The game comes in a locked full-sized guitar case covered in band and music stickers as well as a Fender mini amp. There is also a CD holder that says, “The Road to Stardom Starts Here”. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 When we were able to unlock the guitar case, there were so many musical items to play with like bongos and a recorder. The start was a little overwhelming since there was so much stuff but once we began using items and solving puzzles, we were able to set them aside and narrow down what we needed. There was also a lot of fun messaging that served both as clues and kept the storyline going and reminded you what your goal was, to be the next big star. We did have to use the hint system for this one. How the hint system worked was that they provide you with a phone number that you could text when you were about to begin and they would be on standby for 2 hours if you needed hints (Though if you messaged after the 2 hours, they would still respond). Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 There were plenty of creative puzzles that incorporated different musical objects and theories and even a tech-based puzzle. You will not need to have musical knowledge to play though. There was also a nice variety of different puzzles too. Some music trivia was required that really stretched our expertise but as the instructions prompted us, Google is always welcome. One tip is to make sure to play with everything. There were a few times we were unsure if we had all the pieces but after some fidgeting, we found we did. Also make sure to pay attention to all the clues, they will help guide you to where you need to go and what you need to do. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 Our minds were blown to find out this game was designed in a guitar case and amp. Music fans will definitely get a kick out of that. Having played one of their previous games, we are always impressed with how much they can pack into a portable game. There were so many compartments and so many different ways to unlock them. The puzzles had a nice flow to them, and the clues really helped build the mood. Not only did they serve as clues to the puzzles but as you approached the end, they built you up to the big finale. We do enjoy being able to play a more immersive escape game at home as we get to play with so many components similar to an escape room, but we are able to move at our own pace. When you are ready to rock out, definitely give this a try and see if you can make it to the big stage! (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 Operation Lockbox 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. #MatthewLiu #AtHomeGames #RentalGameBox #OneOffs #Adventure #OperationLockbox #Canada

LOCATION: Edmonton, AB, Canada Photo above is property of Operation Lockbox Company: Operation Lockbox Country: Canada 🇨🇦 Language: English Type of Game: Rental Gamebox 📬 (Need to be picked up or add delivery fee) Genre: Adventure Game: Aunt Mildred's Attic Date Played: June 20, 2021 Difficulty (based on 2 adults & 2 kids): 5/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Age 7+) Time: 24 Hours (Which is the rental time, but recommended time is 45 Mins) Price: $65CAD (Weekdays)/ $75CAD (Weekends) 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Your lovely Aunt Mildred has decided to pursue her lifelong dream of going pro on the Texas Hold’em Poker circuit in the big city. To fund her endeavor, she has asked your Uncle to send her retirement savings to her. Unfortunately, she has forgotten where she has hidden it in the attic. Since Aunt Mildred is quite paranoid, she has hidden the money using puzzles and clues, leading to it. Your uncle has recruited you, their smartest (and probably best looking) nieces and nephews to find it for her. 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ When we got the old trunk, this absolutely was something we would have found in an old relative’s attic. Attached to it was a zippered bag, with a well labelled “You’ve Got Mail” on it with an "envelope” inside. The envelope was very impressive as it was completed made of wood but no doubt was an envelope. 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 Operation Lockbox prides itself on upcycling and thrifting a lot of their props and it showed but not in a cheap way. They were all quality props full of nostalgic, which fit right into the theme. There were a few times the kids would look at a prop and ask “What is this?” and we would respond, “Well, when we were young…” and show them how it worked. Another great quality we enjoyed was rather than laminating the paper to keep it from getting worn out and damaged, they decoupaged it onto wood. This gave it a much sturdier feel and did not make me feel we needed to be super gentle with it. Though we did not use it, how the hint system worked was they provided you with a phone number that you could text when you were about to begin and they would be on standby for 2 hours if you needed hints (We’re sure if you messaged after the 2 hours though, they would still respond). 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 As this was one of their easier games, most of the puzzles involved more searching, observation and following instructions. This fit well with the kids as they loved discovering new secrets along the way or playing with the old toys. There was one puzzle though that if you were observant enough, you could by-pass a lot of the puzzles so make sure to follow the linear flow of the game. One puzzle really stood out and impressed us. It was so unique that we still could not believe that they could have set that up with the amount of box space that they had. