Photo above is property of dV Games
Company: dV Games
Game: DECKSCAPE: Test Time
Country: Italy 🇮🇹
Language: English
Type of Game: Puzzles By Mail 📬
Genre: Sci-Fi, Time Travel
Date Played: August 6, 2021
Difficulty (based on 2 players): 3/10
Size of Team: 1-6 (Ages 12-99)
Time: Unlimited (Suggested 1 hr)
Price: $14.90
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Your professor Doc Thyme has selected you (based on your brilliance, of course) to potentially help with an incredible new invention...but he will first need to test your skills to ensure you’re up for the task! Unfortunately, while explaining things, he accidentally hits a button that seals the laboratory and sends him falling through a trapdoor. What do you do now?!
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This was our first foray into the Deckscape series, which are purely card-based, tabletop “escape” games, in some ways similar to the Unlock series. These cards (~3.5 x 4.5”) are a bit larger than the Unlock ones, and there were 60 cards in the deck. The cards are a nice thickness with a slick feel and a simple, colorful art style.
Photos above are properties of dV GIOCHI
🆃🅷🅴 🅶🅰🅼🅴 🅿🅻🅰🆈
You begin with card number 1, and simply follow the directions on the cards as you work your way through the deck. The first few cards introduce the story and how the cards work, after which you largely progress to cards that have either a puzzle or an item that you find (with occasional story elements mixed in). For most of the game, you are actually working off of four different, color-coded decks.
There is a score-based system to see how you do, based on completion time and mistakes. They are very clear about exactly when to start and stop the timer, as well as the time penalty for mistakes, which are both helpful if you’re the competitive type and really want to see how you measure up to others! However, notably, there is no penalty for using hints.
At the finish, you get to make a decision that will determine which ending to the story you receive (as well as impacting your final “score”). This is definitely a unique element (from what we have played) compared to other card-based games like Unlock and Exit.
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The puzzle flow here was not entirely linear, since you had the four different decks to play off of. This was nice to give a few options when you were not sure what to do with one. If you are playing with more people, it also gives more folks a chance to look at different things simultaneously. (Though, we would probably recommend sticking to 1-4 players.) You do need to be mindful to pick up a whole deck when you are investigating the cards, however, so as not to reveal anything before its time. Dave would often pick up the top card to look at it, and I found myself unintentionally viewing the next card in the deck! You also need to be mindful that the solution to each puzzle is on the back of the card, so you do not want to inadvertently show it to someone sitting across from you.
Overall, the puzzles were very approachable, with a lot of aha moments. Sometimes they required combining knowledge from other cards (which you did not always have when you first saw the puzzle...tricky, tricky!). However, there were no meta-puzzles. There were a variety of logic, deduction, spatial, and basic decryption puzzles. This deck requires far less “searching” than Unlock games, and we did not feel the need for a magnifying glass! Hints are provided on two distinct cards that you pull out of the deck early on. You can look up a puzzle card by its number and color (not given in order) to find one hint written backwards. (They specifically forbid you from using a mirror to read it! Presumably, this helps prevent you from inadvertently reading other hints at the same time.) We typically like tiered hint systems, but we did not use any hints in this game. Since they are more approachable (and typically single-step) puzzles, these hints are likely to be sufficient. As mentioned, the back of each puzzle card also verifies and explains the solution, so you always would have that option if you were really stuck or just wanted clarification.
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There are currently 7 cooperative games in the Deckscape series, along with the recently released competitive version (Crew vs. Crew). This was the first that we have played, but we look forward to checking out some more! This is definitely a game that you could play with kids or those who are newer to puzzles. While most of the puzzles were on the easier side, there was one we got hung up on for quite a while until we had that great aha moment! Overall, we had a smooth experience that took us a little under an hour. As with many card-based games, the actual story is pretty light, but it does have a fun twist in the middle. While we were not 100% on-board with the logic behind each specific outcome, we loved the creative mechanism of having a key decision that we make which determines the final ending to the story.
This game is accessible in a lot of ways - affordable, small enough to take anywhere, and with approachable puzzles. If you are someone who really wants tangible items or to interact with cards in more physical ways (as is sometimes seen in the Exit games), then this may not be for you. However, if you are a fan of Unlock or open to purely card-based games and looking for something on the more approachable end of the spectrum, then Test Time might be up your alley!
(If you do decide to try this game, give us a shoutout or tag us on social media so we know you heard it from "ESCAPETHEROOMers"!)
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