Send the Kids on a Quest (without leaving home)
You’re an apprentice to the great wizard Saria Pitchscream, and you’ve been summoned to her office. Someone has stolen her dragon eggs!
Saria has gone to the Wizard’s Council to find out who took them, and she’s asked for your help in getting them back!
Follow the clues left by the thief to collect the dragon eggs and uncover the final treasure!
Growing up, the closest I ever had to escape rooms were those ‘choose your own adventure’ style books, and they were great, but how different my childhood could have been if escape rooms were a thing! With the world being in a state of chaos right now and kids spending more time at home, it’s understandable that people will be looking for new ways to entertain them. Say hello to play at home escape room experiences, for kids!
We’ve played games before which are classed as family games, but games specifically for kids are new to us. The first of these ‘designed for kids’ games that we’ve played is Dragon Egg Quest by Jamie at the aptly named Armchair Escapist. We’ve known Jamie for a little while and have played some of his other play at home projects so it was no surprise when we saw he had put together a fully packaged game.
This game is designed for ages 8+ and could keep your little people occupied for up to an hour, it depends how creative you get when you set it up.
CONCEPT/EXECUTION
Dragon Egg Quest is literally that, a quest. This isn’t a game that is designed to have you sitting down the whole time, this is one of those games that gets kids exploring the house (or further afield) trying to find the next puzzle.
Although this is a game for kids, it is one that would benefit from some adult overseeing, firstly to place the items around the house, and secondly to act as the gamemaster.
The concept is quite simple, you fill in a ‘codebook’ which contains lots of possible locations for where the puzzles go, and place the items in the locations directed. When solving a puzzle, the kids will obtain a four digit code which they then cross relate with the locations on the codebook and this tells them where to go next, like I said, a quest!
PUZZLES
Dragon Egg Quest isn’t puzzle heavy by any means, but it does contain around five puzzles that should keep your little people occupied for a good amount of time. There is word play, logic, observation, and depending on how sneaky you want to get when setting up the game, searching.
If it were me, I’d probably get a bit more cryptic with the locations, rather than just saying ‘it’s in the Fridge’, I’d say ‘Look in the box that always remains cool’, but that would mean you’d need to get cryptic with all of the slots on the ‘codebook’ so perhaps just ignore me.
We found the puzzles to be fair, although our stupid printer made one much harder than it should have been. It’s worth noting that there is some back-and-forth between the documents so don’t be so quick to discard something when you think you’re done with it
CLUE SYSTEM
This game is really designed to be managed by one person (probably an adult) who will be responsible for setting up the game and also giving clues if they are needed – essentially they are the Gamesmaster. The instruction sheet not only contains details on how to set up the game but also contains a walkthrough for each puzzle.
The walkthrough is basic but is perfectly adequate for the Gamesmaster to be able to guide their minions through the challenges they will encounter on their quest. There are a couple of gentle nudges for each puzzle and if needs be, the solution is revealed (it shows how it comes to this).
FINAL THOUGHTS
For £3 (and some printing) you really can’t go wrong with this game. Spend some time setting it up like a real quest and I can imagine that kids will love it. The story is solid, the artwork is very good, and there’s even a certificate at the end of the quest.
TOOLS REQUIRED
- A colour printer
- A pair of scissors
- An internet connection and the ability to send / receive emails
- A camera to take your victory photo
Final Rating:
| Puzzles | |
| Concept/Execution | |
| Clue System | |
| Value for Money | |
| Enjoyment |
Team: 2 players (both adults)
Time Taken: 23 mins
Website: https://www.armchairescapist.com
*Disclaimer: we weren’t charged for this experience, but this has not influenced our review.
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