Online, May 2020
On starting the second play at home CSI game from The Panic Room, I assumed it would be very similar to the first – but no, or at least not exactly. The platform used to deliver the game is the same, of course – the same system of solve a puzzle, enter a code to progress to the next step of information and the next puzzle. It also has in common that much of the clue information you’re presented with is only used later on, for the final resolution of the murder mystery. However, although in both games you’re investigating a murder scene, the way that’s handled is rather different.
In Mafia Murders you only have eight steps, fewer than in their other games; and many of the puzzles are very straightforward, on a par with walking into a physical escape room and using the time on the stopped clock as a padlock code. Even so we got really quite stuck on a couple of them, and ended up having to resort to at least the first level of hint on those puzzles – both turned out to be due to the answer lying outside the scope of what we’d assumed to be the puzzle’s boundaries. Other than time spent stuck in those places, it was a very quick game to play through.
Where CSI:Grounded presented you with a mass of detail and required you to pick out the small detail that allowed you to crack the case, Mafia Murders is much more straightforward. You start off with an initial list of 11 suspects, who you eliminate one by one as you progress (that’s eliminate as suspects, not “Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes” eliminate). It’s much more the sort of puzzle escape room players will be used to: take the clues presented, work out how they’re intended to be interpreted, and you’ll find the answer.
I believe Mafia Murders is an online adaptation of a game originally designed for parties and corporate events, and that shows through – enthusiasts will find it easy and unchallenging. For that reason you may be better off choosing one of their other games. However, as a game for players who are new to escape rooms and want something a bit lighter, this could be a good choice – it’s self-contained, approachable and full of joyously clichéd American-Italian accents. 