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 With all the escape rooms closed during the pandemic, renting this at home escape box was a great alternative to play from the comfort of our own home. As we opened and unlocked more things through the game, we truly felt like we were rummaging through the attic looking for something but also stopping along the way to reminisce about some old memories. If you could get enough people together for the game, this is well worth the cost. We would recommend 4 people, which could be either kids or adults. Either way, there will be plenty to do for all. When playing this game though, make sure to inspect everything and to play with all the toys and gadgets because you never know what you might find, whether it be some answers or a trip down memory lane. (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"!) #MatthewLiu #AtHomeGames #RentalGameBox #OneOffs #Adventure #OperationLockbox #Canada

Photo above is property of The Enigma Emporium Company: The Enigma Emporium Game: Wish You Were Here Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Genre: Mystery Date Played: July 16, 2023 Difficulty (based on 1 player): 8/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (1+) Time: Unlimited (Approximately 45-60 Mins.) Price: $15.00 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 They call you the modern-day Sherlock Holmes. And not for no reason. Over a few months, you receive a set of postcards from an anonymous party, claiming to be the equivalent of your Moriarty. If you’re able to read their messages, you’ll have a full list of their locations, their crimes, and most importantly, their name. Can you chase this serial criminal down? Or will they stay scot free? 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ This unassuming game came to me as a set of five postcards in an envelope that served as title box, back story, hint channel, game instructions, and overall theme. Sticking to the mystery and intrigue of the game itself, the postcards themselves hardly had any fluff - filled corner to corner with puzzle components or clues. So take that as a hint of its own. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 Instructions and back story come in two forms - on the back of the envelope that stores the postcards and in the link Enigma Emporium provides you on the same side. Due to the limited space and how self-contained this game is intended to be, you can get a little overwhelmed with where to start first. So before you get into the details of this game, here’s a hint to help you - each component within each postcard serves a purpose. There are no coincidences. While there is no way you can mistake these postcards as components of a puzzle experience, the design still has them looking true to a typical postcard sent through snail mail. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 I am not going to lie - these puzzles pose a fair challenge. Therefore, do not be afraid to use the hint system. Taking the story into consideration, the postcards are coming from all around the world. And the puzzles’ contexts reflect that. Topics range from science to literature to even politics, so Google will be your friend here. If you’re concerned about the difficulty of the puzzles, here’s another tip - After getting the pattern of how the puzzles flowed for about 1 - 2 postcards, you can figure out how the rest of the cards work. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 Whether standalone or with other postcard sets, Wish You Were Here serves its own experience. And unlike many escape rooms in a box or mail order escape rooms I’ve played, the self-contained nature of the material and medium lends itself to being easily passed around a group of friends. As someone who either does not have their own space to host group plays yet, having a game that can be passed around without compromising the experience, is a refreshing take. No worrying about looking for refill components after destroying your own game to escape here! Check out our interview with the creators to understand more on the development side of these game: Video above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers (If you do decide to try this game, give us a shoutout or tag us on social media so we know you heard it from "ESCAPETHEROOMers"!) #JoelynAlexandra #AtHomeGames #TabletopGames #PuzzlebyMail #OneOffs #USA #Mystery #TheEnigmaEmporium

Photo above is property of The Enigma Emporium Company: The Enigma Emporium Game: Funny Pages Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Genre: Adventure Date Played: June 5, 2021 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 7.5/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (1+) Time: Unlimited (Suggested play time 3-6 Hours) Price: Kickstarter - $49 for the base game, $56 for the base game & promo pack, $250 super special limited pack 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Stephen Kelly, a cartoonist at the Daily Periodical has gone missing. He's a colleague of yours from back in the days. Since the police is going to labeling this case as a "cold case" soon, it's up to you to save Stephen. Maybe he left some clues for you in these comic illustrations? 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ We received the base game and promo pack for the review. The beautiful comic box design provided a easy "open and close" lid for repackaging. Inside you'll find a promo pack pouch, instruction/narrative/hint/solution booklet, notepad, pen, calendar page, 2 decoder bookmarks, and 28 comic illustrations, I love the glossy and thick paper stock they used for this game. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 This is by far the easiest instruction I've ever received for a tabletop game. After the backstory, you're ready to play! Feel free to examine the 28 comic pages in any order of your choosing. It's important to be organized and take good notes for this game. You'll probably end up using larger notepads than the one that was provided. Internet will be necessary at some point during the game so do keep either a phone or laptop handy. This game can be played at any pace. We tried to binge through but it's probably not a good idea. We would suggest to solve 5-7 comics a day so you can fully enjoy them in the right mindset. I love the cooperative game design. We no longer have to fight with each other for that single clue paper. Instead, we have 28 of them to pick from! It was great to be able to pass the comics to one another for a different perspective and to be able to skip and come back to ones that we were stuck on. Hints were set up in 3 nudging stages. Personally, the first two felt vague to us most of the time so if it's a puzzle we're stuck on for awhile, we went straight to the third hint or solution. If you did get the promo pack, we would advise starting with that first. Since the solution to each comic illustration is a specific day during the week, it does help to read the thought process on how you can achieve the solution from the "How to Play" booklet. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 At first glance, you might think to your self, how difficult could these be? There's only that much you can visualize on a single page of comic illustration. Well, get ready to be amazed! The quirky commentaries and lively illustrations will make you think everything is a clue. We definitely over thought on a few simple puzzles (creating red herrings for ourselves) but other times, we were able to conceptualize the harder ones right away. A ton of variations in puzzle types were incorporated into this game. You might think you're seeing replicas but think again! This game was definitely designed with players with some sort of puzzling background in mind. If you're a beginner, feel free to Google (even experienced puzzlers may need to do this) and use the hints and solutions. Identifying the type of puzzle and what items you will need to utilize will put you on the right path. We were really impressed by how the creators were able to stitch together the entire storyline for a very amusing ending. Right from the start, I wondered about the grater as it's just "staring" at me throughout the game. How will we be able to use this? I guess you'll have to play the game to find out. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 We've been super excited about this new project by The Enigma Emporium for awhile now and it did not disappoint! The narrative was clever and witty. The puzzles were challenging yet satisfying. Additionally, the quality of the materials used can easily resist damage making it quite easy to replay or regift the game in the future. "Funny Pages" took the "seriousness" out of puzzling and fill it up with laughter. You can enjoy the game as a solo player or share it with your loved ones. No matter what you decide, just remember the end goal: Have fun! Check out our interview with the creators to understand more on the development side of these game: Video above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers (If you do decide to try this game, give us a shoutout or tag us on social media so we know you heard it from "ESCAPETHEROOMers"!) Disclosure: We thank The Enigma Emporium for providing us with a sample of their game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #CiciCao #AtHomeGames #PuzzlebyMail #OneOffs #USA #Comedy #TheEnigmaEmporium #Mystery

Photo above is property of The Enigma Emporium Company: The Enigma Emporium Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Date Played: February 17, 2021 Size of Team: Unlimited Time: Unlimited (Suggested 10+ hours) Photo above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers Game: Predator or Prey (Series 1) Difficulty (based on 2 players): 8/10 Price: $50 or purchase individual episodes for $15 each 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Your friend seems to be in trouble. All you have are these mysterious postcards that's been send to you with clues on it. It won't be an easy task to find out what they've been up to but they are desperately in need of your help. After helping them in the trilogy series, you might want to also check out the spinoff copycat case? The FBI needs your help to identify the culprits and bring them to justice. 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ If you purchase the entire series, you'll receive 4 envelopes. Each envelope contains 5 post cards. "Wish you were here", "Blowback" and "Parabola" should be played in order as it's a trilogy. You are able to follow a narrative in this set. "Copycat Files" can be played separately as it's a spinoff from the previous storyline. If you backed them on Kickstarter, you'll also receive a bonus card in the "Wish you were here" envelope. We didn't receive the "Parabola" game in our reviewers copy so our review will be excluding this game. Each postcard has a glossy finish in the front and a matte finish in the back. These postcards can be replayed or gifted if you're careful to not write on the cards. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 Each envelope contains 5 postcards. Each postcard will have a theme. It's best to discover what that is first. It'll make your lives much easier. Do not be shy about using the internet. It was a bit hard to discover that initially since we were unfamiliar with the format of the game play and there's no directions that came with the game. Once you've solved the first card, we suggest to check the answer on their "clue" site to make sure they are correct. This way you'll know what you'll need to look for on the rest of the postcards. The cards can be played in any order. There'll be a website that you'll need to enter the answers in at the end but you won't be able to do so until you've solved all the cards. There's a nudging hint system on their website. We found that the nudges are not very clear and many times we had to use back solve from the solution instead. Even with that, we still have puzzles that we weren't able to solve until this day. If you've gotten their bonus card in the "Wish you were here" pack, there's no hint system for that on the website. You'll need to email the creators if you need assistance. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 Most of the puzzle type used in this game are various ciphers. There are occasional email and video encounters with the characters in the game. A lot of the other times are spent on Googling information that were presented on the postcards as it'll give you a more clear direction on what the numbers or letters are referring to. If you are familiar with a particular theme (literature or Math theory), it would probably make the association for that particular puzzle a bit easier. Or else the internet and hint system would be your best bet. Although each card can be solved on its own and you can divide and conquer, we suggest you playing this as a team. As some ciphers are quite long, it might be smart to take them in parts and decode them together. Googling will also take some time so it's best to divide information among the team to do the searches. The copycat files is our favorite one out of this series. There's a business card that was included in the game pack that clearly informed the players on what they would have to look for. Photo above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers Game: Cycle of Learning (Series 2) Difficulty (based on 2 players): 8.5/10 Price: $50 or purchase individual episodes for $15 each 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 you're looking to apply for a position at the prestigious Infiniti Institutes but first you will have to pass their entrance exam. Once you become a member, it's time to help the institute with some peculiar cases. Are you ready to track down artifacts around the world, discover mythical creatures, reveal the secrets of the cosmos and identify unknown Cryptids? 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ If you purchase the entire series, you'll receive 4 envelopes ("Trial by Ciphers", "Migratory Patterns", "Cryptic Cryptids", and "Veritas") . Each envelope contains 5 post cards. You might notice some Easter egg references to their first game series. Each postcard has a glossy finish in the front and a matte finish in the back. This game can be replayed or gifted if you're careful to not write on the cards. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 Since we've played series 1, series 2 did become a bit easier for us in terms of knowing what we are looking for. The main theme of the postcards are always titled on the envelope and each envelope will be subdivisions of that theme. It's important to identify the theme as it'll help you on what information you'll need to search for. There'll be a lot of Googling for this game. The hint system did improve from the previous series but we were still unsure of some answers as the last passwords were not revealed. It's hard to know if we had finished the game or not as we didn't get a conclusive ending. We did enjoy the interactive parts of the game on the website portal which is a new addition to series 2. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 "Cycle of Learning" felt like a perfect title for series 2. We definitely learned a lot about how to play Enigma Emporium's games. The puzzle design was pretty much the same as in series 1. You'll encounter a lot different types of long deciphers and internet searching. The different themes that each postcard had was intriguing as we opened each envelope. There's always something new to be discover. The ciphers were difficult in the sense that there were many mixed factors that were added to the regular cipher rules and in almost every postcard, you'll need to decipher long sentences or paragraphs. Definitely prepare a magnifying glass for this game as there were many areas with very small fonts or visual impairments caused by colors on the postcards. Photo above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers Game: Carte Rouge Difficulty (based on 2 players): 9.5/10 Price: $29 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 A full deck of cards containing a mystery to be unraveled... 