Search this site

Photo above is property of MindOpus Company: MindOpus Game: Locked! The Library Country: Canada 🇨🇦 Language: English Type of Game: Digital Escape Game 💻 Genre: Adventure Date Played: December 27, 2023 Difficulty (based on 1 player): 6/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Ages 10+) Time: Unlimited (Approximately 1-1.5 Hrs) Price: $7,69 CAD/ pp 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 While you are keenly into reading, you are locked in the library! Unfortunately, your phone is dead, and nobody is around. You do not want to spend a night in the library. But then, you realize that there are clues to find out where the key is. Can you decode all the clues to find the key and free yourself from this library? Video above is property of MindOpus 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ I liked the design of the website for the game, as well as the images for the riddles. It was clean and easy to understand how to play. Even though the story was so simple, I felt immersed in the game because there were videos that showed the scenes of the game as I moved on. 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 You can play the game entirely online. No kit or printing is required. You need to purchase the game through the website to play it. The game is playable with any device that connects to the internet. I recommend playing it with a PC. If you play it with friends remotely, each player must purchase the game separately. There is no system to connect players within the game. Communication tools like Zoom are required to communicate with your teammates. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The story was like an escape room, but no searching or matching pieces of information, the process that is usually required in escape rooms, was involved. The game was linear. The task was to solve the various types of riddles that appeared on my screen at each step. Most of the riddles were straightforward. When I got stuck, the hints were helpful. I felt a sense of accomplishment when I solved some of them. Because the videos and images of riddles created the atmosphere of being locked in the library, I felt immersed in the game world. What I loved the most about this game was that it was cost-effective. It was easy and accessible to jump into the game. I loved that I could casually start the game anytime I desired. Photos above are property of MindOpus 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 “Locked! The Library” was a fun game to purely solve riddles in a setting like an escape room. This game is a perfect brain-teasing game for 1-2 players, probably not for a large group. All you need to solve riddles is logic and insight. The game is easy to access. So, if you have some free time, why don’t you lock yourself in the library and solve fun riddles? (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 MindOpus 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. #ChikakoOmura #AtHomeGames #DigitalGames #Adventure #MindOpus #Canada

Photo above is property of MindOpus Company: MindOpus Game: Memory of a Spy Country: Canada 🇨🇦 Language: English Type of Game: Digital Escape Game 💻 Genre: Mission Date Played: January 29, 2024 Difficulty (based on 1 player): 6/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Ages 14+) Time: Unlimited (Approximately 1.5-2 Hrs) Price: $12,93 CAD/ pp 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Working in the spy world, something strange keeps happening to you. Every morning, you wake up not remembering what happened the day before. You've been taking notes for weeks, trying to figure out what's going on. Today, you stumble upon a big discovery that might explain everything. Now, your mission is clear: explore the shadows, follow the clues, and find the answers to the mystery of your lost memories. Video above is property of MindOpus 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 Logging in, I was first led to a website that went through the instructions on how to play the experience as well as a guide to downloading an AR app that is needed in the game. (Don’t worry if you are unable to download or use the AR app. The game has a good alternative.) The experience then started with a high-quality video introducing me to the story. Photos above are property of MindOpus Once starting the game, each section gave me access to some puzzles and once solving them, would give me a piece of the password. Solving all the puzzles in that section, I could combine the password and move on to the next section. The setup was easy to navigate and use, making for a smooth experience in gameplay. Remember to write the solutions down because if you forget to write one of the passwords down, you will have to re-enter the solution again to gain access. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The puzzles were fairly visual and could be done by a large group looking at the screen versus having to use inventory and only allowing one person to solve things. Some of the visuals could have used more light as it was hard to find what was needed sometimes. There were matching ciphers, audio puzzles and more. Each puzzle was different from the rest making for a good mix. One thing I really enjoyed was that none of the passwords were common words so I could not guess any of them as well as the answer box would tell you the amount of letters needed so that eliminated some guess work. The game has a good setup for hints and the solution if needed. The hint button would open an image with the hints written in different orientations so you can avoid looking at the other hints and the solution was through and provided you with a walkthrough of how to get the answer. Photos above are property of MindOpus 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 "Memory of a Spy" was a thrilling game that was simple to navigate. The puzzles were challenging but fun to solve. The game was set up to accommodate many people to view and solve at the same time. The story had the right level of intrigue to keep me engaged and the intro and outro videos were well done with a nice twist at the end. I played solo but with screen sharing and the game’s structure, this could easily be played with 6 people. Any armchair escapist or spy themed lover would be a fan of this game. Are you ready to discover the truth about your memories? (If you do decide to try this game, give us a shoutout or tag us on social media so we know you heard it from "ESCAPETHEROOMers"!) Disclosure: We thank MindOpus for providing us with samples of the game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #MatthewLui #AtHomeGames #DigitalGames #Mission #MindOpus #Canada

Photo above is property of MindOpus Company: MindOpus Game: Ghostly Mystery at the Citadelle Country: Canada 🇨🇦 Language: English Type of Game: Digital Escape Game 💻 Genre: History Date Played: January 13, 2024 Difficulty (based on 1 player): 5.5/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Ages 10+) Time: Unlimited (Approximately 1-1.5 Hrs) Price: $7,69 CAD/ pp 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 One day, the captain of the Citadelle, which is the fortress in the city of Quebec, finds a strange old medal that he had never seen before. He takes the artifact to his office to examine. While the captain is gone, the medal starts to emit strange power. That causes three ghosts who left unforgettable things in the Citadelle to return from the world of the dead. Each ghost is looking for two items that are important to them somewhere in this fortress. Can you find the items for them so that they can happily return to their world? Video above is property of MindOpus 🆃🅷🅴 ❞🅻🅾🅾🅺🆂❞ I loved that the pictures and images for the stories and puzzles enriched the immersive feeling. The puzzles that required a 360-degree virtual walkthrough of some historical sites in the fortress were great. I enjoyed exploring those areas online by playing the game. Photo above is property of MindOpus 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 The game is playable entirely online. You do not need a kit or printout. You can purchase the game through the website to play it. The game is playable with any device that has a connection to the internet. I recommend playing the game with a PC. Each player must purchase the game separately when you play it with friends remotely. Since the website has no system to connect players within the game, you must use communication tools like Zoom or Skype to communicate with your teammates. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The game was like an online version of a puzzle hunt. The map of the fortress was on the main page, and I visited various areas on the map online to solve puzzles. All puzzles and stories fit the theme nicely, and they were inspired by the history and culture of the Citadelle. I enjoyed solving puzzles with various types of online tools. The use of a 360-degree virtual tour at some locations was excellent. I had fun exploring some unique sites that are not usually open to the public. I appreciated that the game provides two difficulty levels. If children can play the fun game, it may help evoke their interest in this historical place. I chose Normal Mode, and the puzzles were straightforward. Step-by-step hints were helpful. The game only had the minimum amount of historical explanation to keep enjoying the puzzles, and it was enough to feel the atmosphere of the fortress. It made me want to visit the Citadelle and the city of Quebec. Overall, the game was enjoyable and educational. Photos above are property of MindOpus 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 “Ghostly Mystery at the Citadelle” is a fun puzzle game that allows players to explore historical sites online. It is not only enjoyable but educational. This game is perfect for people who love traveling, learning history, or solving puzzles. It has Easy Mode for players ages 10 to 16 years old, so children can have a chance to learn about the fortress while enjoying the game. If you feel like going somewhere unique, please visit the Citadelle online to meet the unique ghosts from the past! (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 MindOpus 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. #ChikakoOmura #AtHomeGames #DigitalGames #History #MindOpus #Canada

Photo above is property of MindOpus Company: MindOpus Game: The Enchanted Chocolate Factory Country: Canada 🇨🇦 Language: English Type of Game: Digital Escape Game 💻 Genre: Fantasy Date Played: February 19, 2024 Difficulty (based on 3 players): 5/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Ages 7+) Time: Unlimited (Approximately 1 Hr) Price: $7,69 CAD/ pp 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Sneaking into the Enchanted Chocolate factory after hours, you slip a taste of their upcoming chocolate, Turkoiz. As you swallow the delicious treat, you notice the sign nearby that says that the chocolate is still in its prototype stage as there is a strange side effects. Anyone who eats it turns into chocolate themselves a few hours afterwards. Yikes! Can you concoct the antidote before it’s too late? Video above is property of MindOpus 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 Starting the game and playing through, this game has a whimsical and cartoon style to it which made it attractive to the kids. Logging into the game, we first encountered a comprehensive page that gave us a run through on the game mechanics and navigation. After reading through that, we get to the high quality and charming introduction video to get us started. Playing through the game, the story sets us up to discover the ingredients for the antidote. This game was non-linear and let us explore different pages with puzzles at our leisure. I played with my kids and this was nice as if we were stuck on a puzzle, we could simply move to a different one to work on. One thing that I enjoyed about this game is there is not a lot of clicking required and no inventory to keep track of. The puzzle is simply presented to you to solve. This makes the game work well for a large group of people without having one person getting to do all the play. Another great feature is the ability to skip the puzzle, either if you are having trouble with it or simply if you forgot to write something down and need to revisit the puzzle again. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 There were a few different puzzle types, but most were pleasantly straightforward, making this game great for beginners and kids. It was rewarding to see my kids light up when they were struck with their eureka moments. Each puzzle was also nicely themed to go with the game. What is interesting is that none of the answers to the puzzles were real words but sounded like they could be so brute forcing was not an option. The game has a well-designed setup for hints and the solution if needed. The hint button would open an image with the hints written in different orientations and there was a magnifying glass tool needed to review the hints. This was so we could avoid looking at the other hints. The solution was also thorough and provided you with a walkthrough of how to get the answer. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 "The Enchanted Chocolate Factory" provided an entertaining experience for the family to play through. The puzzles were simple to understand but challenging enough for the kids. The experience also had a whimsical narrative that kept everyone engaged. We played with just the 3 of us but with the way this game is set up, this could easily accommodate a lot of people with a big enough screen. Any kids (or beginner adults) who love chocolate or armchair puzzle solvers would enjoy this game a lot. Prepare to indulge in the sweetness of these puzzles. Photo above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers (If you do decide to try this game, give us a shoutout or tag us on social media so we know you heard it from "ESCAPETHEROOMers"!) Disclosure: We thank MindOpus for providing us with samples of the game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #MatthewLui #AtHomeGames #DigitalGames #Fantasy #Kids #MindOpus #Canada

