Wild Optimists - Crimes & Capers: "High School Hijinks" & "Lady Leona's Last Wishes"

Company: Wild Optimists (Published by Renegade Game Studios)

Country: USA 🇺🇸

Language: English

Type of Game: Tabletop Game 📬

Size of Team: 4-6 Players (Age 14+)

Time: Unlimited (Approx. 90 Mins.)

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Photo above is property of Wild Optimists

Game: Crimes & Capers: High School Hijinks

Genre: Mystery

Date Played: January 3, 2022

Difficulty (based on 4 players): 4/10

Price: $34.95

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At Blair High School there is one student with all the power and her name is Romi. She is the person to turn to when you need a better grade, an absentee note, a part in the school play, and more. Yet Romi has many enemies, particularly within the school staff. When all the Mystic cards of a group of seniors goes missing, they are miraculously found in Romi’s backpack the next day. You know one of the staff has done this and Romi has left you clues to open her locker to assist you in identifying the suspect. You need to figure out who framed Romi before she is expelled from school! Time is a ticking!

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"High School Hijinks" comes in a gameboard box with a beautiful graphic of Romi in the school on the box. Inside the box is a locked cardboard locker, six-character booklets, two colourful letter size envelopes marked with letters A and B, host guide and a larger envelop labelled “Opening Materials.” Inside this envelop is five cut strips of Romi’s class schedule, a blue print of the school, a how to play guide, a story introduction, a suspects card, and a student summary. This game also includes a link online platform that provides hints, reset instructions, and pdf files you can reprint or share to play virtually with friends.

Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

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This game is a cooperative puzzle deduction game. Each player is given their character booklet to read. Then, the “Opening Materials” envelope is opened, and you are provided with Romi’s schedule to puzzle through. These strips will provide clues to open the locker and once the locker is opened you will have more documents to examine that will allow you to deduce who is the culprit. This game requires consistent communication between players so make sure to share information you gain from your booklet as one clue might work with other to help solve the code or narrow down the six suspects.

I appreciated that the online website not only a hint system but also had a place to test your password and verify its answer in addition to a tab in case your lock was having issues.

Photos above are property of Wild Optimists

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"High School Hijinks" uses a series a traditionally fun puzzles that consist of tracking, word logic, orientation, visual, and more. This definitely lends itself more for newer players to puzzles in terms of its difficulty. I found most often I knew exactly what the puzzle was requiring of me as soon as I looked at it. In a group setting, I appreciated how each puzzle could play to the strength of different players. In addition, the deduction part of the game was really interested because it encouraged an excellent form of cooperation. Players had to come together with key information that's found in their notes as no single player had all the answers. The key is to talk about what you’ve noted. Overall, an easy puzzling game that excels in bringing people together.

Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

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"High School Hijinks" is a fun board game adventure that embraces light puzzling and cooperation to create an engaging experience. The story was a little short, but I finished the game with the satisfaction of solving the case. I recommend this kind of game for people looking for a relaxing board game with friends in the evening. It allows space for conversation, tasks for different players, and a choice to ramp up the game. There is another game in this series, Lady Leona’s Last Wishes, and I can’t wait to try it out!

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Photo above is property of Wild Optimists

Game: Crimes & Capers: Lady Leona's Last Wishes

Genre: Mystery

Date Played: February 12, 2022

Difficulty (based on 4 players): 4/10

Price: $28.94

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The infamous Lady Leona was well known for being…well, unlikable. Yet, her sizable

fortune meant she kept a tight group of family and servants all hoping to be in her will when she passed. Now that Leona has passed, everyone has gathered together for the reading of her will only to find Lady Leona has decided to have the last laugh. Nothing made Leona happier than puzzles and making life difficult so what better way to dole out the will than to have a competition. Let the games begin!

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"Lady Leona’s Last Wishes" comes in a gameboard box with a beautiful castle graphic on the box. Inside the box is a locked cardboard chest, six-character booklets, two letter size envelopes marked with letters A and B, host guide and a larger envelop labelled “Opening Materials.” Inside this envelop is a letter from Lady Leona, the story sheet, a “How To Play” sheet, and a map of the estate. This game also includes a link online platform that provides hints, reset instructions, and pdf files you can reprint or share with a virtual event.

Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

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Similar to the other Crimes and Capers game, this game is a cooperative puzzle

deduction game; though this one differs in the end. Each player is given their character booklet to read. Then, the “Opening Materials” envelope is opened and you are provided with Lady Leona’s clues to unlocking her chest hiding the will. Each player must review the night’s events and together uncover the answers to the three questions that will open the lock. After that, players must solve two additional puzzles inside the chest.

I appreciated that the online website not only a hint system but also had a place to test your password and verify its answer in addition to a tab in case your lock was having issues.

Photos above are property of Wild Optimists

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The majority of "Lady Leona’s Last Wishes" focuses on deduction puzzling. You have

questions you must answer and using the journals and letters provided you have the

clues. For the first have of the game, I recommend working together to create a timeline of events to help answer the questions. Share your information with the group to crack the code. For the second half of the game, each player has similar puzzles with different solutions. The deduction part was fun to build the story. I find the other puzzles to mainly just be finding clues. For a group activity it was neat that there was a puzzle for every player to work towards that you could help each other without giving away your answer. I also liked the puzzle twist at the end that upped the challenge and I felt overall the game worked to allow players to work together, regardless of their experience.

Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

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"Lady Leona’s Last Wishes" is a good deduction-based board game that brings players

together. I found the premise to fit the theme and I wish I could have learned more

about Lady Leona actually. This game is less puzzle based and more cooperative game

style so doing this on an evening with friends is what I recommend. It is a great option to introduce players to the growing world of puzzles. If you love deduction, playing with friends, and eccentric heiresses than this is an excellent option! If you interested in a game with a bit more puzzles, try out "High School Hijincks" instead.

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Check out our interview with the creators to understand more on the development side of the game:

(If you do decide to try this game, please remember to let them know that you heard it from"ESCAPETHEROOMers"!)

Disclosure: We thank Wild Optimists 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.

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