Photo above is property of Studio Stamp
Company: Studio Stamp
Game: On Circus Grounds
Country: Netherlands 🇳🇱
Language: English, Dutch
Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬
Genre: Murder Mystery
Date Played: September 15, 2022
Difficulty (based on 2 players): 7/10
Size of Team: 1-4 ppl (Ages 15+)
Time: Unlimited (Approx 2-4 hrs)
Price: €42.00 (Standard), €62.00 (Deluxe)
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It is 1883 in Dalfsen, Netherlands. Notoriously hard-nosed Circus Master Nicolaas Maester stands in front of his company to give his introduction to the show. But within minutes, he collapses to the ground in front of a horrified audience and dies. It is not long until it is determined that Nicolaas has been murdered - and the main culprit is swiftly arrested and convicted. Case closed. But was it so cut and dry?
In the present day, you have been contacted by The Civilian Service as someone who has expressed interest in helping them - investigating and rectifying historical injustices. They believe this is such a case, and the convicted party was never truly guilty. Can you help them clear his name and find the real culprit? Why did they do it and how?
Video above is property of Studio Stamp
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When this arrived I was in awe at the amazing design of the box. Looking like an old, scuffed leather dossier, it is adorned with authentic circus poster style typography, imagery and beautiful illuminated lettering which I pored over for a good long time! It is thin enough to fit through a standard letterbox and came in an outer box to protect it. No plastic packaging which is refreshing. Seeing the size I was not expecting to see much inside but oh my! When I opened up the box, I audibly gasped and exclaimed... "Wow"! There was so much packed in there, 44 objects to be precise! And not just paper but cards, photos, scrolls, maps and even a few physical objects, small and enticing! Everything inside is beautifully made, high quality, highly decorated, looks authentic and has a beautifully old, faded, pastel colour palette which ties it all together so well and reflects the era and theme perfectly. Finally the only out-of-place item - the modern letter from The Civilian Service informing you that you have been chosen to help them solve this case - very handily lists all the things you should have in the box and where to go if you need help, plus your aims, and some tips on getting started.
Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers
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There is a lot to take in - once you have spread out the materials there is a lot of reading to be done, but you can break that up by looking at some of the photos, cards, maps and other items so it’s not too tedious.
There is enough to look at to keep you looking through for a good half an hour and that’s before you even start to consider the facts, the characters and the timeline around this case. You really do start to imagine these events taking place - it is not too far into fantasy and you begin to get to know what was going on in this circus “family” and that not everything was what it seems. It is a tangled web of secrets and emotions indeed! That said - It’s very worth having a pen and paper, making summary notes, plus sketching out a rough timeline to help you decipher the events.
If you need a hint you can access the internet site provided. We never needed to use this, but I went back afterwards to check it out and it is very clever as it first gives you some pointers as to where to get started, then gives you each piece of evidence to select, for each it then reveals 3 hints and then the truth of each item, so you can go as far as you need to with each.
Once you think you have your solution, you visit the website, click through to a questionnaire which you complete as a multiple-choice selection. After each answer you are told if you are correct. If not, you can guess again. Once correct you are given an explanation as to why that is the case. Once you have all parts correct, you can click through to a lovely further artefact which provides a conclusion and explanation to the story, followed by a congratulatory message and further links. We managed to get all the facts right and felt victorious and accomplished!
Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers
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The puzzles are few in number but nicely woven into the story - no puzzles for the sake of it - two characters have to write secret notes to each other - so codes are involved. A character has some secrets kept in a notebook so some visual puzzles and logic are present. A map of the circus grounds is used in a way to get the answers you seek. Some of the physical objects hold clues that you have to manipulate or handle them to obtain. In this way, they have very cleverly woven the puzzles in and sometimes you find an answer without realising it was a puzzle! But then what is solving a murder if not one big puzzle?!
There was one puzzle with visual instructions. I won’t spoil it here, but I did find myself having to google the final few steps (which I did find replicated online) as it wasn’t perfectly clear - I was then able to understand and carry on. There is a lot of old-fashioned hand-written text to fit in with the antique and historical accuracy of the artefacts. This looks amazing but was at times hard to decipher and did mar our solving of a couple of the puzzles, however, we were able to guess and back solve for these, and we communicated our concerns to the creators who said they have taken that on board.
Expect to spend a fair bit of time working out the codes. You can only imagine how long it took people at the time to write and unravel them so the experience is very authentic!
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Anyone who loves deduction, cold cases, murder mysteries, historical and character-driven story puzzles will love this, also fans of antique ephemera and circus lore. We played as a two but you could play solo or with up to about 6 players we think comfortably, with everyone sharing a summary of the information in the statements. Of course, you can only play this once as then you know the outcome, but a refill kit can be purchased so you can gift or share it with others once you are done.
This is a fantastic offering from a small company, who launched this game in Dutch in 2020 to much success and have taken the time to recreate it in English for a wider audience. It absolutely smashed its Kickstarter goal and one of its Stretch Goals was to donate €0.50 from every sale to the Lion Foundation - a charity which rehabilitates circus animals. A wonderful gesture.
(If you do decide to try this game, please remember to let them know that you heard it from"ESCAPETHEROOMers"!)
Disclosure: We thank Studio Stamp 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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