Photo above is property of One Mystery Club Company: One Mystery Club Game: The Delaware Papers (Season 1) Country: Greece 🇬🇷 Language: Greek, English Type of Game: Digital Escape Game 💻 Genre: Mystery, Detective Date Played: June 1, 2023 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 7/10 Size of Team: Unlimited Time: Approximately 4-5 Hrs to complete Price: €‎9.99/ Season 1 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Even before playing the Delaware papers, The One Mystery Club was, well, quite mysterious. I can only say that I found it through a friend, and who knows how they found it. The website is meant to feel like you've stumbled across some kind of secret portal, a world beyond our world - a world within the world, a glitch in the matrix, a hidden door, the entrance to the rabbit hole, the escape from our tired mundane and inauthentic lives that we so desperately crave...to finally have the veil lifted from our eyes...it seductively intimates that when you - yes, you Neo - accept this dark invitation you will be subject to secret knowledge, and no longer able to turn back. So of course I had to know. I thought they nailed this cryptic mystique because I was quite piqued even before playing. But to put all mystery aside, yes it is a game - or is it a tv show, or is it a movie? - and it fully sucked me in with its brilliant and mysterious aesthetic. But onto the Delaware Papers: what are the Delaware Papers? What aren't the Delaware Papers? The story is probably influenced by the real world Pandora Papers, which uncovered a global financial conspiracy of world leaders and power players hiding their money from public scrutiny and taxes. This story all starts with a mysterious narrator, a British agent, who you later learn to be code named Belvidere, cluing you into a fragmented narrative he assures you you will never be able to fully piece together. You know, it starts at the bottom but goes all the way to the top. It all begins to unfold with a dinner party gone murderous, which is your first introduction to the other protagonists which you will be shadowing, two Greek detectives, who have been put on the case. Together you are slowly pulling the strings and unraveling the biggest global conspiracy of the 21st century, one episodic yarn at a time. Solving this murder leads you to uncover the mega rise and mega tragedy of a Tiktok super music group, but this group are only pawns in a game of profit by corporate power players, which leads you to uncover even greater conspiracies...Capital in the 21st Century, monopoly, hegemony, coverups, corruption, who to trust - who to believe, murder, money, power, control, and a mysterious group known only as Pluto... Video above is property of One Mystery Club 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 Ok, so beyond the allure, what is the actual gameplay. Not to take anything away from the mystique, but basically it is an episodic interconnecting story, broken into chapters which are generally linear and chronological in nature, where you first watch a scene and then at the end solve some kind of conundrum related to what you have just witnessed. A good solid formula that does well to balance story with gameplay and puzzles. The production is kind of low budget, a bit campy, but for this kind of project remarkably well done. The actors are great, fun, believable, the acting is seamless, the story is top notch albeit somewhat outlandish. I mean they swung for the fences with the whole global conspiracy thing, and even by the end of the first season its all rings quite plausible, with its twists and turns being credible moves of a realistically unfolding narrative. There are minor editing aberrations in the videos but elsewise the final product is pretty solid. Half of it is in other languages but the caption and translation are on point. The music is effectively thematic. This is all to say that despite whatever doubts I had at first given the ambition of the project by the end my impression was that they delivered. They do a great job of bringing you along for a ride, through all these myriad scenes and dramas and different locales. The nature of the gameplay is such that the end question will have you following closely along and thinking through every detail and possible connection and keep you as glued to the scene as much as possible. That's why I think this format is really powerful and interesting - when done well - because it enlarges the scene and narrative to such a degree that it makes the puzzle at the end all the more capable of being rich and complex therefore. Photos above are property of One Mystery Club 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 At the end of every scene you are faced with a puzzle. Who killed who, where did who go, what is the passcode, which antidote to use. You have to both give your answer but also select from a large possibility of whys and hows; so you have to explain how you got your answer as well. This format works really well, and it also kind of delimits and guides the player who at times can be overwhelmed by the question and the amount of evidence laid before them. My opinion on the content of the puzzles shifted several times over the course of the game, but overall I think they came up with some very clever stuff. There are a lot of classic puzzles in this game, is how I would describe them, and often with a twist. Sometimes they were a little too easy, a little too hard (which you should never mind) , a little too obscure or reaching, but never completely implausible. Its quite rewarding and challenging sifting through all the information and working through all the possible leads, going back over the video and thinking through everything you've seen. Returning to a classic criticism of mine though, the test of a great mystery is whether the story and the puzzles interpolate in a kind of perfect organic unity, and in the game itself, most puzzles were adjacent to the grand mystery itself and were more connected with quirks in the scenes themselves. This is not a fatal criticism, because the quirks were all quite clever, and you still had to follow along with the plot to get the motive that was being given to you. Creating and solving a narrative puzzle out of unraveling the conspiracy would have been a steep challenge for both creators and players alike, but I do think in later seasons that the puzzles should connect closer with the logics of the twisting conspiracy itself, and that this would suck the player even more into the nuances of story, conspiracy, and puzzles. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 Did the Delaware Papers live up to the gravity of its mysterious pretensions and hype? I didn't know what to expect when I came into it, but by the end I wanted more. It's not just a tv show, it's not just a game - it's art, which in a way holds the highest form of human mystery. I think there's a lot of genius behind this project, and in a way I think they've taken this online mystery game format to another level. To do what they've done, put together a great ensemble, a great production, intelligent puzzles, a smart overarching plot that actually says something, is quite a feat. They really have an aesthetic vision and commentary which we can feel they are trying to bring to life. And this is just the beginning; on the website there is the promise of many more mysterious projects as yet to be released. I hope they get enough attention to keep the production going. I feel like they have this great vision, and this power to innovate in strange and imaginative ways, to finally push this medium into the realm of art where it belongs. (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 One Mystery Club for providing us with samples of the game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #AndrewWoods #AtHomeGames #DigitalGames #OneMysteryClub #Mystery #Detective #Greece

