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Photos provided by The Escape Game Company: The Escape Game Game: Rogue Scientist 1990 Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Digital Escape Game 💻 Genre: Detective Date Played: 10/1/2020 Difficulty (based on 4 players): 6/10 Size of Team: Unlimited Time: Unlimited Price: $10.00 Video above is property of The Escape Game This is the third game in The Escape Game's TEG Unlocked series. Here are the past reviews we've done on "TEG 1 & 2" and their FREE game "Hanna Unlocked". It is the year 1990. We've been informed by International Reconnaissance (AIR) agency that one of their scientist, Dr. Humphreys went rogue. He's currently performing dangerous genetic experiments off of the radar. We need to catch him before it's too late! Similar to the previous TEG games, we received an access code and as soon as we entered it in the portal, an intro video started. The interface was quite easy to use and looked like a computer desktop screen from back in the 90s. There were times we noticed that some buttons didn't work or screen went blank but if you refresh the page, it'll start to work again (we've reported this issue to the creators). If you missed information in the video, an email was provided to inform you on what your current objective was. Every time when we finished an objective/puzzle, another video would play giving us a summary of what the agency was able to do with the intel we provided for them and what our next mission would be. We quite liked this type of design as it gave us a breather in between puzzles and also connected the story line with less reading materials (although if you chose to read, the emails would give you that option). The puzzles revolved around different science subjects like biology, chemistry, etc...There was no need to know any high school science from school (whew!) to solve these puzzles. Many were logic, deduction, pattern recognition, etc. We enjoyed all of the puzzles except for one which we thought could use more clarification with the clues. By now we've kind of noticed a trend to the ending of TEG games...My question is will we ever catch the bad guy? I guess we'll have to wait till the next episode to find out... (If you do decide to try this game, please remember to let them know that you heard it from"ESCAPETHEROOMers"!) Disclosure: We thank The Escape Game 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. #ESCAPETHEROOMers #AtHomeGames #EscapeRooms #TheEscapeGame #TheEscapeRoom #TEGUnlocked #RogueScientist1990 #DigitalEscapeGames #SciFi #Thriller #Detective #OnlineEscape #newgame #spy #secretops #agent #rouge

Photos provided by Mythologic Escape Rooms Company: Mythologic Escape Rooms Game: The Island Country: United Kingdom 🇬🇧 Language: English Type of Game: Digital Escape Game 💻 Genre: Adventure Date Played: 2/6/2021 Difficulty (based on 3 players): 5/10 Size of Team: Up to 6 Devices Time: Unlimited Price: £15.99/ game 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 It's your worst nightmare. The plane you were traveling in had an engine malfunction. Good news is you survived. Bad news, you're all alone on an island. Time to remember those boy/girl scout survival skills! 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 Once you purchase the game, you'll receive a login and password through email. Everyone can use the same login (up to 6 devices). We suggest setting up a Zoom call and starting the game at the same time with your team. The game is not synced so every player will have to enter their own password in order to proceed to the next stage. The game platform is on their own website and all the puzzles are presented in image format. You're not able to interact with any of the puzzle pieces. Once you know the answer, type it in the solution box on the page. If you're correct, you'll be taken to the next puzzle. If you're incorrect, you'll have to press the back button. When you press the "back" button, it'll take you to the puzzle prior to the one you're working on so just press the forward button as it'll remember your previous answer. This did create some confusion for us as we had to press back and forth when we got the wrong answers to make our second or third attempts. There is a nudging hint system build-in to the game. We used it twice. With the Math puzzle, we were hoping a more detailed explanation rather than just a solution reveal. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The puzzles all stuck with the theme of the game. You'll be testing your survival skills throughout the island. During the game play, you may discover secret areas which we didn't expect to be on an island. There is an item that you'll be using more than once. This was unclear to us during the game play so we closed it after the first use to minimize the amount of tabs being opened during the game. Definitely don't make our mistake as we had to back track to get the item back. You'll need this item throughout the game play to decipher messages. Since the platform doesn't allow interactive play with some of the puzzles, we had to visualize a few and that was difficult to do. One of the our players is good with excel and was able to plot what we needed on there. Brandon was also able to draw on the computer screen which helped with one of the puzzles. It would be great if some of these could be translated to interactive puzzles. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 For the price, we really did enjoy the amount of the puzzles the game was able to provide. There were also a good amount of variations in terms of puzzle types. If the interface of the game was more user friendly this could be a much stronger digital game. We really enjoy the island theme and the colorful images. Most importantly we survived and escape the island (although I don't know why we would escape an island in this day and age)... 𝔼𝕊ℂ𝔸ℙ𝔼𝕋ℍ𝔼ℝ𝕆𝕆𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕤❜ ℙ.𝕀.𝕤❜ 𝕋𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤 Andrew K. I had the chance to play Mythologic Escape Room's "The Island," and had a pleasant time playing. Having done a fair share of my own escape rooms (both in-person and digital), I found "The Island" to be more on the easier side of that spectrum. The adventure is bookended by some entertaining videos and narration, but the actual puzzles and experience are mostly still images with a QR code and an interactive piece thrown in. The experience comes with a hint system and a good number of puzzles. And the island theme also has a lot of potential. There's also a puzzle where pieces snap together in a very satisfying way. While the puzzles were not difficult, there were a few hiccups along the way. First off, for veteran players, you'll likely most of these puzzles seem familiar. And while I do appreciate having an easily accessible hint system and reveal answer system, I found it too accessible: there were times when I would accidentally have my mouse hover over the hint or reveal answer button, and the answer would be revealed. Lastly, while there were a good amount of puzzles and fun ways to incorporate class puzzles, there were a few puzzles that either had unclear directions, or leap of logic answers. Whether fun, frustrating, challenging, or easy, nothing really beats that a-ha feeling when you solve a puzzle. Conclusion: Not a bad experience, but I would check out other more polished digital escape rooms first. (If you do decide to try this game, please remember to let them know that you heard it from"ESCAPETHEROOMers"!) Disclosure: We thank Mythologic Escape Rooms for comping our tickets for this game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #ESCAPETHEROOmers #AtHomeGames #EscapeRooms #MythologicEscapeRooms #TheIsland #digitaescapegame #survivor #Survival #islandadventure #Searching #Escape #escapegame #rescue #sos

Photos provided by ASPMC Company: ASPMC (American Society for the Protection of Magical Creatures) Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Digital Puzzle Game 💻 Genre: Fantasy Date Played: 1/23/2020 Price: $30.00 Game: Help Emerson Bradley Investigate the Mysterious Moodus Markings Difficulty (based on 3 players): 6.5/10 Size of Team: Unlimited Time: 2.5 hrs (Suggested) 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Strange markings have been appearing in the woodland areas of Northeastern US for centuries. Today, you'll be teaming up with Emerson Bradley (a board member of ASPMC) to figure out the meanings behind these symbols... 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 After purchasing the game, you'll receive a link to download a PDF which will give you access to a website and a password to log in. Make sure you play the game within 24 hours of downloading or else it'll expire. If you play the game over Zoom with friends, they'll be able to access the game using the same login. Once you log in, you'll be at a main hub where players can choose to work together as a team or divide and conquer. There are 4 characters each with a tale to tell. Each character also has their own puzzle that you'll need to solve. Once you enter the right code for a character, that character's polaroid will no longer be accessible. You'll also receive a clue piece from each character that'll help you solve the meta puzzle with Emerson. A final video will give you a conclusion for your discoveries. