The Curious Correspondence Club - "Chapter XIII: Chamber of Trials"

Photo above is property of The Curious Correspondence Club

Company: The Curious Correspondence Club

Game: Chapter XIII: Chamber of Trials

Country: Canada 🇨🇦

Language: English

Type of Game: Tabletop Games 📬

Genre: Mystery

Date Played: January 22, 2022

Difficulty (based on 2 players): 7/10

Size of Team: Unlimited (Age 12+)

Time: Unlimited (Suggested: 60-90 Minutes)

Price: $21.95 (free shipping in North America); Monthly Subscription: $19.95/Yearly Subscription: $179

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You are following in the footsteps of an intrepid adventurer, Liarea. She had previously explored a temple containing five idols and a large altar before becoming trapped and meeting her untimely end. Fortunately, she documented her progress and her journal is your guide. You must retrace her steps to discover what she missed. She had recovered five idols - each resting in a different room, protected by a different trap - rolling spiked log, snake pit, etc. This is a true Indiana Jones-style adventure, and you will need courage and creativity to overcome the five obstacles and discover how to escape. Only with this knowledge can you discern the proper path to escape the temple after order has been restored.

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This game has an impressive amount of collateral in the form of printed layouts - at least one for each trial and several for the final altar as well. Many of them are also double-sided, providing more puzzling material for the amount of items! They share a common look and feel, which contributes to the feeling of being immersed in the temple itself, especially when they are covering your kitchen table! There is also some construction to be done and we enjoyed the exploration and experimentation required to build the components themselves. We had to do some refining after our initial attempts at assembly; when they were properly assembled, it was clear we had done so correctly. Once everything is assembled and laid out, it's hard to believe it all came from a single envelope! The journal is written in small, cursive font on weathered pages, giving it an authentic look but also making it a bit hard to read.

Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

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It's purely linear - solve each puzzle to determine how Liarea obtained the idol from that chamber. In the course of solving each puzzle, you also discover a set of three runes that will be necessary in the final meta puzzle. So, it's important to note which runes came from which room and keep them associated with the proper idol. The runes are used to determine the proper path to follow around the final altar. We enjoyed coming up with silly names for the runes (bear backpack, three-dot octopus) as we worked together.

Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

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They are primarily spatial and logic-based. Each one involved some level of manipulation of the collateral provided. There was one straight-up assembly puzzle (fit the shapes into this area), but most of them involved first determining the proper mechanic, and then repeating it a number of times. There was some uncertainty regarding exactly how to apply the mechanic in some of the puzzles, leading to a lack of confidence in the answer generated. We struggled with these puzzles, for a couple of reasons. First, there is no way to verify that you are solving any puzzle correctly along the way (and no real A-ha moments). So, it's possible to get answers for all five, reach the end, follow the path, fail, but not have any idea where you went awry or which puzzle(s) were solved incorrectly. Secondly, the hint system is underdeveloped; the first hint for each puzzle was virtually identical and the second didn't provide much direction. (Although, we did find patterns after the fact that would've made for helpful clues.) We also experienced some confusion as to whether the journal was written from an omnipotent/overhead point of view or that of Liarea, which made it more difficult to understand the rules of engagement.

Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

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We loved the look and concept of this envelope and its contents. Idols and ancient temples are wonderful source material for challenges like this, and it’s amazing how much material they packed in! We did have some frustrations with actual execution of the puzzles, and we often carried with us the uncertainty of whether we had solved them correctly. Curious Correspondence Club has done many wonderful things for the puzzling world. (If you missed Puzzletember, go back and check out @curiouscorrespondence on Instagram!) We also adore their tree-planting initiative! Despite the well-developed look and feel, this particular chapter missed the mark for us in terms of providing a satisfying puzzling challenge sprinkled with the moments of triumph that we crave when attempting to escape ancient temples. As each chapter tells one part of a continuing story, subscribers or fans of CCC may still enjoy having this one in their collection and we look forward to a new chapter to explore in the future!

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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 The Curious Correspondence Club 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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