Company: Enigma Fellowship
Country: Germany 🇩🇪
Language: English
Type of Game: Puzzles By Mail 📬
Date Played: 12/17/2020
Size of Team: Unlimited
Price: $22.00
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The games came in a large envelope. There were minor wear and tear from shipping (the owners have informed us that the packaging has since been changed). A stronger paper stock is recommended. There were several small envelopes that were within the large one. Every envelope's contents will have a clear check list on their website. This is where you'll follow the game's storyline and instructions. Most of the items were paper clues except "The Scattered Cards" game which contained playing cards.
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Read the intro letter along with the "Mystery Solving 101" note carefully. Scan the QR code in the back of the "101 paper" and begin your game. you can chose to either play it in a "timed play" fashion (a virtual game host will prompt you with clues with a timer so you can finish the game within the time frame you want) or a "free play" fashion which doesn't set a limit on the play time. The envelopes are all sealed and you should open them only when instructed. The envelopes will have a QR code on it and whenever you solve a puzzle, you will have to enter the answer online. If you got the right answer, you'll be led to the next "scene" and in turn you may be allowed to open the next envelope. It took us awhile to get use to this play mode as there's a lot of envelopes and all of them contained a good amount of information. Some information we felt like there were items we didn't get to use or only used it for a quick second and it realized they were there for storytelling purpose only. We felt that added a lot of red herrings to the puzzles. The concept was great as we love opening new envelopes to discover new realms. We recommend having a large table for these games. You'll need it.
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You'll encounter different ciphers, some Math problems, a few deduction type of puzzles, etc... It's not too difficult for experienced players. Most of the cluing were quite straightforward and lead us to the solution right away. If you have difficulties with these puzzles, there is a "step by step" hint system on their website. We got an older version of the game so we discovered a few mistakes in the prints but the owners have ensured us that these have been corrected by now. Most of the puzzles were reasonable but we did find a few that had us do a "trial and error" in order to get to the right solution. It felt like that escape room that wanted to raise the difficulty level but not in an puzzle level way but more of a cumbersome way.
Game: The Lost Knowledge
Genre: Adventure
Difficulty (based on 2 players): 5.5/10
Size of Team: Unlimited
Time: Approximately 120 mins
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We've been contacted by Prof. McEwan's research group. They think that the professor could be in some kind of danger as he's gone missing for quite some time now. Let's see if we'll be able to find him with the breadcrumbs that he's been leaving behind...
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We like the audio storytelling option Enigma Fellowship build into all of their games. They even added sound effects which really bought out the immersion. There were a few puzzles that were a bit of a stretch for us but over all we enjoy the storyline and the message behind the game. It felt like we were taken through a history lesson. Did we save the professor at the end and what was he hiding? I guess you'll have to play the game to find out...
Game: The Scattered Cards
Genre: Detective
Difficulty (based on 2 players): 6/10
Size of Team: Unlimited
Time: Approximately 150 mins
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Citizens of Soonburg have been mysterious disappearingly lately. Even a police officer has gone missing! The only connection seems to be random playing cards received by each victim before they vanished. We were bought in to solve this mystery...who's behind these evil doings?
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The storyline was quite intriguing to follow in this game. We had fun piecing together the evidence just to realize that the plot is not what it seems. There's more narratives in this game than the previous game and more puzzles and clues you'll have to sift through. We were confused at a few spots regarding the cluing to the solution. Overall, we enjoyed this game over the "Lost Knowledge". Perhaps because I'm such a big CSI fan!
(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"!)
Disclosure: We thank Enigma Fellowship for providing us with a sample of their game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever.
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