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 We played this game as a team of 3 over zoom and split up the workload right away. Even though the teammates were able to use the same login to enter the game, the game is not synced. Each player will have to enter the solution on their own device to unlock parts of the game. In a way this was great as it gave players who haven't seen the puzzles a chance to see how it worked before proceeding with the group. If you do decide to play this game over Zoom, I would suggest playing it together as a team rather than splitting up so everyone can see how each puzzle worked rather than have to rush through with the other teammates. These are not your typical easy one step puzzles. You'll encounter some multi-step deduction, association and ciphers. I did feel like one or two of them seemed like a "breather" but even those are harder than typical online games we've played. If you just started your puzzling adventure, definitely don't be shy with the hint system. We did have to use a little nudge for the meta puzzle. It was definitely satisfying once we solved it though. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 I really enjoyed the fun video introductions from various characters (especially when you recognize one or two familiar faces😜). It was a nice way to build the backstory and puzzles. It made the story seem more real. These characters all had their own theories on what the strange symbols mean. I have to say, translating them was probably the part that took the longest. I now have a new appreciation level for those archeologists who deciphers ancient languages! 𝔼𝕊ℂ𝔸ℙ𝔼𝕋ℍ𝔼ℝ𝕆𝕆𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕤❜ ℙ.𝕀.𝕤❜ 𝕋𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤 Koen D. + The video's are a big plus, the different characters really pull you into the story. + The way you receive clues and input answers works great from a technical standpoint. + The graphics and visual appearance is very good - The last puzzle was a bit tedious because solving it required a lot of the same decoding. Game: Investigate the Missing Files of Dr. T. Mandrakeseeker Difficulty (based on 5 players): 9/10 Size of Team: Unlimited Time: 4 Hours (Suggested) 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Jesse, an intern at ASMPC, discovered a notebook that might be the research notes of Dr. Makdrakeseeker back in the 70s! If we're able to help her figure out the clues in the book, we might be able to discover the undiscovered magical creature! 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 After purchasing the game, you'll receive a link to download a PDF which will give you access to a website and a password to log in. Make sure you play the game within 24 hours of downloading or else it'll expire. If you play the game over Zoom with friends, they'll be able to access the game using the same login. This game played a bit different than the one above. You'll reach a main hub once you login with your team. There are 4 segments that you'll need to complete but you won't be able to work on them separately as you'll need to solve one to unlock the next. Once again the game is not synced so each player will need to enter the solution into their own device. After you solve one segment, you'll be rewarded with a video from Jesse. That's a good time to take a break as you'll need it for the puzzles to follow. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 If you thought the game above was hard, it was merely a warm up for this one. Playing these games back to back actually worked in our advantage since one of the puzzles had a similar concept. The first puzzle took us awhile but having teammates definitely helped. You better hope you have good eyesight! The solution was quite difficult to associate with what we found though. We had to use the hint system to bypass that one. Moving forward there were some intricate Math problems, video/audio puzzles and another that will need some good eyesight again! I think people that are color blind might find this puzzle to be even more difficult. This one definitely took our team the longest to solve. It became too a bit too repetitive and tedious especially towards the end. Be prepared to use the hint system. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 The parts that we enjoyed about this game was the journey that it took us on while solving the puzzles. This game was more like a treasure hunt. During the hunt, we were taken to various historical sites and museums. We didn't even know some of them had virtual tours so that was cool to discover. The first website was a bit finicky with the controls but the others were easy to maneuver. If you enjoy "finding waldo" type of puzzle hunt while discovering some fun facts along the way, you might want to explore the world of ASPMC. Oh, did I mention, for every game you complete, you'll receive a magical creature card? It's like collecting Pokémon! Gotta catch 'em all! 𝔼𝕊ℂ𝔸ℙ𝔼𝕋ℍ𝔼ℝ𝕆𝕆𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕤❜ ℙ.𝕀.𝕤❜ 𝕋𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤 RJ G. Pros Use of real data and anatomical structures A variety of interesting external websites The site design was simple and easy to use Some stages of the puzzles were unique There was a wide variety of puzzle types Cons Some components of the puzzles have no directions Our group begrudgingly checked the hint section many times only to learn that the correct course of action was not apparent from the available evidence in any way Some components of the puzzles were so heavily veiled I'm not sure even the most experienced solvers could have reasonably solved them without the hints The "where's Waldo" concept does not feel like a puzzle The final puzzle is extremely tedious Most of the core puzzles of this game are really cool, using real data for puzzles is always a good component of a game that other creators overlook. Most of the core puzzle designs were well thought out and fun to solve. Unfortunately, the game is designed to be "difficult" and that difficulty comes from artificially inflating those core puzzle ideas with added steps that ranged from obscure references to downright tedium. The final puzzle in particular is extremely long for no coherent reason, making solving it a true test of fortitude. (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 ASPMC (American Society for the Protection of Magical Creatures) for providing us with a sample of their game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #escapetheroomers #escaperoom #ASPMC #AmericanSocietyfortheProtectionofMagicalCreatures #moodusmarkings #emersonbradley #missing files #drtmandrakeseeker #fantasy #harrypotter #fantasticbeasts #greendoorlabs #mystery #onlinegames #digitalgames #mystical #animals #beasts

Photos provided by Caravan of Wonders Company: Caravan of Wonders Games: HACKCESS Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Digital Game 💻 Genre: Heist Date Played: 1/18/2021 Difficulty (based on 4 players): 5.5/10 Size of Team: 1-6 people (Recommend 2-4pp) Time: 2-3 Hours (Approximately) Price: $39.99/ team 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 It's time to plan the heist of the century. Are you ready to steal millions of dollars from a vicious gang of bank thieves? It seems like we have a hacker on our side that'll help us with this mission. Are you ready to trust a stranger? 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 After purchasing one game voucher, your entire team can use the same code to log in to a central game hub. This is where visual and audio clues will be displayed. Once a team member figures out a password, they should inform the other teammates as the game is not synced in that aspect so all players will have to enter the password to proceed to the next step. This game is not limited to the game platform so you'll need to use search engines for some of your answers. Hints are available on their website. It would be more convenient if they were build into the game. Some hints also does not have a final solution so if you really can't figure out the answer, you might have to email the company for assistance. We suggest headphones for this game as there are audio components teams will need to hear along the game play. We played this game over Zoom with a team of 4. As much as we appreciated the game creators trying to add immersion through the sound tracks (especially towards the end), it was giving our team a hard time trying to concentrate on the puzzle. This was also during a time where we felt that we're going to run out of time. It would be helpful to give a "pause" button or "lowering the sound" option on the game's platform. We did figure out a way to mute the sound at the end which was really helpful for team communication. All you need to do is right click on the website's tab (on the top of the page) and select "mute site". 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 If you enjoy searching for evidence and following trails, you'll like the concept of this game. It'll take you on a "journey" from finding a location, looking for hidden passwords, searching for clues in personal information and finally getting to that final "jackpot". We had an issue with an audio puzzle as we couldn't hear well on some of the digits that were read outload as each of our teammates had a different interpretation. The final puzzle was probably our favorite since we felt that urgency that a hacker would feel with the count down clock (although everyone will eventually finish the game even if the clock runs out and we appreciated that feature from the game creator). 