The perfect challenge for enthusiasts
This Lockable Gift Box is an exciting way to give a gift to any escape room enthusiast. You lock their gift away and the recipient must solve the mystery of the lost treasure to reveal the combination to unlock their present.
An exciting way to give a gift!
We’ve been following Morgan’s Escapes on Twitter for quite a while so we had a rough idea of what they did, but had never actually gotten around to playing any of their games. According to their Etsy listing, they currently have 32 games for sale so you could say they are prolific. We however, were just here to play one, one game that had the potential to make Christmas gifting a little bit more interesting, Mystery Times.
Normally when this game is shipped out it is sent as a flatpack kit that you would assemble and then pass on to the recipient. As we were giving it a try for review purposes, Morgan kindly sent it to us fully assembled so we could see how it would actually be used. She even took it one step further and gift-wrapped the box with some lovely and festive wrapping paper.
Feeling suitably festive, and excited to see what was in our package, we sat down and opened the Mystery Times envelope.
CONCEPT/EXECUTION
The concept of this game is actually really simple, you use the padlock and chain to lock up the box, then the recipient has to solve the puzzles to get the code to unlock it. Playing this game we couldn’t help but notice the potential for using it at Christmas, for different sizes of gift. If you had a big gift you could just put it in a suitcase and use the padlock to lock it, or, if you’re really feeling evil, you could take someone’s Christmas stocking and lock it with the padlock and chain – plenty of festive fun!
Because of the simplicity, this game was actually good fun and what really surprised me was that it was a challenge. Often we’ll play games like this and we’ll complete them in 15 or 20 minutes, this one however kept the two of us occupied for nearly 45 minutes! So if you have a puzzle enthusiast friend/family member, then this is a great way to make them work for their gift.
PUZZLES
As previously mentioned, we found this game challenging. But it was challenging in a fair way for sure and once we worked out the puzzles, we found they were all very fair. As with any game when you’re given everything at once, the first puzzle is working out what you need and where to start, but the nice thing is that it can be tackled in pretty much any order.
We played as a team of two, but I’d imagine most will play it solo, and it is totally doable as a solo player. If something doesn’t make sense, then move on to something else and come back to it later.
The puzzles were all contained on a few pages of a ‘newspaper’ print and everything you needed to use to solve them, was contained within those pages. Wordplay, decoding, and observation all played a part and were all a joy to solve.
GM/CLUE SYSTEM
Don’t worry, there is a hint system! The intended recipient of this game will still be able to get their gift if they can’t solve the puzzles. The hint system is accessed by going to a website (or scanning a QR code) and it is broken down by page – so no chance of clicking on the wrong hint. Once you do that, you are able to reveal two hints before finally revealing the solution.
Being completely honest, we did need to look at the hints for one puzzle early on. This was because we weren’t quite sure if we got the right answer, it seemed random but it then made sense. Once we knew we were on the right track and understood how the puzzles formed solutions, there was no stopping us!
FINAL THOUGHTS
This was a really good challenge and is a great idea. I actually think they’re doing themselves an injustice by limiting it to the small box it comes with, there is so much potential here! I’m considering getting a suitcase out of the loft and locking it up with the padlock – that should keep my family occupied for all of Christmas day!
Final Rating:
| Puzzles | |
| Concept/Execution | |
| Clue System | |
| Value for Money | |
| Enjoyment |
Team: 2 players
Time Taken: 44 mins
Website: https://www.morgansescapes.co.uk/
*Disclaimer: we weren’t charged for this experience, but this has not influenced our review.
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