The Pharaoh’s Tomb Review | The excursion to the Valley of the Kings is the highlight of your vacation to Egypt. As you crawl through the narrow passageways, you lose the rest of your tour group. You enter a mysterious burial chamber. A massive stone door closes behind you.
Rating: Phar-abulous
Completion Time: 58 minutes
Date Played: 17th of August 2019
Party Size: 3
3 weeks and counting of being stuck at home and I’m definitely getting some escape room withdrawals. So it’s a good job I’ve got a shelf filled with Exit: The Game play-at-home escape rooms!
So here is a throwback to the first one I ever did! Sadly no longer on my shelf, but one I still come back to fondly when I’m trying to recommend an at-home experience. The idea is simple, the game quick, and puzzles challenging! As expected from the theme and title, in The Pharaoh’s Tomb you find yourself trapped in a mysterious tomb. *shudders in ancient egyptian*. The object of the game is to break out – simple, right? Each time you progress through the game and work through the cards, you locate new rooms, find new treasure, spot symbols, and unlock centuries old codes.
The puzzles are themed pretty well for the setting. I’m coming back to this review a while after playing it, but as well as the usual Exit the Game cutting, folding, and unexpected “woah!” moments, in this you can also expect hieroglyphs, animal puzzles, and plenty of mentions of Tutankhamen.
This one is marked 4/5 on the difficulty scale, but with plenty of optional hints it’s still possible to get through in under an hour. In particular, I generally enjoy Exit the Game’s mechanic of cards being picked up in a certain order with dead ends and twists and turns. It’s unique and interesting – but not particularly easy!
Overall, a fun way to spend an afternoon with friends, but a little bit of extra explaining needed if they’re not familiar with the structure of these games. Oh – and if you want to keep your box when you’re finished with it, be sure to photocopy bits! Is that a spoiler? Maybe! But worth mentioning that our experience was definitely one use only.
The Pharaoh’s Tomb can be purchased for £13 on Amazon, or at many local escape rooms.
