Much more than meets the eye!
The Great Noximillian, world-renowned magician, is hiding more than just tricks up his sleeve. His past five assistants have mysteriously gone missing, each after their 13th performance with Noximillian. Now his latest assistant, Casey, is desperate to uncover the truth behind these disturbing disappearances.
Casey’s roommate, Sam, plans to investigate The Great Noximillian’s private dressing room while Casey and the magician are busy on stage…but Sam needs your help.
Find out what Noximillian has been hiding and solve the mystery before the show is over and Casey’s time is up!
Locurio is a company we have been hearing about for a long time, and from what we had heard, it was no surprise that they won a TERPECA award for their online game, The Vanishing Act which ranked 5th in the world for online escape games. So when our friend Matt over at EscapeMattster asked us if we would like to join him and a couple of others to play this game, it was a real no brainer!
When we received the welcome email for The Vanishing Act we realised this was not going to be like most online rooms we had played. The key differences we noticed were that this was a 90 minute experience (could be two hours including intro/outro), and they were very clear that for the best experience possible, we should have four connections playing the game.
Many online escape rooms use Telescape for their online inventory, but Locurio have opted for an option that we hadn’t encountered before, Mofang One. Ignoring the rather odd name we were very interested to see what this was like. When we logged in, we were greeted by a detailed instruction area, the link for our Zoom call, and we could also see which of our team members had already assembled. With our team assembled, we were ready to begin.
It’s worth noting that this game is an adapted version of their real-life ‘The Vanishing Act’ so if you’ve played that you may find some puzzles that are the same, but they have added some unique elements.
CONCEPT/EXECUTION
We went into this game expecting something that was a run-of-the-mill ‘magic’ themed room, but what we encountered went well beyond that and developed into something completely different. The way Locurio integrated pre-recorded video and live streaming was nothing short of impressive, and seamless – easily the smoothest we’ve seen to date.
Once we properly got into the game, we found a set that wouldn’t be classed as exciting by any means, but it fit the theme perfectly and was well laid out for an online game. We also knew exactly what we were working towards and where our focus needed to be. Well, we thought we knew what we were doing, then everything changed…
Some games don’t need to use an inventory, others excel because of how they use it, Locurio have arguably mastered it. With 360 degree views and quite possibly the most advanced inventory system we have seen to date, the inventory was the perfect addition to make this game simply exceptional. Our avatar (or someone behind the scenes) was in control of adding and removing items to our inventory, ensuring we could focus on the puzzles and not get bogged down in ‘admin’ tasks.
PUZZLES
The Vanishing Act had the usual escape room puzzles that you’d expect to find; wordplay, observation, logic, but they also found a way to include a puzzle type that we hadn’t experienced much in an online avatar led room until now: communication. I don’t want to give much away about how they do it, but it was inspired, really it was something special and I would love to see more companies doing things like that – Locurio, you’ve set the bar very high!
The less we say about the puzzles, the better. Go into this game expecting to be challenged and kept on your toes, and you are sure to have a great experience! Some of these puzzles are ones that we won’t be forgetting in a very long time!
GM/CLUE SYSTEM
Our avatar for The Vanishing Act was Sam, and he played his role perfectly. We didn’t need to ask for any clues but I’m sure he did some subtle camera positioning to help us get a little bit more time to notice what we needed.
Sam was friendly, patient, and humorous – the perfect combination. We’ve played rooms where avatars will basically solve everything for you, and rooms where they play a bumbling fool and you have to explain even the most basic of commands to them – Sam got the balance just right. He listened to what we were saying, jotted things down on the blackboard in the room to help us, and gave us time to work out what we needed to do with this information.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Perfectly modified from a real-life game, The Vanishing Act is a masterpiece in online game design. An inventory system that both helped and added extra challenges, a great gamesmaster, and an overall slickness that is rare in online games, make this a must play!
We thought we knew what we were getting into with this game, but just as we got comfortable, everything changed. Expect the unexpected.
GOOD TO KNOW
- Number of connections: Recommended (exactly) 4 players
- Price: $140 per game
- Devices: Laptop/Desktop
- Platform: Zoom / Browser
- Inventory: Yes
- 360º View: Yes
- Time Zone: Seattle, WA (PST)
Final Rating:
Puzzles | |
Concept/Execution | |
GM/Clue System | |
Value for Money | |
Enjoyment |
Team: 5 players
Time Taken: 71:00 minutes
Website: https://www.locurio.com
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