Category Archives: Room in a box

Unlock!: The Adventurers Of Oz

Room-in-a-box, Jul 2018

The Unlock! series of escape games is now up to nine games, with another three about to be released, plus various mini demo games. In Europe the main games are sold as boxed sets of three, and in each such set I’ve found the third game in the box to … (more)

Unlock!: Tombstone Express

Room-in-a-box, Jul 2018

It is very much to Unlock!’s credit that they keep experimenting with their format. Having established a game system that works, they could have easily settled into churning out identikit games. Instead, each new release seems to push the format in a… (more)

Unlock!: A Noside Story

Room-in-a-box, Jul 2018

The first Unlock! game I played was Squeek & Sausage, and that game’s characters return in this sequel, which has some joking references back to the original but which works perfectly well even if you haven’t played that one. It has the same bold car… (more)

Puzzle Card: Escape The Room

Room-in-a-box, Oct 2018

Having grown from live games to play-at-home boxes and books, the escape game juggernaut expands to a new format – the greetings card! Puzzle Card is exactly what it says on the tin: it’s a birthday card with a set of puzzles to solve, plus a smallis… (more)

Exit: Dead Man on the Orient Express

Room-in-a-box, Aug 2018

Exit’s latest game is of course inspired by the Agatha Christie novel, and filled with nods and references to it, right down to the famous detective “Achilles Pussot” – who is missing in action, leaving the investigations to you. Fortunately it does … (more)

Exit: The Sunken Treasure

Room-in-a-box, Aug 2018

Each year brings a new crop of titles from the EXIT line of boxed escape games, a reliably polished product that faithfully follows their established format while managing to feel fresh and free from recycled puzzle ideas. The latest batch of boxes i… (more)

Escape Game: Lucky Luke

Room-in-a-box, May 2018

Some people impulse-buy handbags or electronic gadgets; apparently my equivalent vice is to buy escape game books in languages I don’t speak, which is how I ended up with a French-language copy of the Lucky Luke book after passing through Brussels. I… (more)

Trip 1907

Room-in-a-box, May 2018

Trip 1907 describes itself as an “interactive escape the book game”; many will immediately notice the resemblance in style and presentation to Journal 29, from which it readily acknowledges drawing inspiration. It has not only the same format of one … (more)

Journal 29

Room-in-a-box, Jun 2017

I originally decided not to write a review for Journal 29, because it never claims to be an escape game – quite correctly so in my opinion. So many publishers are jumping on the ‘escape game’ description because it’s hot at the moment, but it’s often… (more)

Argyx Games: Apocalypse (prelude)

Room-in-a-box, May 2018

This review comes perilously close to breaking my normal rules, in that it’s for a small taster game put out to raise interest in a crowdfunding campaign for the full product (which is now running, as of two days ago – see the link at the top). Howev… (more)