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Company: YouEscape
Game: #12: A Murder Mystery 2
Country: Greece 🇬🇷
Language: English/ Greek
Type of Game: Live-Hosted Game 💻
Genre: Murder Mystery, Detective
Date Played: June 18, 2022
Difficulty (based on 6 players): 7/10
Size of Team: Up to 10 Players
Time: 90 Minutes
Price: $50.00/ Game or join Patreon for more options
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While at a party, Mr. White is found dead in the pool room. The five other party members are now suspects, all with different motives and relationships to the victim. As the detective, you are tasked with tracking the movements of the suspects throughout the evening to identify which suspect was likely in the pool room while also identifying the motive of the killer. You have 90 minutes to pour over the suspects’ statements and solve the crime but there is a catch, not all the suspects are telling the truth and you need to figure out who’s lying to get the full picture. Let’s get started!
Photos above are property of YouEscape
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The structure of YouEscape changes each time, but there are some formalities that remain the same. You start on a Zoom meeting with your GM where they will provide you with a google drive file and an introduction to the task. There is also a table fixed on the Zoom screen that contains locks and components you will need to open over the course of your journey. The GM explains that you need to review all five suspects' statements and you must figure out which suspect went to which room in order of departure from the lounge. They also explain that some of the suspects may be providing misleading testimony, either on purpose or by accident. You have three levels of puzzling to identify and solve to gain access to three corrected clues that will aid your endeavour. In addition, you have a bonus mission to solve the motive of the crime if you so desire.
The suspects’ statements are all contained in a google folder separate from the puzzle levels with you gaining access to each new folder as our solve down the line. Once you solve a puzzle, you can go back to the statements to see what clue has been corrected to help develop your timeline. As you reach the end of your game your choice will dictate if you get the good ending or bad ending.
As always, these games largely revolve around discussion amongst your team to solve things. The GM is there to manoeuvre items at your request or provide hints (up to three) when you ask.
Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers
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The puzzle challenge in this game falls within two layers. The first being solving the puzzles contained within each numbered folder. These consist of multi-level puzzles that provide you with clues or pieces of information that will fold into the next puzzle. As such, I recommend navigating each puzzle file in chronological order to make for a smoother experience. Our group always finds communicating aloud is essential for these puzzles because they are quite tricky from pattern identification, code breaking, maths, spatial orientation, hidden messages, and physical manipulation. YouEscape games are definitely fit for more experienced players as these styles of puzzles are not obvious and take some time. This game was a little quicker than our last murder mystery one - "#6: A Murder Mystery", with around 16 minutes to spare, but still tricky! You often end up solving the first layer of the puzzle but then become stuck with how to use this newfound discovery to move forward.
The second layer of puzzling is the deduction-based murder mystery. You have a series of statements to review and must organize each suspect in order of who left the lounge first and what room they entered. You need to solve the first layer of puzzling in order to correct or address the conflicting statement. I highly recommend paper and pencil to create a visual as you try to organize the suspects as it can become a little tricky. This part is a traditional logic puzzle where the specific times are not as important as much as the order is. Our group really enjoyed the discussion around the logic puzzle as it really gave us a chance to work all together on a core puzzle, as we often divide and conquer in escape rooms. All in all, the puzzles were challenging in a good way and the deduction puzzle was a smart way to bring players back together to solve the end as a unit.
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"#12: A Murder Mystery 2" provided another engaging and challenging game to the YouEscape repertoire that keeps players on their toes while also unifying them. I always find that YouEscape is able to create a series of unique complex puzzles each time and I never feel I am playing the same game twice. For the experienced puzzler who enjoys layered puzzling with a splash of deduction, this is another affordable and excellent option. If you want a murder mystery will a little more engagement with characters then check out our review of YouEscape's "#6: A Murder Mystery"!
(If you do decide to try this game, please remember to let them know that you heard it from"ESCAPETHEROOMers"!)
Disclosure: We thank YouEscape for comping our tickets for this game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever.
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