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 We enjoy the realism of the game design as at times we felt like we're breaking into a real bank's online system and transferring funds out of its accounts. I think programmers would really appreciate this game and maybe even have a bit of an upper hand on some of the puzzles. For players who are looking for puzzle heavy game, this might not be the game for you. Oh, there's also a surprise bonus mailing that will come to you if you fill out your address at the end of the game. We haven't received ours yet but perhaps it's our share of that 1.6 million dollars? 😜 𝔼𝕊ℂ𝔸ℙ𝔼𝕋ℍ𝔼ℝ𝕆𝕆𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕤❜ ℙ.𝕀.𝕤❜ 𝕋𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤 RJ G. Pros Use of real footage, real places, and real people. Use of different media. Use of the internet. Real websites, youtube videos. The theme was very on point. I always felt like I was hacker. Use of real a phone number. Cons Information overload. There was a plethora of information across different places. Most of the information was related, but not actually used. Most of the solutions didn't feel satisfying. They weren't really "puzzles" to be solved, as much as finding needles in haystacks Use of scrolling text. It's really not fun to look at. No mute button/slider. Some of the audio is really loud / not required. Unintuitive UI. Navigating through some parts felt like clicking in the dark just to see what might happen. Managing multiple tabs can be cumbersome. There were many missed opportunities that weren't executed on could have potentially became a puzzle. This game was a fresh bag of legos carelessly strewn across a carpet. It just wasn't put together. A few of the pieces were really unique and interesting, but most of the others were bland and unexciting blocks that were there just to serve their purpose. Some pieces even felt missing or forgotten. It had the components of a great game, but the disparate fragments weren't put together to form something cohesive that stood gleaming and proud. ______________________________________________________________ Jacqueline G. Escape rooms are something I absolutely LOVE to do. Seeing someone’s ideas come into fruition is something I never tire of. I love to see new ideas and even reimagined ideas because it truly is an art. First, I would like to say, the concept of hacking is something I have not yet experienced in an escape room and it feels very appropriate in our current state of lockdown. The use of videos, voicemails, websites, and an actual phone number was everything I needed but didn’t know I wanted. We worked in a team of 4 and there was something for everyone to do (research, fact checking, etc). However, I think the information we gathered, more often than not, went unused. I had an entire sheet of paper with information I was excited to apply later and then before I knew it the game was over. The puzzles, while interesting, lacked feeling like puzzles and started to feel more like a word search. The part I disliked the most was a site that we spent 14 mins clicking around hoping that something would happen while listening to blaring unnecessary music. The need for a mute button, slider, or even just a lower volume is an absolute must for that section to be enjoyable. That being said, that page had no clear direction and figuring out what you were supposed to do without a hint felt almost impossible. The last puzzle was my favorite part because it was imaginative, the clues were executed well and figuring out that “puzzle” felt satisfying. I only wish the ending felt like a victory, instead I was left feeling like someone just slammed my book shut before I read the last page. I look forward to experiencing your art in the future. *** We regret to inform this company has closed its doors *** Disclosure: We thank Caravan of Wonders for comping our tickets for this game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #ESCAPETHEROOMers #AtHomeGames #EscapeRooms #CaravanOfWonders #HACKCESS #heist #stealing #infiltration #oceanseleven #hacker #DigitalEscapeGames

Videos/ Photos provided by Fast Familiar Company: Fast Familiar Games: National Elf Service Country: United Kingdom 🇬🇧 Language: English Type of Game: Digital Escape Game 💻 Genre: Fantasy Date Played: 1/16/2021 Difficulty (based on 5 players): 4/10 Size of Team: Up to 6 Players (Suitable for age 8+ with adults) Time: 60-90 Mins (Approximately) Price: £20/ team 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 The toy factory is supposed to be filled with joy this time of the year, why is everything and everyone feeling so gloomy? Lets join the Elite Elf Force team (Merry, Berry and Sherry) and lift up the holiday spirit! 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 One game voucher will allow a max of 6 players to log in. Everyone will be able to see each other's cursors on the screen and click and drag items at the same time. We like the features of the teams being able to work together on certain puzzles and if one player puts the right code, our entire team gets to move forward. There were a few puzzles where its best to designate a team leader as too many people clicking for a specific sequence could actually mess up the order. I really like the color selection and graphics for this game. It didn't go with the usual festive theme colors of red and green but more of a "secretive" dark blue and purple. It added a bit of a spy vibe to the game. If you enjoy audio story books (especially kids) then you'll feel like you've just watched a short cartoon. It would be nice if an optional "fast forward" or "skip" button could be added to satisfy the players who are just in it for the puzzles. We really enjoyed listening to the stories. The script was quite humorous and made us laugh at various points of the game. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The puzzles were quite easy to get through. You'll encounter some audio, logic, deduction type of puzzles. There were not that many puzzles in the game as half of the game was storytelling. For the deduction puzzle, I wish we're able to interact with the information given and drag them to the correct position. It was quite confusing for our team to go through that one on paper since we're unable to share screen on what we were working on separately. This game also has an interesting type of hint system. When your answer is incorrect, the chat box automatically prompts some hints to move you forward. For some puzzlers, this might be a turn off since they would rather not take hints and figure it out themselves. Perhaps it's best to give the "option" versus the automated prompt. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 My favorite parts of this game wasn't really focused on the puzzles. I was more attracted to the graphics, funny puns and the clever ending. I actually got to fulfill my karaoke urge during the game and sang with our entire team. This game bought out a lot of laughter out of us and I think that was the goal of the game and Fast Familiar did a great job achieving it! ❤ 𝔼𝕊ℂ𝔸ℙ𝔼𝕋ℍ𝔼ℝ𝕆𝕆𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕤❜ ℙ.𝕀.𝕤❜ 𝕋𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤 Michelle R. National Elf Service is a lighthearted romp of a game perfect for families (middle school and up I'd guess), friends and accessible for beginner players. I loved the quirky characters and adorable details that the company added. The game had me chuckling throughout from the amusing banter. Strengths and Weaknesses: - This is part experience, part escape game. You will be a passive listener for part of the game - the characters are entertaining, but if you want a puzzle heavy game, this is not it. - Many of the puzzles are process based. They can take time to solve - but on the plus side, you can easily bypass them by guessing if any puzzle overstays its welcome. - The interface of the game is beautiful as are the illustrations - The plot is novel and fun and easily followable ______________________________________________________________ Karen C. National Elf Service is an online interactive puzzle game suitable for the whole family. This game has a fun and funny holiday themed storyline asking the players to help save Christmas with the help of a crazy batch of elves. This game is weighted more towards narrative than puzzle intensive. This would be a great game for puzzlers to introduce the escape room type experience to family, as the humorous story and collaborative problem solving and activities can engage those less familiar with these types of puzzles. Pros: -Family friendly storyline that can engage people of multiple generations and skill levels. -Lots of humor, particularly in the dialog and details. I really enjoyed following the story line. -Outstanding production. The artwork was engaging, the voice work expressive, and the interface was pretty seamless -Puzzles were signposted well and fair. Cons: -Hints were triggered by incorrect answers, instead of having a separate hint system. While this ensured you moved through the game, it might have been more satisfying to have a way to know that you're on the right track. ______________________________________________________________ Kay F. National Elf Service by Fast Familiar is a whimsical delightful game that the whole family can get involved with. It is a cross between an online based escape room with an immersive audio experience. The artwork is bright and sure to bring a smile to anyone’s face, especially during the holiday season. The game works great remotely as the session can be synced between multiple logins. One of the puzzles in particular was a bit “brute force” but certainly the star of the experience was their very well done narrative audio which I was a big fan of. I would recommend this game for families, in particular those who are in the mood for a light-hearted Christmas puzzle 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 Fast Familiar for comping our tickets for this game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #ESCAPETHEROOMers #AtHomeGames #EscapeRooms #FastFamiliar #NationalElfService #fantasy #savesanta #santa #christmas #holiday #fun #kids #teamwork #DigitalEscapeGames

