Online, Dec 2020
At last count the 2020 season had 14 Christmas-themed remote avatar style escape games available; enough to do one for each of the 12 days of Christmas but not enough for an advent calendar. Headlock’s game was the first of those I tried, and is somewhere between a room and a puzzle box, with items of interest being arrayed along an area of wall. Since I am as ever many weeks behind on my review backlog, at time of posting Christmas is long past and the game is no longer available, so this will likely be of only retrospective interest.
Our host had flagged us as an enthusiast group, which apparently meant we saw a version with slightly more puzzles and slightly fewer clues. Adapting the difficulty level for the team seems a particularly good idea for Christmas games, where groups may vary even more than usual in how focused they are on puzzle solving. And while Cracking Christmas certainly had plenty of puzzles, it was also making an effort to get players in a happy festive mood and provide plenty of Christmas cheer.
Your goal is the tried-and-tested one of finding Santa’s list, which in practice means solving your way through a flurry of puzzles until the last one gives you your reward. The cute decor and clue items included some great attention to detail, with several small but entertaining elements to spot if you’re paying attention.
We got a bit bogged down trying to solve one puzzle that looked solvable, but which at the time we didn’t have all the required information for; that was compounded by there being two suitable locks for the answer and multiple ways that our busy over-thinking could produce possible codes. But our host eventually managed to push us away from that dead end. At points the camera view also seemed to have a little trouble focusing clearly, but that was never more than a short-lived nuisance.
This was a game best suited to groups who are happy to throw themselves into Christmas silliness with gusto – frankly, although alcohol and escape rooms don’t mix, having a half glass of sherry before playing this one could actively add to the experience. Being a natural grinch and also more focused on puzzles than on getting into the Christmas spirit, I wasn’t the best audience for it; but the game still managed to raise some smiles from somewhere inside my frozen, cynical soul. It was also excellent value for money, so all round a good option for a seasonal game. 