Photo above is property of The GeoMystery Club Company: The GeoMystery Club Game: Trail as Old as Time Country: Australia 🇦🇺 Language: English Type of Game: Digital Escape Game 💻 Genre: Mystery, Secret Society Date Played: February 23, 2023 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 7/10 Size of Team: Unlimited Time: Unlimited (Recommended 90-120 Mins.) Price: $30.00 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 As part of the Geomystery Club, you, a Geomyst, have been assigned a new “Blaze-Seeker Mission”. After an agent has not reported back from their covert high-risk zero-communication mission (CHR0M), you must follow the trail of information left behind and discover what has happened to Agent Martin in Sydney, Australia. 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 After reading the story at the start, we were given some images and a cryptic poem that would clue us on what we would need to do or look for in Sydney, Australia. As we progressed through the game, we found this to be a fun mix of a geocaching, “real-world” scavenger hunt and puzzle hunt. We spent most of our time in Google Maps, navigating in street view to search for the solution or clues to help us with the puzzles at hand. Neither of us are experts at Google Maps and we were able to play the game just fine but you will have to know the basics and learn how to jump to different times on Google Maps. The story of the game told an intriguing tale and was easy to follow along. The Geomystery Club who was able to bring real world information and tidbits that seem irrelevant and weave them into a story that was creative. One piece of feedback is that there was a choice that needed to be made in the game that we do wish they explored a bit more. The game plays on one of the smoothest interfaces we have ever encountered. Once you solve a puzzle, the screen extends downwards to continue the story. This made it easy to navigate back up if we needed to check out previous information or refresh ourselves on the story. The hints were easy to navigate on the side as well as a sleek progress tracker with the solutions to previous puzzle. The game also provides some non-distracting ambient music to play in the background if you would like. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The puzzles in this game were a mix of escape room type puzzles and mystery cache puzzles. Each puzzle would revolve around a cryptic poem that would clue you on what you need to do. There was usually an attachment or an image that we would need to figure out how to use. As regular escape room puzzlers, there was a specific flavor to the game that took us a few puzzles to catch onto. Overall, we found the cryptic poems to be written well with the subtle clues that would result in some fun eureka moments. One tip is when you navigate Google Maps, make sure to be thorough. There were a few times, we did have to zoom in to find certain things or zoom out into the map view. If you know Sydney, Australia well, you may have a slight advantage to the game. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 As the GeoMystery Club’s first game, Trail as Old as Time was a creative twist from most online puzzle games that combined mystery caches and escape rooms. The puzzles are not your typical puzzles but were a fun blend of searching out information and piecing it all together. The interface was a true highlight with how easy it was to navigate and explore. We played with 2 people but feel this game can be played with up to 8 people. Everyone can be logged in on their own computer and progress together once the answer is input. Any armchair adventurer or geocaching lover would happily enjoy this game. If you cannot wander the streets of Sydney in person to solve a mystery, then this game is the next best thing. (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 GeoMystery Club for comping our tickets for this game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #MatthewLui #AtHomeGames #DigitalGame #Mystery #SecretSociety #GeoMysteryClub #Australia

Photo above is property of The GeoMystery Club Company: The GeoMystery Club Game: Keepers of the Keys Country: Australia 🇦🇺 Language: English Type of Game: Digital Escape Game 💻 Genre: Mystery, Secret Society Date Played: May 5, 2023 Difficulty (based on 6 players): 7/10 Size of Team: Unlimited Time: Unlimited (Recommended 90-120 Mins.) Price: $20.00 AUD 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 A dead body has been found at the Fontana di Trevi in Italy. In his hand, a rock that has the power to alter time and space as well as burned on his chest, the symbol of a mysterious organization called the Keepers of the Keys. You, as part of the GeoMystery Club, are now tasked with investigating the death but beware, you may be walking into the middle of an age-old conflict that has resulted in many deaths already. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 Starting the game off, we were given a short blurb that engulfed us into the game. From there, as we solved each puzzle, we were given information about a different location we should check out in Google Maps with a date and a picture of the location. As we progressed through the game, we found this to be a mix of “real-world” scavenger hunt and puzzle hunt. We spent time in Google Maps, navigating around to search for clues to help us with the puzzles at hand. You do not have to be an expert at Google Maps but knowing the basics is required. Having played the previous GeoMystery Club game, one thing we noticed was that this was a different type of game. The other game used cryptic poems to clue you on what you need to watch out for while navigating Google Maps. This played more like a point and click game to make discoveries and use what we found to connect different pieces of information as well as some key items on Google Maps. The story was intriguing at the beginning but could have been utilized more throughout the game. We felt that there was a great introduction to the game but no additional plot points were made until the ending. There felt like a lot of potential to weave more story into the game. The game plays on one of the smoothest interfaces we have ever encountered. Once you solve a puzzle, the screen extends downwards to continue the story. There was also a legend of the puzzles on the top of the page which made it easy to jump to certain points on the page. The hints were easy to check out as well with the question mark box on the top. The game provides some non-distracting ambient music to play in the background if you would like, where someone in the group described it as something you would hear while getting a massage. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 Each puzzle was very different from one another. Some relied on a eureka moment while others gave you items you needed to interact with while others required you to search through Google street view and find the clues. There was a range of difficulties in the puzzles with some that were quick to solve while others required some outside the box thinking. The hints were thought out, easy to access and tiered nicely. We were able to use them and found they did not give away too much and still allowed us our eureka moment. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 "Keepers of the Keys" was a mysterious game with a cryptic story to go along with it. The puzzles mixed into the game effortlessly and made great use of Google Maps and the point click aspect. We played this game as a group of 6 people, each on their own computer which worked out since there was no need to share items, and everyone felt like they could get involved. Anyone who is a fan of secret societies, any armchair explorer or puzzlehunt fan would enjoy this game. The GeoMystery Club’s motto is “Seek and Solve” which is the perfect description for this 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 The GeoMystery Club for providing us with a sample of the game. Although complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #MatthewLui #AtHomeGames #DigitalGame #Mystery #SecretSociety #GeoMysteryClub #Australia

