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Writer's pictureMelvin Lim

Fast Familiar - "The Curse of the Burial Dagger"

Updated: Apr 28


Photo above is property of Fast Familiar

Company: Fast Familiar

Games: The Curse of the Burial Dagger

Country: United Kingdom 🇬🇧

Language: English

Type of Game: Digital Game 💻

Genre: Detective, Mystery

Date Played: December 5, 2021

Difficulty (based on 3 players): 2/10

Size of Team: Up to 6 Players (age 13+)

Time: 60-90 Mins (Approximately)

Price: £20/ 1 game link, £90/ 6 game links


Video above is property of Fast Familiar


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A mansion near Dundee, 1923. Susie Sato finds herself investigating a murder when her great-uncle and host Lord Hamilton is found dead in his private museum with an ancient Egyptian burial dagger protruding from his back. Could it be the curse of the dagger, an object Lord Hamilton was warned not to remove from the tomb? Or could something else have caused his death? Help Susie uncover different types of forensic evidence, solve puzzles and weigh up contrasting hypotheses. Can you uncover the events leading up to Lord Hamilton’s death and deduce how he died… before the curse strikes again?

Photos above are property of Fast Familiar


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"The Curse of the Burial Dagger" is more like an interactive graphic novel murder mystery, played 100% digitally. Our goal is to help Susie, the main character, determine the truth behind the death of Lord Hamilton. The story is told via a series of videos, such as interviewing suspects, investigating crime scenes and searching for evidences. At various points during the game, you can choose different paths on what you'll like to do. This made it feel like a 'Choose your Adventure' game. Since my team played it as multiple players, we choose different paths. It ultimately ended up with the same videos and storyline but it was a nice option to have to make the storyline more engaging.

The main draw of the game is the Hypotheses section. After a clue is discovered (either by the video or solving a puzzle), you will be presented with several Hypotheses, and you are free to mark them as 'Likely, Unlikely or Don't know'. Throughout the game, more and more hypotheses will be present and you can change your opinion whenever new evidence has been found. Right at the end, based on your hypotheses (assuming you marked them correctly), the final objective is to determine who is the culprit behind the crime (if any). If you get stuck on a puzzle, you can use the hint or bypass option.


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During the storytelling, puzzles will be presented. The puzzles weren't too difficult in terms of solvability. You'll encounter logic puzzle, jigsaw, Math, etc...The main focus of this game is not on the puzzles but rather on the narrative. But the interface is very easy to use and it was nice that the puzzles are interactive, beginner friendly and most importantly, related to the theme and storytelling of the murder mystery.

Photos above are property of Fast Familiar


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As with other games from Fast Familiar such as Bad Altitude and National Elf Service, this game was another engaging and pleasant experience. The graphics were top notch, the narration was immersive (which truly makes it seem like you are watching a murder mystery movie rather than playing a digital game) and as always, there were humour added to the dialogues which is always a signature with this creator.


If you are a puzzle enthusiast and are just in it for the puzzles, you might feel like the puzzles might be too easy or there aren't too many in the game. However, a murder mystery is more focused on the storytelling and plot so if you are a fan of production and immersion, you should definitely give this game a try. The twist and turns will definitely give the murder mystery fans the satisfaction when they finally catch this culprit!

 

(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 Fast Familiar for comping our tickets for this game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever.



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