Escape The Puzzle Box- “Operation Swan Dive"

Photo above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

Company: Escape The Puzzle Box

Game: Operation Swan Dive

Country: United Kingdom 🇬🇧

Language: English

Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬

Genre: Spy Mission

Date Played: April 10, 2022

Difficulty (based on 2 Players): 4/10

Size of Team: 2 ppl

Time: Unlimited

Price: £19.99

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Word is, that there is a mole in the bureau. A virus has been installed onto the computer system and four of the agents have been investigating tech companies recently and that had access to intel that allowed them to do this. Can you uncover who the rogue agent is? Where the agent was last seen? What the virus was called and who designed it?

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The game comes packaged flat in a large envelope and contains a flat-packed cardboard box, setup instructions and a shiny dossier of information on stout A4 paper, plus a basic, light metal chain and a 3-digit padlock for locking up the box.

Photos above are property of Escape The Puzzle Box

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First things first, you need to build the box which is very easy if you have folded similar postal or storage boxes before (just follow the creases). If you struggle, searching for tips online might help. However, there are no directions on the Escape The Puzzle Box website.

Then pop whatever you want to be the “treasure” inside (a gift or special item) and follow the instructions in the black leaflet to chain and lock the box. NOTE: One person will have to know and use the final answer to open the padlock and lock the box, so do not read the black leaflet if you want to solve the final code! However, you can get away with solving the puzzles that lead to the code.

Once that is all set up, scramble the lock code, then either give the box and the dossier to your gift recipient or begin the mission yourselves!

After reading the introductory letter, you will need to crack the clues and find the four pieces of information that are required. This will lead you to the code required.

There is no online element and everything is self-contained. However, we did have to do a web search for some help towards one of the answers. There is however a series of hints and a final answer entry on the company’s website.

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There are only really 5-6 puzzles to solve in the game, but a fair amount of reading and transcribing to do for each, so it took us roughly half an hour of working through to solve everything.

Two of the puzzles are the same type (which is a shame, as more variety would be nice), but the puzzles are simple enough and use familiar code breaking techniques, pattern matching and deduction.

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This is a very simple mystery puzzle game, designed to be a fun barrier to someone immediately ripping the paper off a present and the whole thing being over in seconds!

It would be appreciated by an amateur puzzler as a great way to receive a gift with a fun activity attached to it. Clever kids may also be able to crack the clues, with a bit of help maybe, and this would be a great way to stop their present frenzy being over too soon, as well as a sense of accomplishment from solving the puzzles.

It would also be a great introduction to in-person escape rooms before someone tries one for real. Why not buy a gift voucher for a real escape room and put that inside as the reward?!

Seasoned puzzlers and escape room goers may find this too simple, but as two of them, we still really enjoyed it as a quick mystery and a fun use of time, with one locking a secret object in the box, solving the puzzles together and then the other using the final code to reveal the contents!

There is even a discount code included for your next order, plus the chance to get a higher discount if you provide a photo or video of yourself playing the game!

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Check out our interview with the creators to understand more on the development side of the game:

Video above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

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(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 Escape The Puzzle Box 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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