Photo above is property of Legacy Escape Box Company: Legacy Escape Box Games: Simulation Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Digital Escape Game 💻 Genre: Sci-Fi, Mystery Date Played: January 4, 2023 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 7/10 Size of Team: 1-4 Players (Recommended) Time: 60-90 Minutes Price: $20.00 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 As a computer programmer you find yourself living between two worlds…one in an official capacity…but the other is a bit more secretive. When your friend, Ezra, asks you to hack into a leading biotech company you quickly learn something darker is lurking and it appears to be creeping into both your worlds… 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 Once you receive your login code via email, you will then click the link provided and type in your game key to access the introduction page. In the email provided is also a link to a hint document in case you need it. The game starts with an introduction video to help set the stage and from there on you will be moving from web page to webpage typing in passwords, searching for clues, and clicking links available. I felt the videos that broke up the puzzling were really well done with an air of mystery, AI imagery (which fit the theme), and good voice characters. The style of this game has a vibe of the matrix but with a bit more ambiguity which I think added to the ambiance. This game requires a computer and internet to run as you will be exploring websites and loading videos. The hint document is solid in guiding players but everything is all together. The majority of the hints and solutions are in a light grey font which makes them hard to read. The answers are in the palest of grey. I recommend when you need a hint, just copy and paste the information onto a document to help as highlighting it will not always make it easier to read. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 In terms of puzzles, I found this game did an amazing job embracing the theming with their puzzling. Puzzles range from mathematics, decoding, pattern recognition, and searching clues and they really challenge you to explore the web pages. I think one of my favourite puzzles was when that, at first, looked like a dead end but in reality contained an extremely important clue. Puzzling in this game requires a close eye for detail. Don’t be afraid to zoom in and click all the links, inspect the web browsers, and really embrace the programmer in you. This game can be shared with your fellow players (so you can all have it open on your computers) so each person can fiddle with the page but, just remember, you will have to share with the group! Some puzzles do require outside knowledge but you don’t need an in-depth understanding. One aspect of this game I noticed was that a puzzle that was referenced in the hint document was not included in my run-through of the game. It didn’t impede anything but it did cause me to lose momentum as I was trying to figure out what was wrong. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 “Simulation” provided a fascinating dive into a digital world that posed a lot more questions than it gave answers. I found the theme to be enriching and well executed and the puzzles were extremely appropriate. I would recommend this to digital escape players who enjoy science and maths based puzzles as well as those who just love exploring web pages in their gaming experience. The ending suggests more is to come and I am VERY curious to see what happens next… (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 Legacy Escape Box for providing us with samples of the game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #JillianRaymond #AtHomeGames #DigitalGame #SciFi #Mystery #LegacyEscapeBox #Matrix #USA

Photo above is property of Break Glass Escape Rooms Company: Break Glass Escape Rooms Game: Rescue Mission Country: Australia 🇦🇺 Language: English Type of Game: Digital Escape Game 💻 Genre: Investigation Date Played: November 12, 2022 Difficulty (based on 3 players): 6/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Ages 13+) Time: 90 Minutes Price: AUD $15.00 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 You are a private investigator and you just received a new mission: a notorious gang called Haywire Human Hijacker (HHH) has kidnapped Lady Luna Lusk and is asking for a ransom in exchange of freeing her. The last time this group was seen was at the airport. You will have to use your detective skills in order to know where they are going and save Lady Luna Lusk. Photo above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 The game play for "Rescue Mission" is more like a digital experience. We are given a puzzle to solve on the first page, with a bit of introduction and a picture for the context. You need to enter the right answer in order to move to next page and solve another puzzle. Prepared hints are available at the end of the page if you are stuck during the game. The riddles are well thought, you feel like you are indeed investigating, tracking down the gang. Puzzles are quite diverse and not too hard to solve. One thing that I would suggest is to add a note before starting the game to NOT use capital letters when you enter the answer, for example “France” won’t be accepted as the right answer whereas “france” will. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The puzzle were a mix of observation and logic. It is better to play on a computer rather than a cellphone as you need to check pictures in details for some parts. At the very beginning, you are asked to download some pdf files that contain all that you need to solve the riddles, you just need to understand how and when to use them wisely. There is no specific knowledge needed to solve most of the puzzles, and basic mathematics is enough. It is possible to do everything on your own, but not very recommended since the game implicitly pushes you use teamwork for some long puzzles. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 We definitely had fun playing this game, it was entertaining, it required cooperation between teammates in order to be fully efficient, and it involved different kinds of thinking processes, thus everyone in the team had the opportunity to shine at some point. The puzzles are globally more or less what we would expect to solve when doing investigation (to a certain extent). The storytelling was pretty simple and straightforward but we had fun impersonating the characters and say their lines out loud (but I guess that’s up to the teams to do this). The general atmosphere of this game is supposedly serious but with some nice puns to make us smile! (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 Break Glass Escape Rooms 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. #AlexandreTang #AtHomeGames #DigitalGame #BreakGlassEscapeRooms #Investigation #Australia

Photo above is property of Break Glass Escape Rooms Company: Break Glass Escape Rooms Game: The Wizard's Curse Country: Australia 🇦🇺 Language: English Type of Game: Digital Escape Game 💻 Genre: Magical Date Played: November 18, 2022 Difficulty (based on 3 players): 6/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Ages 13+) Time: 60 Minutes Price: AUD $15.00 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 After saving up for a long time, you have finally done it! You have gotten yourself a house. Best of all, it was quite the steal since they say the house is cursed and the last family to live there disappeared mysteriously, but those stories are always exaggerated. Anyways, with the promise of pizza, you have a few friends ready to help you move in and if you are lucky, they will help with the fixer up part too. Bringing in the first few boxes, you discover some interesting things and cannot wait to explore more… Photos above are property of Break Glass Escape Room 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 Starting up the game, we noticed that they were not connected with each other’s games. This allowed us to check stuff out on our own without the worry of having others solve puzzles too quickly and we just follow along. Make sure you are communicating with your teammates though on the solutions, so you do not get left behind. The story of the game was well written and got us immersed after the introduction. It was a fun adventure that did not take itself too seriously. We do commend Break Glass for properly giving credit to in the images that they used. We received some information that was required for the puzzles in a .pdf at the start of the game but if you do not get them, do not worry. We did get a chance to download them later in the game. When progressing through the game, we were typically on a webpage that would have the story and as we scrolled down, we would be presented with images to sort through. Break Glass presented the images as large thumbnails so it was nice that we could get the general gist of the picture without having to open it completely. Once we think we know the answer, we selected the “Input Answer” button and go to another page to input our answer. This worked out fine but a few times we were incorrect and had trouble going back to the previous page. Make sure to keep track of all the answers as you progress just in case you get locked out. The hint system was at the bottom of each page and was easy to use. We only needed to click on the hint button, and it would open to a new page. We did appreciate that a full explanation of the solution was also provided so we knew how to arrive at the answer. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 On each page, we got access to a bunch of images that we can scroll through to view and solve the puzzles. Once we thought we had the answer, we clicked the button on the bottom, and it took us to a new page to input our solution. There was a good mix of puzzles with some tricky ones in there. Most of the puzzles required us to make the right connection between the images to solve the puzzles with a mix of logic and more. One tip is to make sure you check over everything. We did get hung up a few times on some puzzles because we were given images that we did not need, or we got information ahead of time that we did not remember to look back on. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 The Wizard’s Curse was a light game with an amusing narrative to go with it. The story was something we could dive into and have fun with. The puzzles were solid, but you needed to make sure to go through everything you have and pay attention to details. If you enjoy a light magic game with a little spook mixed in, this would be a great game for you. We played with 3 people online together but with the format of the game, you could easily have a more people join in and all have great time. Plus, how can you say no to pizza afterwards! (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 Break Glass Escape Rooms 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 #DigitalGame #PointnClick #BreakGlassEscapeRooms #Mystery #Australia

Photo above is property of ARDI Company: OfficeQuest (Developed by ARDI) Game: Mission "ILoveYou" Country: Sweden 🇸🇪 Language: English, Swedish Type of Game: Digital Escape Game 💻 Genre: Espionage, Mystery Date Played: November 12, 2022 Difficulty (based on 4 players): 3/10 Size of Team: 2-6 Players Time: 70 Minutes Price: 175 SEK/pp 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 We are agents from the company "Reality 2.0" and are given a mystery case: Noah Brown, the son of the famous musician INemo, requested our agency to investigate on the mysterious disappearance of the music files from Inemo, destroyed by a computer virus called “ILOVEYOU”. The son, who inherited his father’s music, does not believe this was an accident. He wants us to at least retrieve the culprit. Video above is property of ARDI 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 You have a video that runs for about 45 mins in which a new scene appears every 10 minutes. In each scene you will have several highlighted texts that you can type in the search bar in the browser game to get access to new hints, information, photos… the interface is easy to use and intuitive. During the investigation you will have to answer questions that will give you directions on what to look for. The only drawback of that system is that, when we gather all the information from one scene before the 10 minutes end if we want to play fair and square, we then have nothing to do but to wait for the next scene while the clock is running. People who want to cheese the game may just go fast forward in the video in order to get all the hints from all the scenes and end the game very quickly. A suggestion may be to either lock the video so it cannot be paused (or moved forward/backward) after the launch, but then it can result in frustration if teams go fast, or give up on video format and use images instead that are unlocked only after people find hints/answer questions. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 It is mainly a deduction game, you have several suspects and you narrow down the list until you find the culprit. It is a bit like the kid board game “Guess who?” in which you have a bunch of people at the beginning and with the help of the hints that you collect through the game, you can eliminate potential suspects. Here you sneak in the different areas at the office to gather clues, and try to figure out to which question do they answer to. You have some cryptic messages that you need to decode in order to progress, and everything is pretty much well integrated in its natural environment (you won’t do actions or find puzzles that you will never find in an office). You will also need to have a good sense of observation to successfully accomplish your mission, but that’s what is expected from investigators, right? Photo above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 It is a pretty easy game overall, with easy questions to answer but it trains communication between teammates and the interface is pretty cool: the fact that you type key words in a browser makes you feel like you are hacking someone’s computer, which is I must admit pretty rewarding. The storyline is pretty rich, with a good quality work done on all the protagonists, the background story, the motive behind... The immersion is definitely there! (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 ARDI 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. #AlexandreTang #AtHomeGames #DigitalGame #Mystery #Detective #ARDI #Sweden

Photo above is property of ARDI Company: HomeQuest (Developed by ARDI) Game: The Lost One Country: Sweden 🇸🇪 Language: English, Swedish Type of Game: Digital Escape Game 💻 Genre: Mystery, Thriller Date Played: September 17, 2022 Difficulty (based on 4 players): 4/10 Size of Team: 2-6 Players Time: 60 Minutes Price: $15.00 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 In a futuristic world where people are essentially confined to their smart homes, you have been hired to investigate the disappearance of a well known attorney's son. The police have been combing over everything but are baffled that this child would escape unnoticed in a world where everyone is watched. Your team has been handed the file and you have only a short time to find and save the young boy! Where has the child gone and, more importantly, why? 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 "The Lost One" is played on ARDI's own platform. Everyone will log on with their unique link and the purchaser of the game will be the lead captain that starts the game. Once you start, your time begins. There is a mini text tutorial that explains how the game works. It reminded me a little of an interactive fiction game with additional visual clues to help you. Once you find a solution you type into the game and, if it is correct, it will reveal additional information that can help you move forward. In addition this is a questions section of the game where you are aiming as a side mission to uncover a series of mysteries that are part of your journey. Your progress in the game is tracked at the top of the screen. This is text heavy game so keep that in mind you will be reading quite a bit as you navigate this experience. If you are stuck on a particular puzzle, there is a hint button you can click right underneath the clue. One thing we noted was that sometimes the solutions require precise wording so your answer may be correct but adjustment might needed. There was one time we had the correct answer but because we forgot to include a specific name or added an apostrophe it would process. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The puzzles in "The Lost One" consisted of observations, logic, maths and pattern recognition. Admittedly I was a little confused as I started the game but once I figured out the first couple solutions I started to understand how the puzzles worked. Some will require you to make connections to words while others will ask you to draw out hidden codes. One thing I wished for was a way to manipulate one of the puzzles as I struggled to turn the items in my head. At the same I found the incorporation of audio and maps as part of the puzzles to be unique and fun. The puzzling as a whole was quite light but things took time as we read and listened to the clues. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 "The Lost One" is a digital game I would recommend to those who enjoy interactive fiction and mystery thrillers. You get to really dig into the story in this experience and, while the puzzling is light, I felt it complimented the game as a whole. I’m curious to see how ARDI’s other games hold up against this one! Now… are you going to join this futuristic task force or will you be left behind in the past? (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 ARDI for providing us with a sample of their game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #JillianRaymond #AtHomeGames #DigitalGame #Mystery #Detective #ARDI #Sweden

