REMOTE: Museum Of Intrigue - "A Study In Intrigue"

Photos provided by Museum Of Intrigue

Company: Museum Of Intrigue

Game: A Study In Intrigue

Country: USA 🇺🇸

Language: English

Type of Game: Remote Escape Room 🗣

Genre: Detective, Sherlock Holmes

Date Played: 1/30/2021

Difficulty (based on 6 players): 5/10

Size of Team: 4-10 Players

Time: 90 Minutes

Price: $31.00/pp

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The assistant curator of the Museum of Intrigue was found dead last night. There's been a series of items that had gone missing as well. Could these events be related? This case has gotten the attention of the famous Sherlock Holmes. Hopefully with your help, we can crack this case together!

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This game was played over Zoom with a live avatar ("Sherlock Holmes"). Your game will began at the crime scene with Sherlock. It's played a bit differently than your other remote escape rooms as if you don't direct your avatar, Sherlock will begin doing searches on his/her own. This did help a lot in this investigation as there were a lot of items to look over in the museum and not all of them were relevant to this game. You should rely on your avatar's guidance on what's important to look at and what's not. There's no point in checking every single item in a particular space.

You'll also receive some information with the confirmation with your booking. We definitely recommend reading this prior to the game as it'll be overwhelming to go over during the game play. The game was also paired with a word document. This is where your evidences and puzzles will be displayed. As you collect evidences and solve the puzzles, new information will unveiled and the game master will help you update that into the word doc. There are a few questions that you'll have to give a definitive answer by the end of the 90 minutes. If you're able to successfully identify the killer, motive and weapon, then you'll have a chance to score a perfect 100 for the game. There's no actual "escape" per se for the game. Your goal is to achieve as many points as possible.

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There's a lot to do in this game. Besides exploring various areas, you'll need to identify what to look for in that particular area. The game master also have to travel a lot as the Museum is quite big (Read about it in our review on "Operation: Red Sled"). This is why you have 90 minutes for this game. You'll also discover different puzzles in various areas in this museum. Remember to use your avatar and your GM as you helpers. They might even be able to help you solve a puzzle or two. The GM was great at accommodating to our demands. He was providing research information to us as we were asking for them on the spot. It definitely made the game feel like we're solving a case in real time.

The puzzles were not too difficult but what made it hard was discovering them. The camera felt shaky at times and due to our internet connection (I would suggest booking on weekdays for better connectivity), there were moments of blurriness and it was definitely hard to spot some hidden items. It would be very helpful if the avatar could "nudge" us with the camera angle in those incidences.

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We solved the murder mystery with a perfect score of 100! Go team! The storyline was very well written and we liked the various characters that played into the game. There were alibis we had to go through and different character paths we had to take. The puzzles were non linear but because the avatar has to be at a certain location to discover clues, it was difficult to have him/her run back and forth to solve puzzles in an non linear way. I would suggest just sticking together as a team. This is what you'll experience when you play the real life experience at the Museum of Intrigue. We were glad to be able to enjoy an online translation of their experiences. If the inventory system could be improved to sync better with real time removal of items used and the camera quality and control could be clearer, this would a really solid game. We would probably categorize this more towards immersive theater or murder mystery than an escape game. It would be fun to see if they would be able to implement live actors or prerecorded videos to make this experience even more immersive. But for now, I wish you the best of luck with your team on solving this murder mystery!

𝔼𝕊ℂ𝔸ℙ𝔼𝕋ℍ𝔼ℝ𝕆𝕆𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕤❜ ℙ.𝕀.𝕤❜ 𝕋𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤

Ivan G.

We were sorry that the extra info came in 30 minutes before the game, because of this we could not read in properly ... And also missed a bit of a start video or news message with the mission we were going to do. This meant that the first 10 minutes was certainly more looking and taking everything in before we could get started. In the beginning, we found that a lot of information came in fragmented, and because of this, the first 20 minutes were a bit dangling. Only after 30 minutes did we all get into the flow and divide and solve the work. I think it is a nice unique location with many different rooms, and extremely suitable for online, you could not do this offline.

I thought it was a shame that the avatar / actor was wearing a mouth mask, which made her very difficult to understand. That will have to do with the public place, and that it is not a small company where no other people are present. We liked the puzzles a lot and varied. But also very high educational level. Our HQ employee / game master was really great, helping us very well! and was good in character. We saw many beautiful images and different environments via zoom.

And because we worked well together, and our game master felt where we needed help, we have completed this mission cum laude! We enjoyed this escape! Recommendations to the company: a start video in the mail with the mission, and send more info earlier.

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Karen C.

A Study in Intrigue is the Museum of Intrigue’s virtual escape room/mystery where your team works with Sherlock to investigate a murder. In order to uncover clues and evidence, puzzles must be solved and the museum explored. The experience was highly immersive, with our avatar having to interact with a variety of objects and locations, as well as needing to research topics with the help of our trusty inspector.

The puzzles were plentiful and challenging, but were well signposted. They also fit seamlessly into the narrative. With the number of puzzles it was helpful to have a larger team, who could work concurrently. This game may be a challenge for small groups who like to work linearly. The game does come with read ahead material, which is important to review.

The Museum of Intrigue itself was really the star of the show. There were so many cool objects to investigate and explore. I really hope I get to explore in person some day.

 Pros:

-Really strong narrative that was engaging, with a logical solution, with lots of interesting detail. - a lot of puzzles. Puzzle types had good variety, well signposted, and fair. -Having two people hosting(avatar and a research assistant/game master) really made things work smoothly. Our hosts were fantastic, they were super friendly and discreetly helpful. -This was an incredibly immersive experience. The museum is amazing, it’s a huge space that encompasses multiple games/mysteries. The narrative wove through different locations so you really felt like you were investigating a crime scene. Cons: The large space meant that our avatar had to spend time traveling between points, and if we worked out a solution for a puzzle that was not in our current location, there could be a wait before getting back to that location.

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Bethan P.

This was the first online escape room I have played and i thoroughly enjoyed it. The storyline was interesting and immersive. The puzzles were a variety of skill levels so everyone was able to do something. I liked that you were able to work individually on separate puzzles and then come together to discuss the answers and theories to the ones yet to solve. We were delighted to be the first team to score full points on this room and I can't wait to do another one.

Feb 11, 2021 Update: The following items have been revised based on our feedback since we've played the game:

1) Clue document is now organized as a table of contents by exhibit where the things were found / whose locker it was in. Clicking each clue title opens the clue independently, so no more scrolling or seeing everything at once.

2) We show a QR code at the start for players to scan with their phone if they would like, as it puts the clue document on their mobile device for multi-tasking. The link is still also provided in the chat.

3) Smaller groups are given different framing on clues to assist with group size and speed up their work.

4) The starting evidence is provided with the booking confirmation email.

5) All audio filed are now just transcripts, and they are much shorter.

6) Two plotlines have had massive rewards tacked on the end to permit even more freedom in choosing paths

7) The clue document now has a photo of each exhibit to open so players can explore the space without Sherlock going there. All photos are strategic to include anything related to this mystery.

8) Sherlock is now required to "run" if the group is working quickly.

9) Eight puzzles have been updated/replaced for ease of use, simplicity, or to remove red herrings.

10) Large groups can qualify for a second detective (Lestrade, Watson, or Adler) to have a second camera and work in other parts of the museum simultaneously.

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*** We regret to inform this company has closed its doors ***

Disclosure: We thank Museum Of Intrigue for comping our tickets for this game. Although complimentary admission was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever.

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