Playmonster: Break In Alcatraz

By | July 31, 2020

by Playmonster

📦play at home
The night of June 11, 1962 marks the only successful break out from Alcatraz. No one has ever figured out how these men made their way off the island. But no one ever knew their secret: There was an outside man.
You are the “outside man” breaking into Alcatraz to help a few of your buddies escape the inescapable prison!
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Overall rating

Rated between 2 and 3 out of 5

based on ratings from 3 users
combined with 3 pro reviews

Your review

Player reviews

Jakob Frederiksen experienced rated this:Rated between 1.5 and 1.5 out of 5
Played: 18 Oct 2021 Team size: 1 Outcome: Failed 🙁
illogical

Let me start with the good stuff, this is a layered puzzle where you get to peel of a layer and reveal something new, I do like the design of this. I didn't like the way the cards are functioning in this game, long boring text and the primary mechanic of just looking for a symbol that isn't even hidden. The bad stuff the way you have to complete a puzzle is not just illogical most of the time I felt like it wasn't really a puzzle, leaving me with a feeling of is that it, finding the number to put the card into, the right symbol for the answer card and the color for the line on the card. Right from the first puzzle it felt like this mechanic was forced on and the need for the last part of the solution where just something you had to go with oh this makes the most sense but it didn't really fit. Got really bored with the game just over halfway through the deck and decided that this wasn't for me.

Cannot recommend, hopefully some of their later games will be better but this just fell flat.

PuzzleParrot expert rated this:Rated between 3 and 3 out of 5

I have seen a few reviews describing the "answer check" mechanism as confusing, but I personally had no problem with it.  For a mass market game, it was fun, logical, and startlingly cheap.

Anonymous rated this:Rated between 1 and 1 out of 5

The worst game we've ever played. Frustrating and way too difficult to understand.

Reviews by escape room review sites

Playing this game felt like watching a movie. Every time we solved a puzzle, a new written story was presented to us on a symbol card. This would open up a new "scene". Our favorite part about this game is the design. The 3D game board along with the ability to be maneuvered in a way where we felt like we're literally peeling away secrets to reveal surprises within. Every time we thought that was the last layer we would be surprised with more. As we outsmarted the guard, snuck through the vents, climbed down the roof and ultimately made it to the rescue boat, we were relieved. Just when we thought we safely escaped Alcatraz, more life and death choices were presented in front of us...Let us know how you chose to end your adventure if you decided to try out this game! 

Break In Alcatraz was the first game in the series that we played, and the level of novelty felt through the roof. It was incredible how the box opened up, revealing layers of new sets to explore.

Unfortunately, Break-In Alcatraz doesn't fully exploit the potential of its own idea. Only very few puzzles actually make use of the different dimensions that the box design allows.

I feel like there was a lot of promise in this game, and at a seemingly impossible price point for what you’re getting. it’s just a shame that the puzzle half of it didn’t come together. I can’t really recommend this game, but if you’re an enthusiast and are interested in seeing a couple of novel new ideas, you can (at this writing) picked this up for about $12 and check it out for yourself.

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