Videos/ Photos provided by Fast Familiar Company: Fast Familiar Games: Bad Altitude Country: United Kingdom 🇬🇧 Language: English Type of Game: Digital Escape Game 💻 Genre: Comedy Date Played: 2/21/2021 Difficulty (based on 5 players): 5/10 Size of Team: 2-6 Players (age 13+) Time: 60-90 Mins (Approximately) Price: £20/ team 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Rhys, a flight attendant for the world's most underprepared airline, needs your help! Cruising at 30,000 feet, there's more demand than ever from his needy VIP passengers. Best of luck to you! 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 This is a digital game where one access code will allow up to 6 players to join in at the same time. Your game will be synced so if one player enters the password, the entire team will move forward together. We strongly recommend playing this game with headphones as there will be a lot of storytelling and you definitely do not want to miss out on the hilarious conversations. There are some clues embedded in the audio components as well so it's quite important to be able to hear them clearly. The puzzles are presented in PDF images within the game but you can also open them in separate tabs. Some PDFs are extra information that you'll need to solve a puzzle so be sure to open all the docs that were send over through the game portal. It would be great if we're able to interact with some of the puzzles as in the case of a deduction puzzle it was a lot to write down. We would've loved to be able to drag and drop certain characters. One thing we found less satisfying with this platform is the fact that most of the time it only make sense for one player to be entering codes or pressing items on the screen. Whenever we tried to do it as a group it would mess up the puzzle. This made some players feel left out during the puzzle solving process. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The puzzles were written to go along with the storyline. Rhys was constantly challenged with various "chores" from his naggy VIP passengers. One passenger had allergies towards a food item where another passenger couldn't find her bag. These were all things that we could actually relate to as they could easily happen in real life on the plane. This made the game feel more realistic and therefore the ending puzzle actually made us sweat a bit. Fast familiar improved from the last game by adding in a hint system that's not so automated. You will now have to click on request for a hint in order to receive one. Another added function is that you're able to skip a puzzle. This will come in handy for puzzles like the last one. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 Fast familiar definitely puts more emphasis on narrative rather than puzzles in their games. The puzzles were more challenging in this game versus National Elf Service. We hope to see some more interactive puzzles where the team could all partake rather than having a single player enter most of the answers or interact with the puzzles. We are fans of immersive theater so this game is right up our alley. We laughed through the entire game. The skits were witty and hit all the right spots! P.S. I love all the graphics. It's pink! What's not to like? 𝔼𝕊ℂ𝔸ℙ𝔼𝕋ℍ𝔼ℝ𝕆𝕆𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕤❜ ℙ.𝕀.𝕤❜ 𝕋𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤 Cheryl M. This is exactly my kind of game. I love a relatable concept, done with humor and a heavy dollop of narrative. Fine art heists and serial killers are great, but, oh yes, give me a commercial passenger airline flight narrative! Who can’t relate to mishandled luggage, bad seatmates and attendants with plastic smiles! So, yes, I was predisposed to like this game just on the premise. And it delivered. The puzzles were well suited to the theme. As players, we helped the flirty, mercurial, laughingly not-too-competent cabin steward named Rhys manage a host of in-flight snafus. He admits he didn’t pay much attention during job training provided by his corner-cutting carrier employer. Unabashedly on the hunt for love, he tends to forget to put flight safety first. The only puzzle that was a tad cumbersome was one set up like a 9th grade math story problem. Our team solved it, but I’d be lying if I said my head didn’t spin on that one. I might suggest the creators dial it back by one degree of difficulty for a general audience. Huge shout out for the utterly charming voice acting. Pre-recorded voices in many games are a necessary evil or something to wait out. Not here. Steward Rhys Evans is hilarious as are his colleagues and passengers. The dialogue is snappy and witty, and the actors’ delivery brings it to life. I tend to have a pretty serious game countenance but this experience had me smiling and laughing with its nutty dialogue. Also fun are the many cultural references. Oh, there’s a Karen on the plane, alright. With air travel so not happening at the moment due to COVID, this is the perfect time to nostalgically indulge in Bad Altitude. Fire up the laptop, put some nibbles on a plastic tray and pour yourself a tiny bottle of wine, any color will do. ______________________________________________________________ Matt L. & Jess A. We liked: - The accessibility! One of the first games we’ve played that is D/deaf and hard of hearing friendly with all of the audio being captioned, including the opening and closing videos which the player can add subtitles to (the same way you would with any other YouTube video). - The interface. It was fun colours and pretty to look at, but still had a reason for each element. - The narrative. The concept was enjoyable and we found the characters and storylines funny. We didn’t mind: - The puzzles. There was less solving than searching through documents, but the idea behind each puzzle was inventive and on-theme. We didn’t like: - Lack of suspense. We didn’t really feel under pressure to complete any of the puzzles even when we were supposed to be in peril. It also felt like sometimes we were listening when we could have been puzzling. - The French accent. All the other accents were spot on, but the French one sounded like a bad stereotype. - The passenger announcement. Though it was amusing, we are convinced that we could have turned our mics on and just pressed the play recording button to trigger the end of this game. Though amusing it didn’t add anything to the narrative. If the recording had played back it might have felt more necessary, but that could have been a good time for a word-based puzzle. (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 Fast Familiar for comping our tickets for this game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #ESCAPETHEROOMers #AtHomeGames #EscapeRooms #FastFamiliar #BadAltitude #comedy #adventure #flight #airplane #flight #DigitalEscapeGames

Photo above is property of Fast Familiar Company: Fast Familiar Games: The Curse of the Burial Dagger Country: United Kingdom 🇬🇧 Language: English Type of Game: Digital Game 💻 Genre: Detective, Mystery Date Played: December 5, 2021 Difficulty (based on 3 players): 2/10 Size of Team: Up to 6 Players (age 13+) Time: 60-90 Mins (Approximately) Price: £20/ 1 game link, £90/ 6 game links Video above is property of Fast Familiar 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 A mansion near Dundee, 1923. Susie Sato finds herself investigating a murder when her great-uncle and host Lord Hamilton is found dead in his private museum with an ancient Egyptian burial dagger protruding from his back. Could it be the curse of the dagger, an object Lord Hamilton was warned not to remove from the tomb? Or could something else have caused his death? Help Susie uncover different types of forensic evidence, solve puzzles and weigh up contrasting hypotheses. Can you uncover the events leading up to Lord Hamilton’s death and deduce how he died… before the curse strikes again? Photos above are property of Fast Familiar 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 "The Curse of the Burial Dagger" is more like an interactive graphic novel murder mystery, played 100% digitally. Our goal is to help Susie, the main character, determine the truth behind the death of Lord Hamilton. The story is told via a series of videos, such as interviewing suspects, investigating crime scenes and searching for evidences. At various points during the game, you can choose different paths on what you'll like to do. This made it feel like a 'Choose your Adventure' game. Since my team played it as multiple players, we choose different paths. It ultimately ended up with the same videos and storyline but it was a nice option to have to make the storyline more engaging. The main draw of the game is the Hypotheses section. After a clue is discovered (either by the video or solving a puzzle), you will be presented with several Hypotheses, and you are free to mark them as 'Likely, Unlikely or Don't know'. Throughout the game, more and more hypotheses will be present and you can change your opinion whenever new evidence has been found. Right at the end, based on your hypotheses (assuming you marked them correctly), the final objective is to determine who is the culprit behind the crime (if any). If you get stuck on a puzzle, you can use the hint or bypass option. