Game Review: Unlock! Legendary Adventures by Space Cowboys

Unlock! Legendary Adventures (2021) published by Space Cowboys, designed by Matthieu Casnin, Marion du Faouet, and Dave Neale

This set of "escape rooms at home" use a set of cards and a downloaded phone or tablet app to guide you through the adventure (and keep track of how much time you have used). Some of the games also require components in the box, including a surprise set of components.

Action Story--Stella's stolen a jewel of immense value and you are in hot pursuit! Luckily, you have a James Bond-like car with a grappling hook and all sorts of tunes to listen to. The high speed chase quickly morphs into something quite different in an enjoyable way as the puzzles keep coming.

This is supposed to be the easiest challenge in the box but I found a bunch of the puzzles were not at all obvious how they should be solved, including the final puzzle which was unfortunate. I used some hints and the walk-through to get through tight spots. I really enjoyed the theme but the implementation could have been a lot better.

Robin Hood: Dead or Alive--Players are part of the Merry Men, working with Robin Hood to rob from the rich and give to the poor. Things quickly turn against Robin, who winds up in the Sheriff of Nottingham's jail. It's up to the players to get Robing out of the jam he is in. Solving puzzles lets players explore a bit of Robin's world and do some of the iconic deeds like fighting with quarterstaffs and doing trick shots with a bow and arrow.

The game play is a little tricky, relying on a lot of in-app bits to unlock the next puzzle or challenge. Some were a bit hard to follow, like the bard whose song needs to be decrypted to get one of the codes. We had a couple of misfires and needed hints. Most of the mechanics were fun, including some additional components we didn't know about. We enjoyed the game but found it a bit harder than it needed to be.

We almost ran out of time but still got four stars. We need to improve our cyber-archery skills!

Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Burnt Angels--Players help out Sherlock Holmes as he investigates three murders in London. The murderer is a man named Red Henry who seems to be bent on some sort of revenge. The clues take the investigation all over London, requiring a lot of movement and a lot of observation.

This is the hardest-rated adventure on the box. Players get the usual deck of cards and a special "magnifying glass" which is a heavier card with a whole cut in the middle. For certain clues, this "magnifying glass" helps to find the right number for the next card. One of those clues was a bit of a stretch and we only found out what we were supposed to do afterwards. A couple of cards come together to form a map and players use the app to travel to London locations where further clues (i.e. cards) are revealed. The whole investigation worked fairly well with only a few hiccups here and there for us. We enjoyed it, though we did pause in the middle for bedtime and had to restart the adventure in the app the next day. Catching up wasn't hard.

The Holmes adventure was my favorite in this set. I would definitely try more Unlock! games in the future.