Game Review: Escape Room – The Game

Age: 16+
Playing Time: 60 min
Players: 3-5

Okay. I don’t mean to keep reviewing escape rooms, but I just love them so much. Whether it was Unlock – The Formula, Unlock – The House on the Hill, or the Stargazer’s Manor, there is a clear pattern of behaviour that I will not apologize for.

Escape rooms teach you to think laterally, solve problems, and look outside the box for answers. Every one I’ve done has been different in how to solve. I’ve heard rumours that there are ways to get them done quickly and efficiently as describe by Wilfred Laurier professor, Scott Nicholson. In attempt to sneakily control my friends, I attempted to use tips from Beat Any Escape Room from Mark Roper’s YouTube. Next time I’ll need to lay out the ground rules instead of being sneaky.

This game comes with four different scenarios. Unfortunately, they don’t have much repeatability.

The Escape Room is unlike the ones I’ve previous mentioned as it needs an external piece of hardware and uses keys supplied. As with my other escape room reviews, I won’t be showing any pieces. However, I will show you the decoder because it’s pretty awesome.

It checks your answers AND keeps track of how much time you don’t have. It also penalizes you for wrong answers. I love and hate the Chronodecoder.

I’ve played half the games in here, and have loved each one. I would say that this is my second favourite escape room game right after the Stargazer’s Manor if only for the coolness of the decoder.

For more information, please ask your local game venue!

Review: Mystery at the Stargazer’s Manor

Players: 3 to 8
Estimated Game Time: 90 min to 2 hours
Recommend Ages: 10+

I love a good escape room. The only thing I like more is a great escape room. This game falls under the latter for the sheer quality they put into there games.

The story unfolds that you’re a caretaker for an astronomer’s mansion when he unexpectedly lets you and the cook go. You return with some concerned townsfolk to help you discover the mysterious sounds and smells coming from the mansion.

This game features a decoder ring style turn system that you use to open envelopes. These envelopes help you progress through the adventure. Each box comes with recommendations on background music, invitations, and the like so you can make a night of the adventure.

Out of the escape rooms that we have played so far, this comes the closest to being an escape room without having to pay admission to pay for one.

Game Review: Unlock! The Formula

Age: 10+
Players: 1 to 6 players
Time: 60 max

A box full of promises and secrets

When we played our first Unlock adventure, we enjoyed it so much that we had to come back for a second helping! The Formula is a mission to retrieve a truth serum from a military scientist who has not reported in.

The mechanics involving the phone are still present. The app is pretty much the same except a slightly different texture pack.

Now that I’m looking at it, it has a very Fallout feel to it.

Without giving too much away, this was certainly more a thinker than we expected compared to the first one, and we recommend playing the tutorial again quickly to get a feel. A lot of the clues seemed obvious, but figuring out how to enter them into the mobile device wasted a lot of time.

Still enjoyable, but left a sour taste in our mouth. Perhaps that’s just our pride. We’ll get it next time. Next time…

Game Review – Unlock!: House on the Hill

Players: 1-6
Age: 10+
Time: 60 max

I love puzzles and figuring them out. The video games I used to play all had some sort of puzzle feature because I loved that A-Ha moment when you figured it out. Don’t get me wrong, there was a lot of frustration as well, but it always made for a sweeter release from the tension. With Escape Rooms gaining traction, we wanted to see what the fuss was about so while we were at the Mancala Monk we played Unlock!: House on the Hill.

Box art courtesy of Amazon

This game features two components: a numbered set of cards and a free downloadable app. The app provides atmospheric music, hints, and is used to progress through the numbered cards. The cards have a number on the back and are kept facedown until you discover them either by linking together components that go with one another or using a machine or code on the app.

Screenshot of Unlock! on Android

The House on the Hill takes you on a paranormal ride as you try to undo the damage done by some troublesome teenagers. (shake fist dramatically here) You have an hour to break the curse and we definitely needed it. We escaped with almost 3 minutes to spare before the house almost consumed us.

House on the Hill is great party game that is inexpensive to purchase but doesn’t have much replayability unless you run the game for others. With that said, you’ll still save money compared to an escape room which can run upwards of $80 for a group of 4. If you’re looking for a fun activity to do at a board game cafe, or for your next party, I recommend thinking about Unlock!