The Stembridge Society - "Mission 1" & "Mission 2"

Photo above is property of The Stembridge Society

Company: The Stembridge Society

Game: Mission 1 & Mission 2

Country: United Kingdom 🇬🇧

Language: English

Type of Game: Digital Escape Game 💻

Genre: Investigative, Geography

Date Played: May 3, 2022

Difficulty (based on 1 player): 8/10

Size of Team: 1 Player

Time: 45 mins - 2 hrs.

Price: Free (Bonus chapters available with Patreon)

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You receive a single photograph and video with a single mission - to identify this landmark and head to what seems to be the Headquarters of the The Stembridge Society. Once there, you are granted eligibility for membership if you manage to enter the Headquarters. You know little about this society, except that they are a group that are in the business of… problem solving. Will you be able to join? Or will this be a permanent mystery to you?

Photo above is property of The Stembridge Society

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The Stembridge Society releases free-to-play missions early every month, with players able to access bonus chapters and material with a Patreon subscription or donation to PayPal. While each case has its own story and context, the mechanics have remained similar across the missions.

The main missions are playable online via the main website, with players needing to sign in with their email and generate a mission code which they can use to challenge other players or save information. Within the game itself, the story moves after each presented puzzle or question has its correct answer. The activities players have to go through to get through their mission mostly involve using Google Maps and Street View - an aspect of this gameplay that has been made clear from the beginning. Therefore, it’ll be handy to keep a Google search tab open for more convenient gameplay.

At the same time, it’s quite easy to enjoy the aesthetics of this setting, with its tube-television presentation, complete with static and colour tones that would not look out of place in a 90's spy movie. Certain videos are also colour corrected to obscure certain spoilers, so do take note of that as well.

Hints are also available on the upper left corner after a few minutes of being stuck on a single puzzle, though they add five (5) minutes to your time. Puzzles also come in various forms - text instructions are often accompanied by different leads - photos, videos, or just a clue to where to search. At the end of it, playing the missions set by The Stembridge Society does give you that sense of interactivity.

While this gave me a great level of immersion and satisfaction when I got to my destination, the different levels of access each player may get from using Google Street View or 360 views can differ for everyone. I had to request a few hints because I was at a Street View angle that made it incredibly difficult, tedious, or inaccessible for me to reach a specific person, car, building, or location in general on Street View.

Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

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In both missions (free-to-play) until now, all puzzles require a working knowledge of Google Maps and 360 views, together with a Google search engine close by. After getting to Street and 360 Views on Google Maps, it’s a matter of keeping your eyes peeled for what the game or puzzle asked for.

The need for Google Maps and Street View aside, most of the puzzles are highly straightforward, relying on your skills of observation and sense of direction to progress with the story.

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Get your Google Maps ready and your 360 views on hand - joining The Stembridge Society means having your eyes everywhere. Travel and see the world in another perspective, and make sure you’re a distance away when the final strike comes at the end of each mission. If you’re looking for that feeling of being at the scene for each step of the way, try your luck with The Stembridge Society. They might just have the job for you.

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PLAY GAME

(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"!)

#JoelynAlexandra #AtHomeGames #DigitalGames #Investigative #Geography #TheStembridgeSociety #UK