Co-Decode: On Course For Kantawe

Brilliant Part 3, can't wait for more!

We have greatly enjoyed the previous two "Oldervik" play-at-home games, and this third entry in the series continues to impress. As before, the game combines a handful of print-at-home paper elements (around 6 A4 sheets) with digital online elements accessed via QR code or weblinks. We played in a team of 4 over Zoom, with each of us having printed our own copies of the paper sheets, and also screen-sharing as appropriate.
On Course for Kantawe is the most ambitious of the series yet, and extends the existing mechanics from the previous games in almost every way  - in terms of the sheer scale (yes, it really does take nearly 6 hours to complete!), the gameplay mechanics (including the concept of "keyphrases" which you'll have to discover in order to tease information out of conversations with various NPCs), the clever puzzles making use of novel elements of the print and digital media, including papercraft activities and clever web interactions, and just the overall polish and finishing touches (e.g. the sound effects and voiceovers of key characters). The story is engaging and there's enough background of the characters to be interesting, while not so much to bore you.
One puzzle was a bit tedious, but the hint system is elegant and effective - and you always have the option to jump straight to the answer if you want to skip any puzzles. If I had to criticise it, I'd say that it could perhaps have been thinned out a little, or perhaps split into two chapters - we were mentally exhausted at the end of it! (There are natural stopping points where you're prompted if you'd like to take a break) But, otherwise, in terms of a quality game at very good value for money, this is pretty hard to fault.