The Mystery Agency - "The Vanishing Gambler"

Photo above is property of The Mystery Agency

Company: The Mystery Agency

Game: The Vanishing Gambler

Country: United Kingdom 🇬🇧

Language: English

Type of Game: Tabletop Game 📬

Genre: Detective

Date Played: August 26, 2021

Difficulty (based on 2 players): 7/10

Size of Team: Unlimited (Can be solved alone. Recommended for ages 14+)

Time: Unlimited (Suggested 90 Mins.)

Price: £40 inc. VAT Shipping for 1 game - £3.59 UK, £21 USA. 10% off purchases of 3 or more games with code MULTIBUY10

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Roy Marshall, notorious casino cheat, vanished from his prison cell just before midnight 3 days ago. Left in his cell were his personal belongings. It’s your job to use these items to work out where Roy has gone! Our second game of this series, we couldn’t wait to see how it was similar, but different, to "The Balthazar Stone" that we played first.

Photo above is property of The Mystery Agency

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Like with their other mysteries, the quality of this set strikes you as soon as you receive it. The outer cardboard box is enticing, smart and sturdy. Upon opening it, you discover an evidence wallet. It is tantalisingly locked with a small 3 digit padlock and has some details of the prisoner, the content’s processing and the items within. Also inside the box is a page from a “newspaper” containing a news story, adverts and the lonely hearts column.

That’s all you see until you crack the first puzzle. But after that, the physical artefacts are again of good quality, varied and plentiful! They are also very in keeping with the theme, and of course there are the online elements of the game which help make it more immersive, realistic and more fun!

Photos above are property of The Mystery Agency

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To get started, you must enter a code from inside the box into the agency’s website, and reveal your workspace containing your first clue, a hint file and a computer where it asks you for the answer (this can feel a little bit “spoilerish” due to it revealing what you will be seeing at the end, but it’s really not an issue).

Once you have completed the game and provided the final solution, you get a digital certificate and very kindly, a set of instructions for resetting the box. This means, as long as you don’t write on any materials and treat everything carefully you can re-gift this for someone else to enjoy. We found with a paper and pen handy we didn’t need to write on anything, although if you have the option you could make photocopies in order to give you something to work with.

Photos above are properties of ESCAPETHEROOMers

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The puzzles were well signposted, just taxing enough and are nicely connected together to reveal the story. Some items are used multiple ways which is extremely clever, and only one puzzle we needed to get a hint on because the quality of the image means it’s very hard to determine the information you need. This could definitely be a little bit clearer, but it’s a small gripe. I'm pretty sure that you can try out a few things it “could be” until you figure it out.

Theres a nice mix of things to do that keep you immersed and it really feels like you are solving a genuine mystery. All in all, it took the two of us around 90 minutes to solve (not against the clock).

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We kickstarted the full set of three, so they worked out cheaper than they are now available for. But I feel that as long as you fully immerse yourself in the story and take the puzzles and adventure slowly, then this is great value for money.

We can’t wait to try out the third and final current game and see what other mischief we get up to in the other two titles from this group. Wee also heard that there is a “Meta” game which combines elements of all 3 of their games to create and solve a fourth mystery! Bring it on!

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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"!)

#HelenBailey #AtHomeGames #Puzzlebymail #OneOffs #Detective #TheMysteryAgency #UnitedKingdom