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 During the storytelling, puzzles will be presented. The puzzles weren't too difficult in terms of solvability. You'll encounter logic puzzle, jigsaw, Math, etc...The main focus of this game is not on the puzzles but rather on the narrative. But the interface is very easy to use and it was nice that the puzzles are interactive, beginner friendly and most importantly, related to the theme and storytelling of the murder mystery. Photos above are property of Fast Familiar 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 As with other games from Fast Familiar such as Bad Altitude and National Elf Service, this game was another engaging and pleasant experience. The graphics were top notch, the narration was immersive (which truly makes it seem like you are watching a murder mystery movie rather than playing a digital game) and as always, there were humour added to the dialogues which is always a signature with this creator. If you are a puzzle enthusiast and are just in it for the puzzles, you might feel like the puzzles might be too easy or there aren't too many in the game. However, a murder mystery is more focused on the storytelling and plot so if you are a fan of production and immersion, you should definitely give this game a try. The twist and turns will definitely give the murder mystery fans the satisfaction when they finally catch this culprit! (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 Fast Familiar for comping our tickets for this game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #MelvinLim #AtHomeGames #DigitalGame #FastFamiliar #Whodunit #Detective #Mystery #UK

Photo above is property of Fantasy Escape Games Company: Fantasy Escape Games Game: Monsterville Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Digital Escape Game W/GM 💻 Genre: Sci-Fi, Fantasy Date Played: December 6, 2023 Difficulty (based on 3 players): 5/10 Size of Team: 1-8 Players (Recommend 4 Players) Time: 30/45/60/75/90 Minutes Price: Varies based on group size 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Awakening in a dimly lit jail cell, you find yourself accused of committing heinous acts within the peculiar town of Monsterville. True to its name, Monsterville is inhabited by monsters of various ages and types. Recent crimes have tainted the usually peaceful atmosphere of the town, with your group unfairly pegged as the prime suspects. Now, it's up to you and your friends to escape the confines of the jail cell and unravel the mystery behind these unprecedented crimes in Monsterville. The urgency intensifies as you realize you have until dawn to piece together the puzzle and restore peace to this typically tranquil town. 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 "Monsterville" unfolds as an audio escape room experience, emphasizing a captivating "theater of the mind" dynamic. Interactions within the game revolve around imaginative engagement, painting vivid scenarios through sound. At the game's commencement, your team faces a crucial decision: whether to embark on the werewolf or vampire path. Each choice guides you down distinct routes, shaping the gameplay. Opting for the werewolf path, we were granted unique werewolf-specific abilities, adding an extra layer of intrigue to our experience. The initial stages involved tackling smaller puzzles, allowing us to grasp the game's narrative mechanics while establishing our motivations for escape. The game master then assumed the role of storyteller, vividly describing the evolving environment. Simultaneously, we navigated a website offering visual cues, enhancing the overall immersive experience. This interactive synergy between audio storytelling and visual prompts required us to communicate our decisions based on the unfolding narrative, creating a dynamic and engaging gameplay experience. Within the game, individual preferences come into play, with some players leaning towards a puzzle-centric experience rather than full immersion in a narrative role-playing setting. Fantasy Escape Games adeptly tailors its experiences to cater to the diverse preferences within a party. Recognizing that certain individuals may be more comfortable focusing on solving puzzles rather than engaging in spontaneous role-playing, the game accommodates these preferences seamlessly. "Monsterville" strikes a balance, allowing players the freedom to choose their preferred approach—whether that's delving into puzzles for a more cerebral challenge or opting for a dialogue-centric strategy to navigate the game's scenarios. This flexibility ensures that players of varied inclinations can all find an enjoyable and accommodating experience within the immersive world of "Monsterville". 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The puzzles in this game exhibited a remarkable variety, engaging players in diverse modes of thinking. From captivating audio-based games to clever utilization of the Telescape platform, the puzzles showcased a spectrum of challenges. Some required a keen ear and attentive listening, while others made full use of Telescape's interactive features, involving tasks like clicking on items and manipulating elements within the virtual environment. These actions, though seemingly straightforward, contributed to a dynamic and immersive puzzle-solving experience. The game's demand for note-taking emerged as crucial; scattered throughout were items, skills, and fragments of information. These seemingly disparate elements often proved instrumental in later stages of the game. While the puzzles didn't necessarily rank as the most formidable, they succeeded in presenting a collective challenge to our group, appealing to both experienced puzzle enthusiasts and those seeking a moderately challenging yet thoroughly engaging gaming experience. The game featured a commendable blend of physical puzzles alongside logic and word challenges, all intricately woven into the overarching storyline. The thematic alignment of these puzzles added depth and cohesion to the gaming experience, seamlessly integrating them into the narrative fabric. A standout aspect was the adept guidance provided by our game master. Their communication was not only effective in indicating when health might be a factor but also in offering subtle nudges when needed. This dual function not only ensured our progression within the game but also adeptly avoided any sense of being hopelessly stuck, maintaining a dynamic and engaging flow throughout the experience. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 Fantasy Escape Games has crafted a highly enjoyable and inventive audio choose-your-own-adventure escape room game. Opting for the 90-minute version, our team successfully escaped with a comfortable 30 minutes remaining on the clock. The game's pacing was well-structured, and the game master skillfully managed the flow, ensuring a seamless experience for our team. A particularly delightful aspect of the experience was the game master's adept handling of unexpected player actions. When one of our characters deviated from the script, the game master adapted seamlessly, rolling with our choices to create a narrative that seamlessly integrated with the game world. This flexibility not only enhanced our immersion but showcased the game master's ability to dynamically respond to player interactions, adding an extra layer of excitement to the overall adventure. The 90-minute version of this game offers a plethora of activities, and I would wholeheartedly recommend it, as it aligns with the creators' intended design. The incorporation of specific powers for the chosen race (werewolf or vampire) adds an intriguing dynamic to the gameplay. However, our team, having selected the werewolf path, wished for more opportunities to fully utilize our werewolf powers. While these abilities surfaced sporadically, a more immersive integration would have heightened the experience, allowing us to feel more authentically connected to our chosen race within the game world. In essence, "Monsterville"  is not just a game; it's a delightful adventure tailored for every occasion. Whether connecting with friends worldwide, fostering team spirit in a corporate setting, or seeking a charming puzzle escapade, Monsterville stands out as a well-crafted delight. Its universal appeal ensures a good time for all, making it the perfect choice to turn any moment into a memorable and fun-filled experience. Photos above are properties of Fantasy Escape Games 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 Fantasy Escape Games for comping our tickets for this game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #MikeSchnurr #AtHomeGames #DigitalGameWithGM #PointnClick #USA #Fantasy #SciFi #FantasyEscapeGames

