Co-Decode

Very well put together escape room and mystery where the story is immersive, puzzles are tough and lies are plenty. Well recommended as an online game for 3-4 people, works wel via Zoom too and some profit is going towards charities. Make sure to budget a good 3 hours 🙂

"Operative Onboard" - the second game in Co-Decode's Oldervik series - takes all the elements that made Ch.1 an already enjoyable game, and improves on them in every way. 

The narrative in this chapter takes on a classic "whodunnit" style, with story and puzzles themed around a selection of suspects on a train. Players are given just enough information about the characters to feel interesting, but not so much to be overwhelmed by text and unnecessary backstory - in fact, the entire game is a beautiful example of elegant design - absolutely every detail is there for a reason, and they fit together beautifully, nothing extra and nothing missing.

Players use two sheets of A4 printed paper as a "game board" containing QR codes representing the locations that can be visited, passengers to be interviewed, and objects to be examined, all of which lead to corresponding puzzles on a website. This makes the entire games feel like an Escape room/Cluedo/Poirot crossover, and it works brilliantly.

Mechanically, the designers have taken feedback from the first game - QR codes are larger and easier to cut out and scan, and we had no tech issues at all - the entire experience felt very high-quality. Which, considering it only cost £12 (of which £2 goes to an NHS hospice) and provided over 3hrs entertainment for 4 people makes this a "must-buy" game.

Another great room from co-decode. A really good mix of puzzles which was great for our group of varying experience players. Another room which has a sliding win condition so that beginners and enthusiasts can both enjoy the room to the max.

A great game with interesting and clever puzzles.  The ability to vary the difficulty level of the game according to the experience of the team is also a nice touch.  Alex is a super GM.  I'd not hesitate to recommend Co Decode.

Well thought out design to lead you to more detailed puzzles and a good level of difficulty - I would say we found this hard, although in part our time reflects technical issues with having eyes too old to read small things, QR codes on mobile phones and fiddly paperwork required, and from needing to reprint some sheets later in the game after going wrong, which was a little frustrating at the time. However, developers have been very responsive to feedback and have made some changes to the game which I think will iron out most of these issues and I would have no hesitation in recommending it as a fun game to play if at home. 

Very clever and creative compact puzzle with QR-code mechanics. Really enjoyed it with a team of 4 in two households. Not a 5 star due to fiddly nature of QR codes on phones and one puzzle that really required a leap of logic (in my opinion). Already bought Chapter 2 - can't wait!