Company: Mail Order Mystery
Country: Canada 🇨🇦
Language: English
Type of Game: Puzzles By Mail 📬
Date Played: 5/19/2021
Size of Team: Unlimited
Time: Unlimited
Game: The Enchanted Slumber
Genre: Fantasy
Difficulty (based on 2 adult players): 4/10
Ages: Recommended 8+
Price: $93.00
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It's almost the year 700. If the princess doesn't wake up by then, she'll turn into dust! Can a Knight, a Troll, a Librarian and a Dragon work together to save the princess? You'll have to find out...
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"The Enchanted Slumber" came in a small cardboard box. Inside, you'll find a letter to the parents, 5 envelopes and 1 wrapped "package". Throughout the adventure, you'll find beautiful wax sealed letters from the characters and other fun trinkets.
Game: Spies, Lies and Seriously Bad Guys
Genre: Detective
Difficulty (based on 2 adult players): 5/10
Ages: Recommended 9+
Price: $101.00
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you've been accepted to spy school. A secret agent has gone missing and it seems like there's no one at the agency that can take on this case other than you, a new trainee. Will you be able to complete the mission before even completing your training?
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"Spies, Lies and Seriously Bad Guys" came in a large-sized cardboard box. Inside you'll find a letter to the parents, 5 numbered envelopes, 1 large "top secret" envelope and a book safe.
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In each of these games, you are to follow the numbers on the envelope and open them in order. You might use items from the previous envelopes so do keep them handy. "The Enchanted Slumber" was pretty straight forward but we did get a bit confused with "Spies, Lies and Seriously Bad Guys" as there's an extra envelope that's labeled "top secret" without a number. You should open this last. Pre-pandemic, the mailers were to be send out one at a time which would probably remove this confusion.
"Spies, Lies and Seriously Bad Guys" was designed similar to mystery games we've previously played where you could check if your answer was correct prior to moving forward to the next envelope (although there was still one place that we were able to skip but still finish the game). "The Enchanted Slumber" was set up in a way where if you think you've solved the puzzle, you can move on and check your answer in the story of the next envelope. This could spoil the answer if you think you got the right answer but it's actually wrong. We suggest the creator provide a clearer indication on when the players should move forward to the next envelope and a place to check the answers while playing through the game. Currently, if you need help, there's a hint system on their website on the bottom of their footer called "HELP CENTER". It has the most commonly asked questions but not the entire solution set.
Most of the game play is only utilizing the mailer materials. It's a great way to keep the kids off of the internet for a couple of hours.
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The puzzles really stuck around the storylines for both of these games. In "The Enchanted Slumber", trolls are known for creating riddles to stump travelers by their guarded bridge. There were also moments where we had to decrypt "magical" messages using "enchanted" tools. The level of difficulty was on the easier side versus the "Spies, Lies and Seriously Bad Guys" . It also has more reading if your kids prefer more of that than puzzle solving.
"Spies, Lies and Seriously Bad Guys" had a lot more puzzles that we had to decrypt since it's a spy themed game. There were terminologies and different types of ciphers that we haven't even heard of. These puzzles really bought out skills you'll need as a spy by carefully observing all the clues and interpreting them with fun reveals. The game play was a bit harder to follow here due to the fact that we're unsure if we've solved everything and when we're supposed to solve something as all the items could be used at anytime. An easy fix would be to have a solution check just to make sure we didn't miss any steps.
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Initially, we thought we're going to be "smarter than a 5th grader" but these games can easily be challenged by adults as well. The artists did an amazing job with both games but the "The Enchanted Slumber" was especially beautiful. It made it really easy for the players to connect with this enchanted world. Throughout these games, there were many secret reveals and moments we think the kids would go "Wow! Look what's happening here!"
One special thing that we haven't seen many game creators do that Mail Order Mystery specializes in is the personalization. Every game is personalized to a particular kid. There were many places in the game that will make YOU feel like you are the star and the hero. If you don't mind the personalization part, these games are totally replayable. In fact we're actually going to send these games to a friend of ours who has kids. The only thing is you'll need to remember how to reset the game. We've already put the request in with the creator so hopefully that'll be on their website soon.
Both of these games are really fun so it's best to pick based on what theme interest your children more and what level of difficulty best suits them. "The Enchanted Slumber" is a great starter game and for children who loves Disney (who doesn't?). They will really enjoy this whimsical "Sleeping Beauty" story with a twist. There's definitely more narrative in this one so make sure they like to read. If your children love "Kim Possible" or any other spy types of show, then they'll definitely get a kick out of "Spies, Lies and Seriously Bad Guys" . There's more cool reveals in this game and fun spy gadgets. And if they crave more mysteries after these two games, Mail Order Mystery have two others called "Treasure Hunt!" and "The Case of the Missing Bigfoot!"
Check out our interview with the creators to understand more on the development side of these game:
(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 Mail Order Mystery 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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