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ We received this beautifully designed full deck of cards (52 plus the 2 jokers) in a small cardboard box in the mail. One you open the deck, you'll also receive an intro card with the backstory. The cards have a glossy finish. The colors provided a feel of royalty especially with the gold emboss. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 This game needs you to be good at observation. Having good eye sight will also help a lot. Definitely take breaks in between this game as you'll get blurred vision from playing it for too long. Although there are 54 cards, most of the puzzles will only be on 14 of them. Once again there's really no clear starting point in this game so it was a struggle for us right from the beginning. Don't be shy about using the hint system on their website. It's essential to determine that first step as many will follow the same pattern after. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 There's a lot of code deciphers in this game as well. If you don't use hints you'll find yourself staring at these for long hours. It was quite satisfying when we solved a few without using the hint system and those gave us that "wow" moment. We are still not fans of having to decipher long ciphers that uses the same rules as it does become tedious and repetitive. The narrative will slowly reveal as you solve the puzzles but it was hard to connect them together without a sense of direction on what's been solved and what haven't been solved. It's imperative to take good notes with this game. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 Enigma Emporium definitely has a type of game design that you'll need to get used to when playing their games. We struggled a lot at the beginning as there were many items to be discovered on a single postcard or a playing card. We never know if we're finished with something as there's no place to really submit answers to check if they are correct or not other than checking the clue system. Most of them did give a solution but there are some that still remains a mystery. As a player I would like to have a more direct type of hint system and solutions to all the puzzles. It's definitely frustrating to spend 2+ hours on a game and can't even get to an ending. For the value, we definitely feel like we've got a lot out of one small postcard or a single playing card. As for the puzzles, you definitely need to be a patient decoder. There were many long ciphers that you'll need to get through. For us, we would've probably preferred shorter answers instead of translating an entire narrative paragraph. I do have to say, this game taught us a lot of information that as experienced puzzlers we haven't even encountered before. There were also a lot of historical people, theories, myths, languages and cipher types that we've learned along the way (mostly through Google). If you are a patient player, love deciphering various types of codes and want to retain knowledge that you might need while attending a trivia game show one day, then you've landed on a jackpot! Check out our interview with the creators to understand more on the development side of these game: Video above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers (If you do decide to try this game, give us a shoutout or tag us on social media so we know you heard it from "ESCAPETHEROOMers"!) Disclosure: We thank The Enigma Emporium 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 #TheEnigmaEmporium #Series1 #Series2 #CarteRouge #WishYouWereHere #Blowback #TheCopycatFiles #PuzzlePostcards #CycleofLearning #TrialByCipher #MigratoryPatterns #CrypticCryptids #Veritas #PuzzlesByMail #Scifi #PuzzleSolving #Detective #Search #Find #Espionage

Photo above is property of Solve Our Shirts (By CU Adventures in Time & Space) Company: Solve Our Shirts (By CU Adventures in Time & Space) Game: Murder on the Ornament Express Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Genre: Mystery Date Played: February 6, 2024 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 7/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Suggested 1-4 ppl) Time: Unlimited (Approx. 30-60 Mins.) Price: $18.00 USD 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 There has been a "murder" on board "The Ornament Express". A snowman, Flakey, was found melted in a sleeping car! Who was the culprit and what was the motive? It's up to you to save Christmas! 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ The small red envelope contained a booklet of evidence, a series of train car postcards, and a facts sheet of the case. It is great for travel as we bought it on a cruise and the game was very easy to set up on a table. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 We suggest reading the booklet first to discover initial clues and what the ultimate goals are. If you get stuck, there's a website that will provide you with step-by-step hints on the puzzle/question. If you still don't get it after the nudging hints, solutions will be provided as well. Once you have the answers to the questions asked, use the same website to check to see if they are correct. A cool aspect of this game is that you can play it as a stationary game or set it up like a "search and find" and hide the clues around your house. You can also regift this game as there are no components of this game that would need to be destroyed. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 Although it seems like there's not much that you can explore at first glance, once you start to really investigate, you'll discover many details that will eventually connect all the puzzle pieces together. The puzzles in this game are not to be expected like escape room ones that involve calculation or logic. It's more about detecting visual clues that eventually give you the answers to the big three: "Who, What and Why". Although there is a deduction puzzle that's probably the most difficult part of this game. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 If you enjoy "whodunit" type of storyline with a little whimsical twist of some holiday spirit, then this is the game for you. It is also a game that can be enjoyed in a short amount of time versus an 8-hour type of mystery. Put your detective hat on and discover the secrets aboard "The Ornament Express"! Please note: The game does mention "murder" in the title, but, aside from the title, the details of the case are presented in a lighthearted all-ages style. Contact the company if you have any questions or concerns about the game. Check out our interview with the creators to understand more on the development side of these games: 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 Solve Our Shirts (By CU Adventures in Time & Space) 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 #TabletopGames #PuzzlesByMail #OneOffs #Mystery #SolveOurShirts #CUAdventures #USA

Photo above is property of Solve Our Shirts (By CU Adventures in Time & Space) Company: Solve Our Shirts (By CU Adventures in Time & Space) Game: The Treasure Trove of Pirate Cove Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Genre: Adventure Date Played: March 17, 2022 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 6.5/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Suggested 1-2 ppl) Time: Unlimited (Approx. 60-90 Mins.), (Deluxe version adds another 15-30min of play time) Price: $45.00-$50.00/ $80.00-$90.00 (Couple's Pack) 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 A bottle in the sand? Isn't this how all the treasure hunting adventures start? Well this time, you might even meet some pirates along the way! Can you overcome all the obstacles and find the Treasure Trove of Pirate Cove? 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ We love the color choice for these T-shirts. This turquoise color is so vibrant and fit perfectly with the theme of this game. Right away we felt the island vibe and imagined that we were on a beach surrounded by beautiful blue water. The shirts were super soft and remained that quality even after they've been washed. Besides the T-shirts, we also received a small envelope with 3 smaller envelopes inside and a plastic bottle with a note. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 The instructions from CU adventure is always really clear and easy to understand. The creators have thought of everything you might be in doubt with and have ruled those red herrings out. This game came with the familiar online portal that we've been using in their other games. Once again they did a great job with the sound choices, narrative and inventory management. As we navigated through the cave, we actually felt like we were playing a video game. If you solved a puzzle, you might be rewarded with a key or item which might be useful for opening the next chapter. The game is pretty linear (and you'll probably want to play it that way anyways if you're using one portal as a team) so if you follow the instructions on the postcard, you will never be lost. If you need a hint, the nudging hint system is very easy to use on the website. Please note: Do not wash the T-shirt before game play. You'll need a scissor and water at some point during the game but you'll never need to destroy the T-shirt. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 There's a mixture of difficulty levels in terms of the puzzles. We found that one of us has better eyesight (me of course) so the "search and find" part of the game was assigned naturally to the captain. Since the game also has physical components from the envelope to be paired with the online portal clues, Brandon, the crew member, took initiative with that part. Also we found that it was quite useful to have two T-shirts as each of us could take one side during the search process. The puzzles incorporated things that we would normally see with pirates like tattoos, pirate's codebook, games they would play etc. Our favorite puzzles were the visual ones as it was amazing to see the "magic" appear right in front of our eyes. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 After the first "Solve Our Shirts: Escape from the Maze of the Minotaur", we were wondering what else could they do with a plain simple T-shirt? Clearly, the creators still have tricks up their sleeves. This was yet another super fun and engaging game. The utilization of color, puzzles revolving water, and the sound of the ocean waves made us feel like we're physically at an island. This is what we call an immersive game. What could they possibility make next time? All I know is, I'm already onboard with it! Check out our interview with the creators to understand more on the development side of these game (Coming Soon): 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 Solve Our Shirts (By CU Adventures in Time & Space) 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 #TabletopGames #PuzzlesByMail #OneOffs #Adventure #Pirate #SolveOurShirts #CUAdventures #USA

