Crime Runners - "Crime Stories Part 2: Beneath Vienna"

Updated: Apr 28

Photo above is property of Crime Runners

Company: Crime Runners

Game: Crime Stories Part 2: Beneath Vienna

Country: Austria 🇦🇹

Language: English/ German

Type of Game: Digital Escape Room (Point & Click) 💻

Genre: Adventure

Date Played: January 12, 2022

Difficulty (based on 4 players): 7/10

Size of Team: Multiplayer game (can use same code). Recommend 1-4 players.

Time: Unlimited (Suggested 60-90 Mins.)

Price: €19.90 (Receive €10.00 discount for their physical escape game after)

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The second chapter in the Dickson storyline, you find yourself where you left off. Venturing further into your father’s house looking for the stash of gold, a staircase leading down, down into the deep tunnels of Vienna. Who would have thought that there were so many secrets hidden within this mansion? With a bit of bravery and determination you progress into the inky blackness of the tunnels underneath the titular city. Will you finally find your father's lost gold?

Video above is property of Crime Runners

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This is a self made platform from Crime Stories. The game play is all done via point and click interfaces. Using only your mouse and your wits, it is up to you to figure out the secrets in the tunnels and make your way out. Before the start of the game, Beneath Vienna will give an in depth tutorial on the interface and how moving and interacting with objects work. If you have played any similar video game, movement should come naturally. There are sound cues when you click on each interact-able item and it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you wait for the sound cue to finish if playing with more than one person. One thing we wish it had were jump points on the tunnel map as there were a good amount of times that we had to go back and forth from different locations and it took awhile to navigate. This game can be played solo or with a team of up to four people. Our ESCAPETHEROOMers team started this adventure with four players but found that either due to the amount of clicking or other technical difficulties, some of the puzzles, when solved correctly, did not trigger the solution animation. Crime Stories implemented a workaround by choosing the “solve” button on the hint screen to bypass the puzzle. In order to give this game a fair shake, we all played the game as individual players and all had a significantly better experience. If you are playing with a group of people, we suggest a designated "navigator" but the rest of the teammates will be more like spectators rather than active participants.

Photos above are property of Crime Runners

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The puzzles in this game are a great mix between hunt and find and proper logic puzzles. Exactly what you would expect in a point and click adventure. Each puzzle solved was well described and thought out, we felt no need to use a hint during the game. Make sure you have the sound on as some of the puzzles are audio based and would be impossible to solve without it. There was a lot of fun to be had while solving. The game had a great mixture between easy, difficult, and “long” puzzles kept variety and engagement during the game.

Photos above are property of Crime Runners

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Beneath Vienna is not a game where you would have to play the first chapter to get an enjoyable experience (though it will help with the storyline). The graphics and visuals during the game are very well put together and it is understandable what room is what. The movement between the rooms can be slow as one has to wait for the audio cue to finish. Completing the four remaining chapters in this game all adds to the story and builds upon previous knowledge. Make sure when playing this game you have a pen and paper available. There is a lot of information that you might want to write down and it will make solving all puzzles a lot easier. This is a very well put together game (you can tell when an entire 10 month is put in to the production) that players will be quite happy to experience. Playing as a solo player, or making sure only one player has controls is my favorite way to experience this story and you won’t regret playing this game! Although there are no more cliffhangers or digital game continuation left after this game, you might want to visit Crime Runners if you are ever in Vienna as they do have an in-person escape room that will give you the ultimate conclusion to this story!

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(If you do decide to try this game, please remember to let them know that you heard it from"ESCAPETHEROOMers"!)

Disclosure: We thank Crime Runners for providing us with a sample of the game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever.