We are still playing various "escape room in a box" games. These games typically can only be played once. They are all economical (under ten dollars) and play in one to two hours. The first game was not so much an escape room as a mystery to solve...
1. Mystery at the Lux Museum by Clever Kids Mysteries
After reading a glowing review from The Family Gamers, I ordered a copy of Mystery at the Lux Museum from the publisher's website. We left it to our kids to solve the puzzles, which they enjoyed very much. The game was designed with elementary/middle schoolers in mind. It has a good variety of challenges, involving math and spatial reasoning and other skills.
Something strange is going on at a local museum. The players as part of the Clever Kids Detective Agency come in to find a lost artifact hidden somewhere in one of the displays. The whole museum is exhibits from a single family and the family had a secret spat that resulted in the missing item.
My kids did a good job working together, though the four-year old's attention span was definitely shorter than my other two children. They worked through a little over half of the puzzle in one day (they spent about 45 minutes). The next day they finished up. We had to go to the publisher's web site to confirm the correct solution. My children found the right location and solved the mystery. The game was a lot of fun and we look forward to the publisher's next game which should be available in November 2019.
2. Exit the Game: The Abandoned Cabin by Inka and Markus Brand
This Exit the Game was one of the early ones and we hadn't been able to find it in stores. We gave in and ordered it from Amazon, just in case it never shows up again in retail. The story is your car broke down and you sheltered in a cabin overnight. In the morning, you find yourself locked in and have to escape before the madman gets back and keeps you forever.
Having played almost all the other games (new ones are coming out all the time), we had a good sense of the style of puzzles. We did get tripped up by the "box puzzle." These games typically have one or more puzzles that use the actual box the game came in. Such challenges are usually very creative, though sometimes more than we can guess. The other puzzles were fun to work out and we enjoyed the game.
Even though the game only plays one time (players have to cut, fold, or otherwise alter the components), the low cost makes it worth while and it's nice to just recycle the game rather than have another box taking up space on the game shelves. Our oldest child played with us and he enjoyed solving the puzzles.
3. Unlock! The Night of the Bogeymen by Space Cowboys
This was an impulse purchase at a game store. We had mixed experiences with Unlock! games before. Some were really good, others really frustrating. Happily, this one is on the better side of Unlock! games. The story has players helping a young boy deal with his nightmares, which manifest as several bogeymen in his bedroom.
Unlock! is typically a cards-only game supported by a free phone/tablet app. Our favorites have included components beyond the cards, creating a more satisfying experience. This game had an extra bit of origami that made a fun challenge and some variety, which is what we think the series needs. Also, this was listed at a one-lock (out of three) difficulty and it was not too hard.
We got a couple of things wrong and used one hint but did work quickly, resulting in a four-star rating for our performance.
1. Mystery at the Lux Museum by Clever Kids Mysteries
After reading a glowing review from The Family Gamers, I ordered a copy of Mystery at the Lux Museum from the publisher's website. We left it to our kids to solve the puzzles, which they enjoyed very much. The game was designed with elementary/middle schoolers in mind. It has a good variety of challenges, involving math and spatial reasoning and other skills.
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| Opening the box |
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| Reading the intro |
Something strange is going on at a local museum. The players as part of the Clever Kids Detective Agency come in to find a lost artifact hidden somewhere in one of the displays. The whole museum is exhibits from a single family and the family had a secret spat that resulted in the missing item.
My kids did a good job working together, though the four-year old's attention span was definitely shorter than my other two children. They worked through a little over half of the puzzle in one day (they spent about 45 minutes). The next day they finished up. We had to go to the publisher's web site to confirm the correct solution. My children found the right location and solved the mystery. The game was a lot of fun and we look forward to the publisher's next game which should be available in November 2019.
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| Working with the clues |
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| All this stuff inside! |
2. Exit the Game: The Abandoned Cabin by Inka and Markus Brand
This Exit the Game was one of the early ones and we hadn't been able to find it in stores. We gave in and ordered it from Amazon, just in case it never shows up again in retail. The story is your car broke down and you sheltered in a cabin overnight. In the morning, you find yourself locked in and have to escape before the madman gets back and keeps you forever.
Having played almost all the other games (new ones are coming out all the time), we had a good sense of the style of puzzles. We did get tripped up by the "box puzzle." These games typically have one or more puzzles that use the actual box the game came in. Such challenges are usually very creative, though sometimes more than we can guess. The other puzzles were fun to work out and we enjoyed the game.
Even though the game only plays one time (players have to cut, fold, or otherwise alter the components), the low cost makes it worth while and it's nice to just recycle the game rather than have another box taking up space on the game shelves. Our oldest child played with us and he enjoyed solving the puzzles.
3. Unlock! The Night of the Bogeymen by Space Cowboys
This was an impulse purchase at a game store. We had mixed experiences with Unlock! games before. Some were really good, others really frustrating. Happily, this one is on the better side of Unlock! games. The story has players helping a young boy deal with his nightmares, which manifest as several bogeymen in his bedroom.
Unlock! is typically a cards-only game supported by a free phone/tablet app. Our favorites have included components beyond the cards, creating a more satisfying experience. This game had an extra bit of origami that made a fun challenge and some variety, which is what we think the series needs. Also, this was listed at a one-lock (out of three) difficulty and it was not too hard.
 |
| Our final stats from the app |
We got a couple of things wrong and used one hint but did work quickly, resulting in a four-star rating for our performance.
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