Photo above is property of Super Secret Decoder Company: Super Secret Decoder Games: Heironymous Vex and The Secret of the Pancetta Stone Country: United Kingdom 🇬🇧 Language: English Type of Game: Digital Escape Game 💻 Genre: Mystery Date Played: June 14, 2022 Difficulty (based on 4 players): 3/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Up to 10 logins) Time: Expires 72 Hours from start Price: £25.00 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 The illustrious puppet owner of Super Secret Decoder, one Archibald Equinox, has a cousin, Heironymus Vex, who loves adventure but has a somewhat clumsy demeanour. He appears to have gotten himself stuck in a Mesomanayan tomb and needs your assistance. Your task is to follow his path into the tomb and unlock cryptic chambers as you go. His cell service may be spotty, but Heironymus has left you with the knowledge the language of the lost Mesomanayan which might be the secret to learning more about the Pancetta Stone. Now, time to hurry! Video above is property of Super Secret Decoder 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 Once you receive your game confirmation code you can start your adventure on their website. As the game launches you will receive a call from Heironymus who begins to explain what he can recall about the chamber you are in but he quickly loses cell reception and you are left on your own to examine the room and figure out a way to unlock the door. This game can be shared with friends and played across different devices but each member will be playing alone with the exception of one interesting game mechanic. When the first teammate solves the puzzle room you will have the option to jump ahead with them or remain on your puzzle. You will not get another opportunity so choose wisely! There are hints available in the top left corner of the screen. This can be accessed by clicking on the book icon, but our group ended up not using any. An issue we did run into was the game mechanics sometimes struggled to follow our dragging commands so being patient is key. In addition, we found that when we played across multiple screens that only the first player to solve the final puzzle was actually able to see the end scene (even if you tried joining them it failed) as the subsequent people who solved ended up on black screens with no recourse. Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The puzzles within "Heironymus Vex & The Secret of the Pancetta Stone" are largely video game style activities, more so than puzzles as you manoeuvre shapes, fiddle with jugs, and line up artifacts. I felt the structure of the puzzles, after the first one, were smooth and enjoyable. But the first one came across a little confusing as we were unsure how we were meant to order something. The key thing with these games I found was that I had to keep moving things around to test and adjust our techniques. This game took our team about 45 minutes. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 "Heironymus Vex & The Secret of the Pancetta Stone" shows promise as the first game created by Super Secret Decoder. I found the activities contained within to be fun to play around with and the animation style to be appealing but some gameplay issues impeded my feeling of closure when the game ended. I also wish that Heironymus had a more active role in the game as his character is fascinating and I wanted to learn more about this lost language and the Pancetta Stone. As it stands, I would say this is a good game for someone who enjoys video game-style problem-solving and for single screen play-throughs so you can get the whole experience. I hope to see more happen with Heironymus and Archibald in the future! (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 Super Secret Decoder 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. #JillianRaymond #AtHomeGames #DigitalGame #Fantasy #Adventure #SuperSecretDecoder #UnitedKingdom

