A mystery is afoot at the local museum and paranormal activity is the primary suspect. Could it be true? It’s up to you to figure it out! Can you solve the mystery, or will whoever, or whatever, is behind the crime get away with it? You’ll need a high attention to detail to find all the clues, so don’t rush through the evidence too quickly, or you’re bound to miss something important!
What Is It?
An escape-room style, mystery game for 1 or more players where everyone works together to gather clues on a mission to solve a case. There is hidden information and limited communication between players, to increase the difficulty a bit, and it has a 3-D crime scene to really put players right into the story. Players need to balance the cards they choose to share with their team, and those they choose to discard to the archive, and try to highlight the most important information to get to the bottom of the investigation.
Who Is It For?
- Fans of deduction / mystery
- Ages 13 and up – Might be difficult for a younger audience
- 2-4 players – Solo eliminates the neat “hidden info” aspect that I liked, and I think over 4 players would feel like too much for what you’re solving
- Players good at noting small details
- Fans of co-op / teamwork
- Fans of engaging story
- Those who don’t mind a bit of reading throughout the game, as new plot points are introduced
Components / Quality
There’s a 62-card deck of oversized cards. Nice quality; everything on them is very clear as far as word / images, and there’s plenty of stuff well-hidden throughout. The 7 colored clips are simple and pretty thin / flimsy. They’re fine for what they’re used for, but I could easily see them snapping if you handle them too roughly. The box is a good size for what’s in it. Sturdy quality too, which works well with the 3-D scene mechanic. Finally, the art is a nice style across the board and very aesthetically pleasing.
PROS
- Engaging story
- Hidden info (player hands) mitigates potential alpha-playing
- Unique mechanics for the genre
- Not timed
- Though a “one-time play,” nothing is destroyed, so you can let others borrow it afterwards
CONS
- Really my only issue with the game was that since the 3-D crime scene is small, only one player could look closely at it at a time. Can make it slow to move forward at times.
Final Thoughts
While it definitely falls closer to a pure “investigation / mystery” type of game, it still gives me that “escape room” vibe, just solving one large puzzle that has many parts, instead of many smaller puzzles. I especially felt this at the very end with the unique way it has you wrap up the story (I just don’t want to spoil it!) The story and mechanics kept me invested throughout, and I never really felt like I was stuck, which many other games of this nature have left me feeling. I also really liked having to choose which cards to get rid of and which seemed like the most important to solving the mystery, that was a really neat way to give the players more control over the game. Overall, a very neat experience and if you like small escape room games, particularly Deckscape, then you’ll probably enjoy diving into this series as well.
My Final Ratings:
Overall Game – 7/10
Aesthetics – 7/10
Difficulty – 5/10
Replay Value – N/A – Though I would let friends play it now and go back to it in a few years when I forget the story
*I was provided a copy of this game to do this review*
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