PALACESPHERE (By Palace Games) - "The Emerald Palace"

Updated: Apr 28

Photo above is property of PALACESPHERE (By Palace Games)

Company: PALACESPHERE (by Palace Games)

Game: The Emerald Palace

Country: USA 🇺🇸

Language: English

Type of Game: Digital Game 💻

Genre: Fantasy

Date Played: September 18, 2021

Difficulty (based on 5 players): 4/10

Size of Team: 2-5 Players (Standard Team game)

Time: 1-2 Hours (Approximately)

Price: $28/Team

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After your exploration of the mansion and an unfortunate incarceration in said mansion, you finally see a light at the end of the stone tunnel. A heavy green door awaits you with a curious lock. Anything is better than staying locked in the dingy basement so forward you must go and continue your adventure…

Video above is property of PALACESPHERE (By Palace Games)

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With your game voucher and log in, the team leader is able invite team members to the game by sending them an email. Once you are all on the page you are asked to select an animal to use as your avatar (dragon, hippo, swan, lion, etc). This game is a cooperative game that requires all players to work together in order to unlock each door. In quite a few of the puzzles, our team of five faced the issue of one player having to sit out on the physical element of the puzzles so if you’re playing with more than four people, I would recommend assigning a rotation before you start digging into a puzzle to ensure everyone has an opportunity to play during the experience.

This game plays very much like a video game where you must maneuver your character around to complete certain tasks. Every member is required for the tasks to be completed and only then can you move forward. The goal is to travel further into the gardens to collect a series of tokens and find the angel. There is a hint system for this game in the top left corner of the screen where a lightbulb icon resides. There is also a leaderboard system that gives teams points based on their time of completion – it does not take hints into account.

This is the third installment to the Palace series, but each game can be played standalone.

Photos above are property of PALACESPHERE (By Palace Games)

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This game's puzzle design is quite different from its predecessors. Unlike The Sapphire Palace, The Emerald Palace is more akin to the problem solving logic puzzles you see in retro gaming more than anything else. You are orienting geometric pieces with increasing difficulty, trying to move all the character across a terrain with rules you must discover, and more. There is no outside information required to complete these tasks. The animations were beautiful and cute to fit with the garden theme from the little armadillo you are shooting around the room to the rabbit you were helping.

I found the collaboration element to this game was quite fun as we all worked together but I was anticipating more puzzles in a traditional sense. This game I would say is more geared towards corporations looking for teambuilding activities than escape room enthusiasts. There was one set of puzzles we found a little repetitive but the final one had a really unique twist that forced you to rely on your teammates to complete the tasks. Our team completed this game in 1:16:54 without any hints; we did experience a minor glitch that meant one of their members got stuck on the perimeter of the game but eventually they were able to shoot themselves back into the game.

Photos above are property of PALACESPHERE (By Palace Games)

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The Emerald Palace's focus of providing whimsical retro game experience succeeded in creating an engaging cooperative adventure amongst team members. This game has a focus of bringing players together to face challenges and you get a sense of camaraderie while trying to complete each task. If you’re more interested in traditional puzzles, I recommend taking a look at Palace Spheres other games: Palace of Destiny is currently free to play on their website, The Ruby Palace provides similar a cooperative gaming atmosphere with a focus of puzzles, and The Sapphire Palace provides a higher level of challenge for those wanting to test their brains. Now it’s your turn to decide which palace do you want to visit!

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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Disclosure: We thank PALACESPHERE (by Palace Games) for providing us with samples of the game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever.