Inside Breakout - "The Uncle Herbert Case"

Updated: May 1, 2024

Photos provided by Inside Breakout

Company: Inside Breakout

Game: The Uncle Herbert Case

Country: Switzerland 🇨🇭

Language: English, German

Type of Game: Puzzles By Mail 📬

Genre: Detective

Date Played: 9/2/2020

Difficulty (based on 2 players): 4/10

Size of Team: Unlimited

Time: Unlimited

Price: CHF 33.00

We waited 2 month for this game to arrive from Switzerland. Just when we thought we lost the battle to the COVID mailing system, it magically appeared in our mailbox! Since we waited for so long, we had to play to it right away...

"The Case Uncle Herbert" came in a large envelope with paper documents, 2 photographs, 2 transparent papers, and some colorful plastic circle game pieces. Since the documents were all loose papers, it was quite easy to get them mixed together. The company is currently redesigning the game so that it will be professionally printed and bounded. They are also resigning some of the graphics.

We started by reading the instruction sheet which also gave us some guidance on where to look for hints if we were to get stuck. Thereafter we were given the premise of the game. In this game, we were playing the role of Detective Clayton. A mysterious woman just dropped by in our office and wanted us to take on a case but not before we can pass her riddle test.

The answer sheet was cleverly designed to avoid spoilers. The answers were represented by shapes so if you had them in the wrong order or wrong shape, you'll need to go back to recheck your answers again. The puzzles were linear so had to solve the puzzles together in order to move forward. The story was well written and really described the scenes to us. At times we felt like we're breaking into a building, finding out the safest route to pass through, crack opening a safe, gambling at the casino, etc...The puzzles perfectly complimented these actions through visuals and interactions with the clue papers.

This game is great for beginners and family nights. Our favorite puzzle was the one where we had to each take one side of a puzzle (like in a breakout room in Zoom) and tell each other what we saw in order to work together to obtain the solution. We also really enjoyed the twist in the story line in the end. And if that wasn't enough, you'll be able to play the game that they created called "Chips-End-Colors" by reusing those colorful chips again and again!

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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 Inside Breakout 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.