Photo above is property of Super Secret Decoder Company: Super Secret Decoder Games: Captain Montgomery & The Mystery Mansion Mini-Adventure Country: United Kingdom 🇬🇧 Language: English Type of Game: Digital Escape Game 💻 Genre: Mystery Date Played: December 18, 2022 Difficulty (based on 4 players): 410 Size of Team: Unlimited (Up to 10 logins) Time: Expires 24 Hours from start Price: £20.00 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Silly Monty. He’s gone and got himself locked inside the panic room in Archie’s Mansion. He hid in there during a storm which knocked out the power and trapped him in there! Can you gain access to the mansion, solve Archie’s mysteries and locate the panic room to free Monty from his imprisonment?! Video above is property of Super Secret Decoder 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 After purchase, you will receive your game code and can start your adventure on their website. This game can be shared and played across different devices and played together but each team mate will be playing alone - you won’t see others interactions. This means that if someone else solves puzzles first and therefore completes an area, they will move on. You have the option to stay and finish the puzzles where you are, or move on and join them. This makes it feel a little disjointed at times when someone has worked out the solution and moves on, they get to see what’s coming next and have to wait if the others want to complete the challenge. If you want to move on and join, you don’t get to see the puzzle resolution or the cut scenes. The laptop I played the game on with my team really struggled with the game and therefore I had trouble loading the graphics and partaking in the puzzles as it was crawling along - I ended up playing it through again on a different device on my own to experience the story, and when I did this it worked a lot better, smoother and was actually really enjoyable. You can adjust the graphic quality using an icon if you need to. Even during this second play through I did end up on one black screen once - not sure if it hadn’t loaded properly or i was in a dark room trying to find a light-switch! I refreshed the screen and luckily it remembered my position and loaded properly. The hint system is a book icon in the top left of the screen. You can also use this to replay any videos if you need to - although these are video calls that progress the story only. These are a fun way to hear from the characters in the story - and in this game they are particularly funny as a language barrier you can’t avoid makes for a good gag! I found it a little annoying to have to click exactly on OKAY in the message boxes that appeared every time you interact with items. I’d rather these faded away or could be clicked away anywhere on screen. But that said, the humour and pop culture references in these info boxes were so worth reading - there’s a lot of nice nods and funny lines in them. Photos above are property of Super Secret Decoder 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 There are 4 areas to explore in the game and each one has 1 or 2 puzzles. These are mostly logical puzzles and pattern matching, but nice and varied throughout. You also collect and use objects, but once collected they are used automatically for you from the inventory when clicking on any place something needs using so there’s no real need to think about this part of the game. One annoyance was when you have to use four 3-digit code wheels at one point. You weren’t able to spin the wheels quickly by clicking fast, you had to wait until each rather slow moving dial has stopped on the next number before you could click to move again. This meant that not only did it take ages to get to the chosen digit, but if you accidentally went past it you had to go right round again - as you could only go one way, not back! This got quite tedious and could hopefully be sorted with some code tweaking! I liked the fact that a couple of the puzzles seemed very easy on the face of it, but a clever twist has been added to them that made me go “ahhhhh clever” when I realised. I only used two clues and both times it was just because I hadn’t spotted something subtle - so my tip is to look at everything closely before making assumptions. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 I played the previous game "Heironymus Vex & The Secret of the Pancetta Stone" from this company, and whilst shorter than that one, this new game was also a little easier and had a better, more contained story. I love the art and animation style, and the humour in these games, and the inclusion of video calls to set the scene and to accompany scene changes. Their website is also big, bold and beautiful and it’s clear they are talented artists, designers and writers in this team. The games feel like a fun little mobile game and don’t necessarily benefit from having more people playing together - if you are going to, purchase the game and maybe one person streams the game screen and others suggest what to do and solve puzzles together by voice, as the multi-player mechanic just doesn’t really work as it stands. If these games could be made where you work together on things then they’d be on to a big winner. I’d definitely play more in future, and look forward to seeing what happens next with Archie, Monty and Heironymus! (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 Super Secret Decoder 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. #HelenBailey #AtHomeGames #DigitalGame #Mystery #SuperSecretDecoder #UnitedKingdom

Photo above is property of The Missing Links Company: The Missing Links Game: The Missing Links Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Digital Escape Game 💻 Genre: Sci-Fi, Mystery Date Played: June 12, 2022 Difficulty (based on 5 players): 7.5/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (Recommended 3-6 ppl) Time: Unlimited Price: $10.00 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Before you attend the "International Discussion on the Internet of Things" called IDIoT, you decide to visit your collaborator, Dr. Deeplinker who specializes in AI and the Internet of Things. The genius lives in a mansion just outside of town. When you enter the hall, she is not there. Instead, you are locked inside the mansion! Her holographic AI servant greets you and tells you something is wrong with the internet connection at the place. If it is fixed, you may be able to open the door and also track down Dr. Deeplinker. Can you figure out what is happening with the internet connection and escape from her mansion? 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 The game uses Google Slides editing mode (tablets and smartphones are not supported) and a Google account is required to play this game. There is no host for this game. To play as a group, you need to use your own communication platform like Zoom. Once you enter the site, you can start reading how the game works and the instructions lead you to the starting point of the game. You can click or move certain parts of the slides which have a puzzle or a link to another slide that shows a different scene of the game. If you need a hint, there are hint slides at the beginning of the game. All hints are hidden. You can open the hint when you need a clue for specific puzzles. I loved the idea of using Google Slides to create an escape room. It took some time for me to figure out how to play it at first, but it became easier once I got used to it. The instructions were very easy to follow. I liked how each puzzle had a specific symbol, which made it easy to refer to a puzzle with team members and to look up a hint. One of the things that I was concerned about was that I could easily skip slides and move around without following the link that I was supposed to go. It wasn't a big deal, since this game was organized well to understand each scene. Another thing was that you could potentially destroy the game since you have to enter editing mode from time to time (although this is avoidable by reading the instructions and following those carefully). Photo above is property of The Missing Links 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 First of all, I must say that I was very impressed on how “The Missing Links” was nicely built by putting the essence of the escape room and computer science-themed puzzles all together using Google Slides. The puzzles were all inspired by the phenomena in the field of computer science. Most of them required logical thinking, but some were word or intuitive puzzles. Some more complicated principles used in the field were introduced also as a form of puzzles, yet those were described well enough to understand even for a computer science beginner like myself. All of the puzzles were nicely incorporated into the story of the game. Honestly, before I played this game, I thought that I wouldn't enjoy this game since I'm not a big fan of computer science, but I loved the story and the structure of the game. The atmosphere of a virtual escape room created by pictures and slides was very engaging. I really enjoyed learning some of the basic materials used in the area while playing this game. If team members have basic knowledge of computer science, that definitely helps to finish the game faster. But, even if players are not familiar with the field, I believe they can still enjoy it like I did because the hints were very organized and helpful. I also appreciated that the puzzle maker provided us the links to YouTube videos to explain some of the approaches in computer science that applied to the puzzles I just solved. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 “The Missing Links” was a unique game using Google Slides to solve computer science-themed puzzles with the essence of an escape room. I loved learning some of the elements of computer science by solving the puzzles. I also felt that there were more possibilities for digital escape room games to give us different tricks and puzzles with Google Slides. I recommend this game to those who love anything about computer science, the internet, logical puzzles, or difficult challenges. This game can be a fun introductory educational tool for those who are interested in computer science. So, why don’t you visit the computer genius and see what you can do in her mansion? (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 Missing Links for comping our tickets for this game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #ChikakoOmura #AtHomeGames #DigitalEscapeGames #GoogleSlides #SciFi #Mystery #USA