Society of Curiosities - "Bonus Mailers of Ep 1 ", "The Posey Ring & The Chapbook & Bonus"

Updated: Apr 29

Photo above is property of Society of Curiosities

Company: Society of Curiosities

Game: The Posey Ring and the Chapbook

Country: Canada 🇨🇦

Language: English

Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬

Genre: Adventure

Date Played: September 16, 2020

Difficulty (based on 2 players): 6.5/10

Size of Team: Unlimited

Time: Unlimited

Price: $19.50/ Month; $49.00/ 3-months; $179.00/ Yearly

It's been awhile since we've updated on Society of Curiosity because we wanted to give you an overview on all the mailers we've received after the first mailer, "Madok's Lost Treasure". If you signed up for their quarterly or yearly plan, a new adventure will arrive in your mailbox every 3 months along with a mini mystery and a skill-building postcard in between.

The mini mystery for "Madok's Lost Treasure" came with a letter from Madok's fiancée, drawing of a compass, cipher key and a rendering of the antique coin that you received in the first adventure. As always, the adventure started with texting "Pippa" (you'll need to have either a US, Canada, or UK phone number) and you'll receive instructions on the next steps. Once you found the solutions to the puzzles, you'll need to submit them as text messages to "Pippa". In the text message, you may receive various links to other websites with useful clues and resources. We loved the consistency on the quality of their game contents. The aged paper, waxed seal and beautifully scripted letter really bought us back in time. Although this was a mini mystery, it was still a well designed multi-step puzzle that'll give you a fulfilling hour's play.

The Skill-building postcard was a great way for beginner puzzlers to discover a new cipher and for experienced puzzlers to learn about the history behind a cipher they probably used in previous games. It was also a pretty postcard that you could savor as a keepsake.

"The Posey Ring and The Chapbook" was the newest adventure from Society of Curiosities. In this mailer we received a locket, a chapbook, a constellation map, a card featuring constellations, a photograph, a map, and 3 envelopes marked "Do Not Open". Once again our instruction was to text "Pippa" to start the journey. This was a continuation from the previous adventure so do play them in order to get the full story. The first part of the game made us look through clues that was left behind by a secret society. They definitely embedded the solutions to the puzzles in a way that made it felt like it was design by a secret society. Brandon of course went to the only thing that didn't have "Do Not Open" written on it and started exploring the tiny package. Good thing this time he was supposed to open it in advance and we're glad that we discovered it early. The use of codenames and props definitely enhanced the secrecy of the society even more. After a few more complicated puzzles, we're glad to get a few breathers puzzles and as we solved those, our field agent opened up a whole new world for us to explore. Like always, we were surprised by the creativity of Society of Curiosities and having our real world be confused by the game world. Does this secret society really exist? If that's the way that we're allowed our entry, then we like to be enrolled please! As we started to open up the envelopes (when instructed), more surprises jumped out at us! Without giving away any spoilers, all I can say is, it felt magical. All the items had a purpose and before we did anything we always had to ask each other: "Should we do it? ok....I'm going to do it. Oh wow! Something is actually happening!". The use of digital world's visuals in collaboration with the mailer contents really made this game come together seamlessly. The way the final puzzle was designed reminded us of a puzzle we would see in a physical escape room. That was a nice "cherry on top" finish.

The final mailer we received was the mini mystery for the adventure above. It contained a loose sheet of paper found in the alchemy manuscript and 4 paper samples. When you receive the manuscript, it might be hard to read some of the written words. If that's the case, refer to the website under the "hints" section for the translation. "Pippa" started our game after receiving our text. If you are familiar with alchemy, you might have a slight advantage on the translation section of this puzzle. This was probably our favorite mini puzzle out of the games we've played. It's not too difficult but full of "wow" moments. The meta puzzle gave us a satisfying closure. But till this day, there's still a mystery from one of the puzzles that we're still waiting for it's final "reveal"...

Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

Check out our interview with the creators to understand more on the development side of the game:

Video above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

BUY NOW

(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 Society of Curiosities for providing us with a sample of this game. Although complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever.

#CiciCao #AtHomeGames #TabletopGames #PuzzlesByMail #SocietyOfCuriosities #Adventure #Canada