Post Curious: The Morrison Game Factory (Play at Home)

Another winner from Post Curious

When an urban explorer sends you a package recovered from an abandoned board game factory, you instantly know that there is more to these materials than meets the eye. The box in your hands doesn’t just contain a board game—it contains an untold story.

If you’re a fan of table top puzzle games, particularly those that could be more accurately described as “narrative puzzle adventures,” you’re very likely already familiar with Post Curious. And if you aren’t already familiar, well, then The Morrison Game Factory could be a fantastic choice for an initiation.

We were a little late to the party in discovering this style of game, and so first became aware of Post Curious when The Emerald Flame appeared on Kickstarter. We were entranced by the gorgeous artwork, and the promise of an engaging narrative driven by clever, and pleasing puzzles, and hit the “Back This Project” button without hesitation. Since then, whenever we see a new project by Post Curious, we always get a little excited, and the credit card tends to take a beating.

I’m sure you can imagine our delight, then, when we were fortunate enough to be asked if we would be willing to play the latest Post Curious project, The Morrison Game Factory, ahead of its release. The game was fully funded on Kickstarter within 6 hours, so clearly everyone else is just as excited about this project as we were. (Don’t worry – if you missed it on Kickstarter there will be a retail release too!)

It’s been a hectic couple of months at Chez Review the Room, but when The Morrison Game Factory arrived, we were all too happy to take a break from reality, and set aside a couple of hours to do just that. With our background music playing and a cosy fire roaring away,  we lifted the lid on the box, and our adventure began…

CONCEPT/EXECUTION

Now, there is one slight difference to The Morrison Game Factory from other Post Curious games – This is the first game from the publisher that wasn’t designed by Rita Orlov, the founder of Post Curious. Instead,  The Morrison Game Factory was created by the Nebula-Nominated writer, Lauren Bello (known for her work on Foundation and The Sandman. But don’t let that deter you – The Morrison Game Factory still has a distinctly Post Curious feel, and the story and the gameplay are exquisite.

The game begins with a mysterious letter, but it quickly becomes apparent that that is more than meets the eye. The story of The Morrison Game Factory is truly beautiful, but be warned, there is a lot of it. The Morrison Game Factory leans very heavily into the narrative aspect of the “narrative puzzle adventure” that players are promised,  and the story is integral to some of the puzzles. The two blend together in a seamless way from the moment you open the box, and as such, the game feels very linear, which is why it is recommended to smaller groups.

Although the game very much relies on the internet interface, the components within the box give it a wonderfully tactile feeling, with plenty of things to play with, move around, and even experiment with, as you solve the puzzles and uncover the truth behind the mysterious contents of the box.

PUZZLES

The puzzles throughout The Morrison Game Factory were an absolute pleasure to solve. Logic, codes, pattern recognition, cyphers, and yes, even playing a board game all factored into the challenges we encountered (not to mention a few other surprises). But whatever the puzzle, each felt satisfying, and fair. Everything fit seamlessly into the narrative, and the reveals gave a wonderful feeling of accomplishment. In fact, there were quite a number of times when one or both of us felt the need to remark on how clever something was.

One thing we found with other Post Curious games, was that some of the puzzles were quite tricky, and we didn’t always make the connection between the pieces. However, the puzzles we encountered throughout The Morrison Game Factory felt a bit less complex, or perhaps the telegraphing was just a little bit clearer. Either way, the end result was that the puzzles felt slightly less difficult, although by no means easy or simple, giving us a game that feels much more accessible to puzzlers of any level, from the very experienced to the total newbie. There was one item though that we couldn’t work out what to do with, yet still managed to complete the game.

CLUE SYSTEM

While the puzzles were truly a delight, and generally very intuitive, at one point we found ourselves doing what we thought was the right thing (and was), but repeatedly getting an answer that was most definitely not the correct solution. Fortunately, help is available every step of the way, whether you’re struggling because you forgot about something you found in the box and then set aside for later, or because you’re just not looking at the puzzle in the right way.

Clues follow a graduated nudging system, gently guiding players back on track, and allowing them to take as little, or as much help as needed, without explicitly giving the answer, unless you absolutely need it, of course. The clues were in keeping with the character and narrative of the game, so the immersion was never totally broken, even if help was needed.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The Morrison Game Factory is beautifully crafted, and completely charming. If you’re on the fence about whether or not you need another puzzle game, the answer is unequivocally “Yes.”.

We did take a number of photos as we played through the game, but in hindsight they all seem to contain spoilers, hence the lack of photos in this review!

TOOLS REQUIRED

• Pen and Paper
• Internet connection

*We played an early version of the game prior to its Kickstarter launch. Kickstarter backers and later purchasers may have a slightly edited experience.

Final Rating:

Team: 2 players

Time Taken: Somewhere around 2 hours

Website: https://www.getpostcurious.com/themorrisongamefactory

*Disclaimer: we weren’t charged for this experience, but this has not influenced our review