Room-in-a-box, May 2023
This is part two of Diorama’s investigation trilogy, picking up where The Vandermist Dossier left off, on the trail of the missing Abigail Vandermist. You can play it as a stand-alone game – though that would be a curious choice, since it would be a shame to miss out on the first part of the trilogy. You’re more likely to come to it having already played part 1, in which case you’ll likely need little encouragement to want to play this one.
As before, the quality of the components is impressive from even before you open the box. You’re supposed to be analysing documents and items left from the Cold War era, and it’s remarkable how real they feel – materials that feel authentic, carefully marked or faded as needed. There’s plenty of text, though not as much to read as there was in part 1; but you should pay attention to the story nonetheless. Everything ties into the plot, and gradually builds up a picture of what links these items.
I also recommend making sure you have plenty of tabletop surface area while playing. You’re likely to end up conspiracy-theorist style with documents splayed out around you. You have the whole box available to you from the start – there are no sealed envelopes or other artifices to break the immersion. And nonetheless, it manages to hit you with a series of surprises where there turns out to be more to what’s in front of you than you realised.
With one puzzle I struggled to see the answer despite (I think) doing the right thing, and ended up checking on the hint site instead; I’m not sure whether that was a problem with the lighting or the way I was trying to do it. Every other part of the game worked beautifully, each secret going from completely obscure to very clear in a sudden flash of insight.
For all the excellence of the materials, a game like this is ultimately measured on the strength of its puzzles – and if anything The Medusa Report is even better there than the first game. With little in the way of explicit structure to guide you, the puzzles still lead naturally from one to another, each resolving clearly and crisply with a new surprise. Each is ingenious and clever, beginning with a fairly accessible starting point and continuing through to a delightful finish.
As a puzzle game, The Medusa Report is a real treat. I found myself sucked into the world it builds pretty much as soon as I opened the box, and absorbed by it until we found the last answer, consistently hitting the sweet spot where it felt challenging but without needing a hint to move forward. It’s perhaps a little easier than The Vandermist Dossier; it took me a couple of hours, and I’d expect plenty of speedier teams to crack it in around 90 minutes. It’s resettable for someone else to try, and there’s also apparently a track of bonus puzzles available if you have a copy of the first game to hand – sadly I didn’t, though hopefully I’ll be able to dig that one out again when part three becomes available. In any case, bonus puzzles are icing on a thoroughly delicious cake: The Medusa Report joins a short list of my all time favourite home escape games, good enough that I suggest saving it for a special occasion. 