A good workout for the grey matter!
Faskin’s Fairground has come to town and you are buzzing with excitement! You love the thrill of the rides, the sweet sugary smell of candy floss and the sound of the old-time music ringing throughout the park.
Except something is not right. The circus lights aren’t flashing, the rides are empty and there’s not a single inflatable balloon in sight!
Someone has sabotaged the fair and your help is urgently needed. Can you help to navigate your way around the cacophony of twisted fairground puzzles, solve the mystery as to who is behind this monstrous crime and save the fairground folk who are stranded on a broken-down coaster?
Book your ticket to Faskin’s Fairground now!
We’d played both of the online Clue Cracker games, Disappearance of DJ McDee and Escape from Extinction Island, completing them in 6mins and 22minutes respectively. So when we saw that Clue Cracker had just released a new 90 minute game that they promised would be harder, we instantly signed up – in fact I think we were probably one of the first groups to do it.
This room has a much darker theme than their other two online experiences, with a more sinister feel about it.
CONCEPT/EXECUTION
Once again Clue Cracker have stuck with what works, and quite rightly so. One of the things I like about the Clue Cracker games is that your timer is visible throughout so you know how long you are taking, and there is a clear roadmap shown so you know how much further you have left to go.
Rather than just throwing puzzles at you non-stop, they are broken up nicely with videos that enhance the story. Clue Cracker are not only good at puzzle making but are great at bringing their characters to life and that really enhances this experience.
A small thing that is overlooked by many online games is the ability to see what you are typing. Typing in a password of 1234 is not going to cause someone to be able to hack into my bank account so why does it need to only be visible as ****?! I often suffer from ‘fat-finger’ syndrome so it would be nice to make sure what I’m entering hasn’t suffered a typo. Anyway, off on a rant there, with Clue Cracker you can see what you’re entering – top marks!
PUZZLES
As you’d expect from Clue Cracker, all the puzzles were on theme and fitted into a fairground perfectly. There was a mixture of puzzles and many of them looked simple until you delved into them a little deeper only to find out there was more you needed to do. Expect maths, logic, and observation.
One particular puzzle we thought was very sneaky and clever and actually we really rather enjoyed it, that is to say until the answer didn’t work. We spent around 10 minutes trying the only logical answer for the puzzle yet it still wasn’t working. In the end, we had to use the clue system to get the answer and it didn’t make sense. After the game, we contacted Clue Cracker about this and they confirmed the solution on their game was wrong and this was swiftly fixed. There’s always a risk to being one of the first to play a game, either online or in person, and with it now fixed it is a great puzzle!
Although we enjoyed one puzzle, there was also another which we weren’t a fan of. We found that the answer was a little ambiguous and could have been interpreted in different ways, of course, we were already frustrated by the ‘broken’ puzzle, so that may have just thrown us off. But saying that, if we really wanted to, we could have simply brute-forced it and moved on.
CLUE SYSTEM
Clue Cracker have stuck with a tried and tested system for their clues, and it works. You get three gentle nudges to help you solve the puzzle and then if you still can’t get it, you have the option to see the solution. I think this is one of my preferred systems for clues as you get to decide when you need help, how much you need, and if you’re really not getting it, you get the solution and can see what you were doing wrong.
FINAL THOUGHTS
In terms of difficulty, this is a step (or five) up from their other online experiences but it still features the same quality of story throughout and has puzzles that will give your brain a good workout.
TOOLS REQUIRED
- Internet Connection
- Paper and Pen for note taking (if required)
Final Rating:
| Puzzles | |
| Concept/Execution | |
| Clue System | |
| Value for Money | |
| Enjoyment |
Team: 2 players
Time Taken: 49 minutes (after adjusting for incorrect puzzle)
Website: https://www.cluecrackergames.co.uk
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