The Escaporium: Crux Codicillus

I did wonder what ‘Crux Codicillus’ means, but I’m not convinced that Google Translate is entirely accurate with its attempt of “cross booklet”. Or maybe it is – this game casts you as junior members of world-controlling conspiracy The Illuminati, but it’s clear from the intro video onwards that it doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Crux uses a mostly linear structure, so style of game play is closer to Haligonian than to Operation Moonshine; it’s a little longer though, with the time limit set at 66 minutes and 6 seconds. Your task is to solve the murder of the king of your order. You have a list of suspects, plus a list of murder weapons and a list of places the culprit might have fled to, and naturally must identify the correct option for each. That’s a familiar structure and the standard approach is to eliminate options one at a time until you’re left with only the correct ones. Refreshingly, The Escaporium don’t exactly follow that approach, but instead handle it in a somewhat more original way.

In the pre-game briefing we were given a warning that one puzzle might seem to result in a dead-end. That was a useful warning, when we did indeed find ourselves with a code that seemed suitable for the locks we had available but which worked on none of them. Still, it seemed like they could have simply tweaked it a little and it’d have been immediately clear that the code couldn’t yet be used, without need for the warning.

But that, along with my usual fervent dislike of anagrams, were my only nitpicks; in all other ways the puzzle standard was up to The Escaporium’s usual excellent standard. Decor-wise it boasts some very nice secret society paraphernalia.

My favourite at the company remains Moonshine, but Crux is a strong murder mystery game, where the emphasis is on puzzle solving over deduction; play this for the puzzles and the touches of humour.