Category Archives: Room in a box

404

Room-in-a-box, Dec 2019

Ever since Journal 29 there’s been a boom in similarly formatted puzzle books, each with one puzzle per double page spread, where the first challenge of solving is often in working out how to approach the cryptic illustration. 404 is the latest such,… (more)

The Cult Experience

Room-in-a-box, Nov 2019

Many play at home escape games use an online component, usually for hints and/or answer verifications. The Cult Experience goes much further, and the larger part of the game consists of video snippets, each usually a few minutes long. You purchase th… (more)

Exit: Mysterious Museum

Room-in-a-box, May 2019

In Exit’s ever-expanding range, Mysterious Museum is pitched to be less challenging, intentionally one of their easier games. Puzzle difficulty is a very subjective matter, but Museum is made more approachable by being much more linear than their nor… (more)

Exit: Sinister Mansion

Room-in-a-box, May 2019

Exit follow a very consistent, well-defined style of puzzle game, and after reviewing eight or nine of them there’s not a whole lot to say about a new one unless it differs from the others in some significant way; and Sinister Mansion does not.

The … (more)

Exit: The Catacombs of Horror

Room-in-a-box, Oct 2019

For those who enjoy lining up all their Exit games in a neat little line of matching boxes on the shelf, it will have come as bad news that Catacombs of Horror is a double-size game, packaged in an outsized box that completely fails to match the othe… (more)

Plankton Games: Doctor Esker’s Notebook

Room-in-a-box, Aug 2019

I’d barely heard of Doctor Esker’s Notebook, and wasn’t even sure if it was a puzzle game or other sort of card game when the publisher sent me a copy to try. That’s always a risky thing for a publisher to do, since I’m fairly merciless about critici… (more)

Argyx Games: Apocalypse: Sign of the Cross

Room-in-a-box, Jun 2019

Last year I reviewed a taster mini-game produced by Argyx and was impressed enough to sign up as a backer in the crowdfunding campaign for their full game, Apocalypse. That taster stood out for the quality and realism of its components, for making pl… (more)

Escape Tales: The Awakening

Room-in-a-box, Jun 2019

I’ve been saying for a while that the convention of a 60 minute time limit is an unnecessary constriction on play-at-home games, and that games would do better to aim for a longer play time and a more substantial experience. Escape Tales appear to ha… (more)

Unlock!: Scheherazade’s Last Tale

Room-in-a-box, Jun 2019

Second in Unlock!’s Exotic Adventures set, Scheherazade’s Last Tale dives into the mythology of Arabian nights, with the premise that Scheherazade has run out of inspiration on her final night, and needs you to save her. It’s a romantic and distincti… (more)

Unlock!: Expedition: Challenger

Room-in-a-box, Jun 2019

In each set of games Unlock! releases, the third game has always been the one rated with the highest difficulty, has been the most innovative and ambitious in design, and – so far – has been my favourite of the box. Expedition: Challenger continues t… (more)