Photos provided by Escape Room Herndon Company: Escape Room Herndon Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Games: Digital Escape Game 💻 Size of Team: Unlimited Time: Unlimited Price: Free Game: Potter's Escape Genre: Fantasy, Magical Date Played: 3/25/20 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 4/10 Who doesn't love Harry Potter? We were quickly attracted by the theme. There are 12 mini puzzle games in this story. We really enjoyed the artwork being that it's a free game. Even though printing is not necessary, there's an option provided so you can plan your own puzzle competition at home! Self guided hints are available in the game and we enjoyed going down the memory lane and ended up binge watching the entire series of Harry Potter again! Remember that this is a difficult time for the escape room industry, consider a donation if you enjoyed the game! Game: Back to the Present Genre: Pop Culture Date Played: 4/3/2020 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 5/10 We enjoyed the added sounded track that you can use while playing this game. It reminded us of 80s video games and we loved one of their physical rooms called "8-Bits" which is that type of theme. Once again there are 12 mini games each with a 80s movie themed puzzle. There are some classics in there that we would definitely watch again. These mini games usually took us about 10-15min to complete so if you don't have time during the day for 1-2 hour puzzles, these definitely can scratch that itch. Remember that this is a difficult time for the escape room industry, consider a donation if you enjoyed the game! Game: The Great Gnome Rescue Genre: Fantasy Date Played: 1/12/2021 Difficulty (based on 1 player): 4.5/10 "The Great Gnome Rescue" was so much fun to play. Although it was designed as a "kid-friendly online puzzle game", there were some challenges in there to keep you sharp! The story starts off with 2 gnomes - Gnolan and Gnancy and their mission is to try to open up Escape Room Herndon for the day. Little do they know, they are about to embark on a journey (with your help of course), filled with all kinds of obstacles in a fantasy world full of quests and adventure! (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"!) #AtHomeGames #EscapeRoomHerndon #EscapeRooms #HarryPotter #80smovies #fungames #DigitalEscapeGame #remotegames #escapetheroomers #trivia #fun #movietrivia #Gnomes #Fantasy #Kraken #Adventure

Videos/ Photos provided by EscapeSF Company: EscapeSF Game: The Pegasus Project Country: USA 🇺🇸 Language: English Type of Game: Digital Escape Game 💻 Genre: Adventure Date Played: 12/8/2020 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 5./10 Size of Team: 2-6 Players Time: Approx. 90 mins - 2 hours Price: $39.00 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 There's something fishy going on at Spider Technology. A few months ago, 3 of their scientists have died from accidents and just recently our undercover agent, Agent Spike, has gone silent. We think it's because of this project that they are working on called Pegasus. The W.I.S.E. agency needs your help to uncover the truth... 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 This is a self guided digital game. You can only play this on your desktop (not compatible with mobile/tablet). Please note you only have 24 hours to play the game before it expires. Once you purchase the game, you'll receive a unique code to start the game. We did like the intro of the game as most games start right away in the central hub but in this case, we had to find our way into the Mission Hub. This is the first time we've seen a game design with real 3D floor plan of a building. We were able to "enter" and "exit" out of areas to examine items and clues. The 3D design did make the game feel more realistic. However, due to the large scale of the floor plan, we had to revisit certain areas since we couldn't remember the locations of the clues. It would've been nice if there was a inventory basket where we could pick up items that we needed to solve the puzzles as we see them. The automated chatbot was a great tool to have incase we needed hints. We used it a few times mainly because we couldn't find some of the items that were needed to solve a puzzle. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 Most of the puzzles had a "search and find" vibe. There were also audio and video clues build into the hub. One video puzzle really confused us on how the final solution was achieved even after reading the hint system. We did like the "secrecy" feel on some puzzle components which needed decoding in order to reveal the "truth". It made us feel like we're detectives on scene. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 This game combines a digital portal with a 3D floor plan to make you feel closer to the real world in the comfort of your home. Although it didn't have a strong puzzle component, it did give us the detective vibe. We also liked that we didn't have to go outside of the game portal for additional information. Adding an inventory basket would definitely make the game much easier to follow and improve the game flow. If you like "search and find" type of game while piecing together evidences in order to find the truth behind a mystery, then this might be the game for you! *** Currently can only purchase for over 20+ PPL*** (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 EscapeSF for providing us with a sample of the game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #ESCAPETHEROOMers #AtHomeGames #EscapeRooms #EscapeSF #ThePegasusProject #OnlineEscapeRoom #DigitalEscapeGame #mystery #adventure #detective

Photos provided by JJ's Online Escape Rooms Company: JJ's Online Escape Rooms Country: United Kingdom 🇬🇧 Language: English Type of Game: Digital Escape Game 💻 Time: Unlimited Size of Team: Unlimited Price: £10.00 Game: HMS Abyss Genre: Adventure Date Played: 11/30/2020 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 6/10 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 You thought you were going to enjoy this two week vacation aboard HMS Abyss until a virus left you all stranded in the middle of no where. You started to realize that a trident symbol appeared on all of the crew members' uniforms and everyone's been acting really weird. You're now being locked up in your cabin and there's a tape recorder left on your bed that says "play me". What should you do? 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 The entire game is designed with Google forms. Since there's a lot of rooms and areas to search, you'll really need a good memory to help you with navigation. We found that writing things down or taking photos of items we've discovered along the way really helped us collect our clue pieces and analyze them for the game play. It got frustrating when we had to go back and search all the options again in order to just get to one clue or location every time. You'll also need to write down answers as Google forms does not automatically save your progression so if you unlocked something and wanted to go back to look at the clues again, you'll need to enter that solution again. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 There were a good amount of puzzles with mixed level of difficulty in this game. Most of them required "search and find" and "association" to get to the answer. The utilization of various parts of the ship's location and props with each puzzle kept us entertained. There were some puzzles that we still did not understand the logic behind the solution till this day. If you like decoding you'll get to fulfill your satisfaction towards the end. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 We're not really fans of Google form game designs. It's difficult for players to keep track of their findings and progression of the game. If you couldn't finish the game in one setting, you better hope you wrote down the answers as you'll need to start from the beginning. While this game was aggravating in some parts, it definitely gave us enough play time for the money. There were a lot of puzzles embedded in the game. If you get stuck, there should be a hint page that would be in the form of google form that you'll receive after purchasing the game. Make sure you received that before starting your game to avoid having to restart at any point. Good luck mates! Game: Hell House Genre: Horror Date Played: 11/30/2020 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 5.5/10 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 You are driving on a dark country road when you noticed a large tree blocked your path. There's an old creepy looking house near the side of the road and you have no choice but to visit there to ask for help. An old man opened the door and invited you to stay for the night and wait out the storm. After being shown to your room, he vanishes. You have a bad feeling about this... 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 This game had the same design as the above game on Google forms. Please refer to details on the game play in the above review. There were a lot more usage with videos versus jpg files in this game. If you enjoy jump scares, you'll get plenty here! I've had to cover my eyes on a few occasions while Brandon watched through all the videos in case there were hints within them. The game flow felt better with this game as there weren't as many searchable components with in rooms or objects so you didn't have to click multiple times in order to get to one. The story line was quite intriguing and made us want to dig deeper into the mystery. You're clear on what you're looking for in order to escape from this hell house. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The puzzles made more sense to us in this game than the one above. We actually didn't really need to use hints to get through the entire game. There were less puzzles in terms of quantity but we had more fun with them. Since the game was designed with Google form, it's a linear game. You'll need to solve one puzzle in order to reveal more hints to the next. Make sure you write down things you've discovered as it definitely helped us get through the game quicker. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 Between the two games, we liked Hell House more. The logic behind the puzzles were more clearly stated and the graphics and storyline felt more immersive. I love to see these games designed on a different platform so it could become a "point-n-click" type of style. With the players gaining access to the inventory and a hint system build-in to the game it will improve the game play. But for now, good luck escaping the Hell House. You'll definitely be surprised with the ending... *** We regret to inform this company has closed its doors *** Disclosure: We thank JJ's Online Escape Rooms for providing us with samples of these games. Although complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #ESCAPETHEROOMers #JJsOnlineEscapeRooms #HellHouse #HMSAbyss #AtHomeGames #DigitalEscapeRooms #horror #adventure #cruise #hellhouse #googleform #onlinegame