Photo above is property of Solve Our Shirts (By CU Adventures in Time & Space) Company: Solve Our Shirts (By CU Adventures in Time & Space) Game: Escape from the Maze of the Minotaur Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬 Genre: Adventure Date Played: 3/9/2021 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 6/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Suggested 1-2 ppl) Time: Unlimited (Suggested 60-90 Minutes), (Deluxe version adds another 15-30min of playtime) Price: $35-$50 (All Colors) / $50-$60 (Deluxe Edition: All Colors) / $60-$65 (Couple's Pack - Teal) / $90-$95 (Deluxe Couple's Edition - Teal) 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 You have just returned from a vacation in Greece. You are still thinking about that roadside attraction that claimed to be a maze to the real labyrinth of King Minos. When you opened your souvenirs, you realized that there's a maze just like it on the T-shirt you purchased. Strangely, you began to drift into a dream. Hopefully you'll be able to wake up soon... 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ "Solve Our Shirts" came in a cardboard box. Each T-shirt was separately packaged in a sealed plastic bag. The paper clues and 2 sealed envelopes were all in a small yellow manila envelope. If you ordered the deluxe version, you'll also receive a padded enveloped that says "Deluxe Souvenirs" on it. We tried the T-shirts on after the game. They were quite soft and stretchy. If you felt like you've put on some pandemic weight, I would suggest ordering one size larger than your normal size. Photos above are property of Solve Our Shirts (By CU Adventures in Time & Space) 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 Make sure you read their instruction sheet first. There are three important instructions that you must follow: 1. Don't wear the T-shirt while solving the puzzles unless you want to try this the "challenging" way 2. Don't wash the T-shirt before playing the game 3. Don't open the Greek letter envelopes until instructed to do so. Once you read the postcard with the backstory, go on their website portal to start the game. Right away, the mythical themed music pulled us into a dream state. It felt like a "choose your own adventure" game. Once we "stepped" into the maze, we had to use clues on the T-shirts to unlock various doors and locks. The interface was very easy to use but we are also quite familiar with it already from the two previous games. What I loved about this interface was that it really acted like an inventory bag for us. It reminded us on what items have been used and solved and what still remained to be seen. The nudging hint system was quite easy to use as well. It was concealed really well. You had to confirm that you really wanted a clue before the system would show it to you. If you wanted to play a harder version of the game, you probably wouldn't want to use the "The Secrets of the Labyrinth's Guide". The guide doesn't give away too much of what you would need to solve but you'll realize some clues more easily by reading them. We solved the basic game and then went back to solve the deluxe puzzle but technically you could solve the deluxe pack anytime during the game play. It's an entirely separate puzzle set. Photos above are property of Solve Our Shirts (By CU Adventures in Time & Space) 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 One thing we love about CU Adventure's puzzle design is that there's always going to be an element of surprise. You never know what you'll get. "Solve Our Shirts" was full of hidden secrets and "wow" moments. EVERYTHING we received (minus the intro letter which stated that we won't find any clues on there) were utilized. There were no red herrings and every puzzle was creative yet logical. There were many moments when we doubted our thought processes and said to each: "Could it be? No way..." Do you have that moment when you finished a really good escape room and you wanted more? Well the deluxe puzzles came to the rescue exactly at the right moment. We were still hungry for maybe just a few more puzzles and the deluxe pack was like the icing on the cake. When we finally finished those bonus puzzles and claimed our well deserved souvenirs (really cool prop piece by the way!), I was ready to do a "happy baby" yoga pose. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 "Solve Our Shirts" was like playing a live escape room but from the comfort of your home. Just like an escape room, you'll need to look for clues (very carefully), compile information and use what you've found to open locks and doors. You can tell the creators are enthusiasts as our thought process aligned perfectly on how to solve these puzzles. The puzzles were designed with just the right amount of difficulty where you could discover the "magical" moments yourself. This was such a fun game. But you know what's even cooler? You'll probably become the center of the attention amongst your friends from now on. Why? Because who has a T-shirt full of puzzles? Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers Check out our interview with the creators to understand more on the development side of these game (Coming Soon): (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 Solve Our Shirts (By CU Adventures in Time & Space) 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 #EscapeRooms #SolveOurShirts #CUAdventuresInTimeandSpace #EscapefromtheMazeoftheMinotaur #PuzzlesByMail #Adventure #ShirtPuzzles #Puzzlewear #Puzzleattire #reveals #postcards #myths #theseus