Thames & Kosmos - "Adventure Games: Monochrome, Inc."

Photo above is property of Thames & Kosmos

Company: Thames & Kosmos

Game: Adventure Games: Monochrome, Inc.

Country: USA 🇺🇸

Language: English

Type of Game: Puzzles By Mail 📬

Genre: Mystery, Thriller

Date Played: September 27, 2021

Difficulty (based on 3 players): 3/10

Size of Team: 1-4 Players (Ages 16+)

Time: 3.5 Hours

Price: $19.95

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You are a team of hired hands down on their luck, looking for a job. Out of nowhere an individual approaches you via VR transmission and instructs your team to break into Monochrome inc, a local pharmaceutical tech company, to research and discover why his previous team disappeared. You also need to find out what is going on in there and the secret behind the groundbreaking new drug Rainbow. It’s a lot to do but the team needs the money and the individual promises a handsome reward.

Video above is property of Thames & Kosmos

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The components in this game are of good quality. There are two decks of cards, four characters and standees and two booklets. The simplicity of this game and the minimal materials needed to play lead to a pleasurable experience. The artwork on the cards gave an idea of what was in each room and when each player reveals new rooms there is a description that one can read and reread to get a better idea of what things of note are on the location card.

Photos above are property of Thames & Kosmos

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This is a completely replay-able adventure although most of the game doesn’t change. The basics of the game have players controlling characters and “taking turns” to explore the corporate bio lab. There are two types of cards, location cards and story cards. On the location cards there are numbers that when read from the story booklet will tell you what is in each location. You will get story cards throughout the game as well, all of these cards vary in nature, some are items, others are status depending on what the character has interacted with. The game will tell you when to get these cards.

Working one player at a time, each player can move, investigate and apply items to each location within their turn. By using this set of rules it allows everyone to get a fair shot at participating and making the story their own. Each main character follows a trope and it is up to the group to figure out the best character to go to specific spots on the location cards. When you want to use an item at a location just add the two digit number of the item to the beginning of the three digit location number (ex. If you have item 13 and you want to use it on location 702 you will read entry 13702); likewise, if you want to combine items, take the smaller number followed by the larger number and read that entry (ex. You have item 13 and item 14, combining them has you read entry 1314). Continue with these processes until you reach the end of the story!

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The play-through of this game reminds one of a classic point and click adventure that you would see on the computer game. There are no specific puzzles in this game but there are logical deductions that the group will have to make to complete the game. An example they give in the rule book is if you have a can opener and a can, you combine the two items to get an open can of food. About 80% of the game makes sense in how to proceed in the story but our group did run an incident that completely had us round around in circles. There is a hint system built into the game and they are written in such a way that can help or leave you more puzzled than before.

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Playing "Monochrome, Inc." provided a non-traditional escape room experience. I would go so far as to call it a story piece more than an escape game. Does that mean that puzzlers and enthusiasts won’t enjoy it? I believe that if your group of up to 4 go in for an evening to figure out the secrets of Monochrome inc. you will have a fun time. There is enough personality in the characters (as well as the bit of improv your table can do to enhance the experience) and intrigue in the story to keep players engaged and wanting to finish the game. The box does state that it can take place in 3 sessions of 90 minutes a piece. When our group played the first chapter did take about 90mins but then chapter 2+3 blended into each other so well that when we got to the break of chapter 2 we had discovered most of the game by that point. Continuing with chapter 3 and we were done in 15 mins. It is up to your group to decide how you would like to play each chapter. I would recommend playing chapter 1 in one sitting and then if you have ~2 hrs, play chapter 2+3 together. Overall with such a unique story and simple to play mechanics, if your group is a fan of the point and click adventure game genre give this game a shot!

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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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(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 Thames & Kosmos 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.

#MikeSchnurr #AtHomeGames #PuzzlesByMail #OneOffs #Mystery #Thriller #ThamesandKosmos #USA #AdventureGames