Photos provided by Spybrain Escape Company: Spybrain Escape Game: Episode 3: The Heart of the Mountain Country: Germany 🇩🇪 Language: English, German Type of Game: Digital Escape Game 💻 Genre: Mystery, Action Date Played: 3/19/2021 Difficulty (based on 4 players): 6/10 Size of Team: Unlimited (1-2 Players (Recommended) Time: Unlimited (Approximately 80-100 Mins.) Price: €15/ Team 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 We're nearing the end. Looks like our intel finally picked up some tracks Sascha's boss Anne had left us. It looks like she might have been captured by the consortium. We have to rescue her before it's too late! 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 Episode 3 uses the same online interface as the previous two episodes. This time we chose to play with 2 more players over Zoom. We definitely noticed the difference when playing with more than 2 players. Since the game is synced, every time one player would click on something, it would show up on another player's screen. With 4 players in the same interface, it was pretty chaotic. You never know who clicking on what and the windows just kept on opening and closing throughout the game play. We eventually had to dedicate clickers and take turns. This game is still quite narrative based which we really enjoyed in the previous chapters. The sound tracks really took our imaginations to where the story takes place. The only thing is that some players may not know that certain areas have been clicked already so the storytelling would either get cut off or replayed again. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 I would definitely recommend headphones for this game. There's a good amount of audio puzzles used throughout the game play. This made it difficult to play over Zoom with a group of people. It's hard to hear the clues if people are talking and you also don't know when they're done with listening to the clues. Some of the audio puzzles were quite clever and we haven't seen the cluing utilized in such ways. Some elements during the game also had us sleuthing on the internet and Google maps. It felt like we're following breadcrumbs that Anne was leaving for us. That part was fun to do together as a group. Since the game was synced, a lot of times the input of answers was best suited for just one player. Most of our teammates would just have to watch that particular player input the answers as it would have to be done in a certain sequence. Too many players pressing at the same time would actually make it counter productive. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 I would not recommend playing this game with more than 2 players unless they change the structure of their online interface. This game would've been a lot more fun if individual players were able to search and click on items that would only reflect in their own portal. A main hub for inventory collected by the team would be great as well. I do have to compliment the narratives and the hand drawn artwork once again. The narratives were witty and humorous. The artwork was beautifully done. Hopefully the interface could become more user friendly to be able to accommodate larger group plays. 𝔼𝕊ℂ𝔸ℙ𝔼𝕋ℍ𝔼ℝ𝕆𝕆𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕤❜ ℙ.𝕀.𝕤❜ 𝕋𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤 RJ G. Pros -Simple and intuitive point and click style -Every puzzle was sensible Cons - Some of the puzzle interfaces were a bit clunky - Even with only four people, we couldn't easily keep track of who was clicking what - Every audio clip plays for everyone when any player clicks it, which can get annoying Playing through this online escape game was a good time. There wasn't anything that really stood out as exceptional, but there wasn't any real problems or bad puzzles either. The game is a solid adventure that is easily worth the price point. I'd recommend playing this game with only 2 people so that you always know who is clicking what. It would be at its best for couples or best friends to solve together. Jacqueline G. This escape room was really fun. It took us quite a while to finish and we are experienced escape room participants. I love a challenge and this felt like a real challenge. Some of the puzzles were short and quite easy to figure out while others really took brain power. The things I liked about this escape room were the array of puzzles, use of different media, disparate difficulty levels, and clever and interesting storyline. The only real criticism I can give this room is the lack of clear directions when using the translator. We needed to use a hint to realize another option needed to be changed as well which set us back a lot of time. With that minor oversight aside I give this escape room a 9/10. I believe this would be a great date/friend/family activity; it was entertaining, fun and challenging just as an escape room should be. (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 Spybrain Escape for providing us with a sample of the game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #ESCAPETHEROOMers #AtHomeGames #EscapeRooms #SpybrainEscape #TheHeartoftheMountain #OnlineEscapeRoom #DigitalEscapeGame #mystery #detective #adventure #episodic

Photos provided by Spybrain Escape Company: Spybrain Escape Country: Germany 🇩🇪 Language: English, German Type of Game: Digital Escape Game 💻 Date Played: 11/22/2020 Time: Unlimited (Approx. 60-80 Minutes) Size of Team: 1-3 Players (Recommended) Price: €10 Game: Episode 1: The Emergency Procedure Genre: Mystery Difficulty (based on 2 players): 5/10 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Sascha's Boss, Anne has gone missing. She's been investigating a company called Consortium and that might be the reason behind her disappearance. We need to follow her footsteps and see if we can solve this mystery. 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 This is a point-n-click type of game. We played it as two players and thought that was a good number for this game. Our game portal was synced once we entered the game together. If you accidentally refresh the game or exited the game, it will be automatically saved to the point where you last exited. This was a great feature since there's no time limit and you can pick up where you left off if you can't finish the game in one session. As one player picked up an item, you'll be able to see it in the inventory. Once a lock or correct solution has been entered, it'll open up for all the players. We enjoyed the hand painted graphics that introduced the various scenes during the game play. It felt like we're watching a movie. We really enjoyed the audio component as well as the narration definitely added to the immersion factor. The sound effects such as footsteps or lock opening really pulled us deeper into the game. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The puzzles complimented nicely with the illustrations. You really needed to pay attention to the details and understand the storyline in order to get some of the solutions. The creators really wanted to make the game feel as real as possible. There was one puzzle that stumped us for a bit because the solution was quite specific in terms what they wanted in a phrase format. It was definitely helpful to have the build-in hint system for that puzzle. The rest of the puzzles were quite easy and the progression made us feel like we're steps away from cracking the case. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 We really enjoyed this digital platform. It was very easy for players to follow along. The audio narration would play at the same time for all the players so you wouldn't have to worry if there was a slow reader on your team. The inventory system would remind you of what had been and haven't been used. All the players would be able to interact with the screen at the same time (although if you opened up something, it would open for the other players too so you'll have to wait till they finish reviewing it) so you'll progress as a team. We look forward to Chapter 2! Game: Episode 2: The Trail in the Underground Genre: Mystery Difficulty (based on 2 players): 6/10 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Now that we know that Anne could be kidnapped by the consortium, we need to find out where they might have taken her. Could we track down its headquarter? 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 This is the same game portal as the one they've used for episode 1. Although there are no elements in the puzzle aspect that would require you to have to play episode 1 in order to play episode 2, we suggest you play them in order so you can get the full story. This game had the same appealing artwork as the previous game. One "scene" really "wowed" us as the audio component really made us feel like we're there in person. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 Initially we saw a few puzzles that reminded us of the ones we've seen in the first episode so I was complaining to Brandon about the repetitiveness until I discovered that they had an interesting "twist". It served not only as a different type of puzzle but also as a bridge to connect episode 1 to 2. One puzzle still confuses us till this day in terms of its reference. If it was meant to be an Easter egg, we didn't quite get the connection. This game had more components of utilizing outside resource which we thought was quite fitting since the theme is sleuthing around for clues that would ultimately lead us to the location of consortium's headquarter. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 Spy Brain's games would be the first point-n-click type of game that we truly felt the immersion. It seamlessly combined storytelling and puzzles through beautifully illustrated artwork. The cliffhanger is slowly killing us inside though. We can't wait for that grand finale! (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 Spybrain Escape for providing us with a sample of the game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #CiciCao #AtHomeGames #DigitalGames #SpybrainEscape #Detective #Mystery #Adventure #Germany

