Scarlet Envelope - "GAME IX. Ashes of Persepolis"

Updated: May 2

Photo above is property of Scarlet Envelope

Company: Scarlet Envelope

Game: GAME IX. Ashes of Persepolis

Country: Canada 🇨🇦

Language: English

Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬

Genre: Mystery, Greek History

Date Played: November 24, 2022

Difficulty (based on 1 player): 7/10

Size of Team: Unlimited

Time: Unlimited (Suggested 2 Hours)

Price: $25 CAD/Monthly

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Swept away on your next adventure, the Game Master has sent you to Delphi in ancient Greece. Back in 330 BC, Alexander the Great set fire to Persepolis, the capital of the Persian Empire for some unknown reason that even today, nobody can figure out. The only person who was able to read the king’s heart was Thais of Athens, the Hetaira who travelled with Alexander’s army. She would never divulge his secrets, but she did meet with the Delphic Oracle to get a reading on Alexander the Great’s destiny. You are here in Delphi to meet with that Oracle and learn what they saw in Alexander’s cards.

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Opening the Scarlet Envelope, you are greeted with an oracle mat, some cards with Greek gods and goddesses and a coin.

Photos above are property of Scarlet Envelope

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Based on what has been in previous Scarlet Envelope games, I was at first a little

underwhelmed with the number of items but as the game progressed, I was blown away with the details they put into them and what they were able to hide in the different nooks and crannies of everything. All the items, especially the oracle mat was themed accurately and was beautifully designed. The story based on Alexander the Great and the burning of Persepolis was engaging. After playing this game, I did go down a rabbit hole of research to learn more and figure out how much was true and how much was made up for the game. You will need an internet connection to play this game to input your answers to progress the story. The professional videos that took you from puzzle to puzzle were amazing and very visually appealing going from one stage to the next as well as the narration.

Photos above are properties of ESCAPETHEROOMers

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There were some clever puzzles hidden in the game with a variety to go through. I was taken aback with the many ways to interact with the pieces and the depth of the puzzles. Some seemed simple at first but as you dove further, they required a lot more thinking and attention to detail. I also enjoyed the theming about the Greek gods and goddess, which they incorporated beautifully and cryptically into the puzzles.

The ramp up a little off as I did stumble the most on the first puzzle but was able to fall into a groove afterwards. One think that also grinded me was that I needed to solve a puzzle to access the hints page, which I also had trouble on (which obviously had no hints).

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The gameplay and puzzles for "Ashes of Persepolis" were crafty and provided a lot of eureka moment. There was not a lot to go through in this game which brought about many creative puzzles and ways to interact with everything. The high-quality videos swept you away to ancient Greece. I played this game solo but with the linear puzzling, you could probably play with 2 to 3 people on this one (or everyone would need their own envelope). Any Greek history buff would love this game but even if you are not, you will still be drawn in quite easily. One of the things I love about the Scarlet Envelope games is that with the overarching story and the game master, each game has a completely different theme and spin on them which also means each time, they innovate and bring something new to the games.

Check out our interviews with the creators to understand more on the development side of their games:

Videos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

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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 Scarlet Envelope 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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