The Conundrum Box - "Maui's Curse"

Cici Cao

Aug 10, 20213 min read

Updated: Apr 30, 2024

Photo above is property of The Conundrum Box

Company: The Conundrum Box

Game: Maui's Curse

Country: USA 🇺🇸

Language: English

Type of Game: Puzzles By Mail 📬

Genre: Mystery

Date Played: August 5, 2021

Difficulty (based on 2 players): 5/10

Size of Team: Unlimited

Time: Unlimited (Suggested 2-4 hrs)

Price: $44.99 or subscribe - $29.99/ Month, $86.99/ 3 months, $161.99/ 6 months, $299.99/ 12 months

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It is the year 1964. Your agency has been tracking down a secret organization called C.H.A.O.S. for awhile now. This time they're threatening to activate a volcano on the beautiful island of Maui! Will you be able to save Maui from the evil hands of Professor M.?

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We've always been a fan of The Conundrum Box's illustrations. This time we were greeted by the beautiful beach and the mysterious luau girl's welcoming dance. Inside the box, there were 4 sealed envelopes (the beach, the tiki room, the lagoon and the volcano), a Hawaii pamphlet, an airline flight list, a note from professor M, a leis, and a shot glass. Who's ready to party?

Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

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You will probably get distracted by all of the colorful fun stuff in this box but direct yourself to the information page first. It'll give you a website that will present you with further instructions on how to play the game. This website will be where you'll input answers and receive hints/solutions. If you want to play this game the right way then go to the "extra" section on the website to receive the recommended music, food and drink list. Trust me, you won't be disappointed.

The game is divided into various segments and each envelope showcases a new location that you will need to inspect. As you solve the puzzles, you'll receive the next part of the story via the website in audio and text format. The entire process was very easy to follow.

Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

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The puzzles had a mixture of difficulty level. There were some that we spotted right away and some we had to use a bit of Math and deduction skills. I really liked how The Conundrum Box is super clear on what they want as the answers. They'll specify if it's numbers or letters and how many characters right under the input box. Since there were a lot of clue materials incorporated in this puzzle, this definitely helped point the players in the right direction.

Items like surf boards, ukuleles, and shot glass with local mask imprints were incorporated into this game and they all went perfectly with this island adventure. We even learned a few Hawaiian words! As we went through each place to track down professor M., we were faced with different challenges. The final one was to stop Mount Haleakalā from eruption and it was probably one of the more challenging puzzles in this game. The puzzles were mostly linear and we really enjoyed all of them.

Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

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If you are missing those traveling days, this is definitely a game that can get you to imagine some of those ocean waves and summer breezes. The puzzles were fun yet satisfying for beginners and pros. For groups feeling competitive, award the leis to the person who solve the puzzle first. At the end of the game, calculate who got the leis the most and they'll be crowned the Lei-der. As you can see, our agent #3, "the sniffer" gladly took that title.

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 experience, give us a shoutout or tag us on social media so we know you heard it from "ESCAPETHEROOMers"!)

Disclosure: We thank The Conundrum Box 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.