Photos provided by OSCAPE Company: OSCAPE Country: Spain 🇪🇸 Language: English, Spanish Type of Game: Digital Escape Game 💻 Time: 60 Minutes Size of Team: 4 Players Price: €5 Date Played: 11/7/2020 & 11/24/2020 Game: Marcelino's Circus Genre: Circus, Mystery Difficulty (based on 4 players): 4/10 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 Marcelino Orbas is a renowned clown that travels all around the world to perform his acts. Recently with the arrival of cinema, the circus business has been badly affected. Marcelino is in need of your assistance to help him save the circus world! 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 After purchasing the game, you'll receive a code. You'll need to share this code with your teammates to sign into the game at the same time. The puzzles are designed to be played with 4 people so make sure you have that exact number. Each player will have a place to enter the solution to each puzzle on their page. The 60 minute timer will start once everyone enters the game. You'll need to figure out the solution as a team and every player needs to enter that solution in order to move onto the next puzzle. There is an integrated video conferencing portal in the game so make sure you have your microphone and camera working as communication is key. We used Zoom instead and that also worked well. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The puzzles could only be solved as a collaborative effort so don't be an "information hogger". There were easier puzzles that just took some "find and seek" moments and harder ones that incorporated logic along with visualization. We had parts of the game that was in Spanish and because the text was embedded in a jpeg, google translate was not able to help us (according to the game developer, this has been fixed). Using what's left of my high school AP Spanish, we were able to get through the game but still had to figure out some translation along the way. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃 This game made us realize the importance of communication and teamwork through an amusing method. The puzzles also really challenged us in terms of how to convey information to each other. One puzzle really stood out as it was designed around the plot of the story and we had a lot of fun trying to translate it. Despite some of the language issues, we haven't seen a puzzle design for a team game to be done in this way before. We enjoyed our time with Marcelino the clown. Game: The Red Queen Genre: Adventure Difficulty (based on 4 players): 4.5/10 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 It seems like the professor had gone missing. Did he go on another one of his adventures? It's up to you to find out.... 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 The game was designed on the exact same portal as the game above so please refer to "The Game Play" for "Marcelino's Circus" for more details. We did encounter the same issue in this game of some parts being in Spanish again. I hope this gets corrected quickly for our English players. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 We spend a good amount of time on the first puzzle as the clue was a bit misleading. We've reported this to the developer. After we bypass that puzzle with the solution (there's no tier hints so if you press "track", you'll just get the answer but no explanation will be given), the rest of the game was smooth sailing. There were some sound puzzles in this game so make sure you have your headphones. Our favorite puzzles were probably the ones that was similar to Pictionary and Charades. It was quite clever how he was able to build that into video conferencing. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 Our favorite out of the two was probably this one. Other than the little hiccup at the beginning, it had a better flow. Once again communication was key here and this time we also had to incorporate our hearing and body movements. These games were very creatively designed for team play. we look forward to playing more of Oscape's games. I think my Spanish has improved after these 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"!) Disclosure: We thank OSCAPE for providing us with a sample of the game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #ESCAPETHEROOMers #AtHomeGames #EscapeRooms #OSCAPE #TheCircusofMarcelino #OnlineEscapeRoom #DigitalEscapeGame #fantasy #circus #teamwork #adventure #mystery

Videos/ Photos provided by Real Escape Game by SCRAP Company: Real Escape Game by SCRAP Game: Escape from the Lockdown: The Strange Village Country: Japan 🇯🇵 Language: English, Japanese Type of Game: Digital Escape Game 💻 Genre: Horror Date Played: 11/3/2020 Difficulty (based on 2 players): 3.5/10 Size of Team: Unlimited. (Suggested 2-3 players) Time: Unlimited (Approx. 2-3 Hours) Price: ¥‎ 2,800/ pp (~$27/ pp) 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 The village is under attack by the werewolves! The villagers must gathered together to implement safety measures to protect themselves from the werewolf attacks. Are you able to solve the mystery and save the town before everyone turns into a werewolf? Welcome to "The Strange Village"... 🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈 After purchasing the game, you and your team will be given an intro video which will explain the rules and scenarios that you'll encounter during the game play. Since this game has a lot of video components, we strongly suggest all the players to wear headphones. You'll be acting as Fleck, a newcomer to the village. Your mission is to determine who's the real werewolf in this village and who are remaining humans. At the start of each day, you'll be given a prerecorded video to watch together as a team. In the video, you'll have to listen and watch closely to determine which actors (mayor, sister, dancer, shepherd, etc...) are telling the truth and which ones are lying based on the information that was given. You can take notes but a summary will also be provided incase you've missed something during the video. The videos are spoken in Japanese with English subtitles. We were really impressed by actors as they were all really in character. One actor in particular (you'll know who we're talking about if you've played the game) really stood out in terms of his acting skills. We didn't even notice anything until the very end. There were many twists and turns with the plot and I just kept remembering saying: "wait a minute, didn't he....?" or "Omg, I told you so!" to each other. In order to pass on to the next day, we had to solve 3 mini puzzles each time. The final step of the game was to correctly identify the werewolf and come up with a plan to save the village. It was like watching soap opera, we couldn't wait to see what will happen the next day. 🆃🅷🅴 🅿🆄🆉🆉🅻🅴🆂 The mini puzzles were quite easy. The focus of this game was not really around the puzzles. It felt like an immersive theater experience mixed in with a traditional mafia game. Majority of the time you'll be using social deduction. The interface of the game was synced so that when one person solves a puzzle, it'll automatically update for the other players. Be sure to communicate what you have solved with the other players so they don't miss out on the actions. 🅲🅻🅾🆂🅸🅽🅶 🆃🅷🅾🆄🅶🅷🆃🆂 This was definitely a very unique form of digital escape game we haven't experienced before. Initially, we thought perhaps we might be bored since most of the game was spend on watching prerecorded videos but the storyline really captivated us and we couldn't take our eyes off of the actors. If you looking for a game that focuses more on puzzles, this might not be the right game for you. But if you are looking for a murder mystery vibe spiced up with some comedy then you've found your perfect match. We love to hear what you thought about the ending if you do decide to play this game. We thought it was quite mind-blowing! (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 Real Escape Game by SCRAP for comping our tickets for this game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever. #ESCAPETHEROOMers #AtHomeGames #EscapeRooms #RealEscapeGamebySCRAP #EscapefromtheLockdown #TheStrangeVillage #OnlineEscapeRoom #DigitalEscapeGame #scrap #japan #horror #Mystery #puzzlelover #mafia #murdermystery