Mystery Locks: Dream Hack | Review

Digital Play at Home Sci-Fi
Mairi
May 17, 2020
0
6 minutes read

In 2083 things are quite different from today. The simple things in life were sacrificed for time efficiency. There was no time laugh, to love or to dream.

Rating: Different
Completion Time: 29 minutes
Date Played: 17th of May 2020
Party Size: 1

Dream Hack by Mystery Locks wins my award for most interesting (and creative) theme! I love it! Often with escape rooms I see the same theme come up over and over again. It makes sense, there are only so many exciting themes out there. But credit where credit is due for this game and it’s fantastic setting!

It is the distant future and modern technology has enabled human beings to get as much as 10 hours sleep in just 10 minutes. Fantastic, right? We can be so much more productive. Just think about all the free time you’d have to play escape rooms!

But it all goes wrong, such technology should never be in the hands of one corporation. What’s more, a corporation that’s suffering a major security breach. Enter you, the player!

So here’s my review: I say ‘you’ singular, because I did play this game solo. I think I was just so excited about it I had to dive in right away. Plus my partner is all escape room-ed out after a 4 hour marathon this morning. So I raced through it solo. As such, that probably affects my review, so take this with a pinch of salt. Escape rooms are inherently social, and here is me being antisocial.

Being social aside – this one was good fun! Creative, hacking based puzzles that require you to step outside of the boundaries of the game and immerse yourself in real-life internet puzzles. You download ziplocked files, head onto Google Maps, even head onto Instagram to try and solve one particular puzzle.

It’s exciting! And it works… Mostly. I encountered just the one technical difficulty which did impact game play a little (Note: I’ve already relayed this to the owners and they’re assured me the issue is now fixed!). I’d say these puzzles are also on the harder side. Better for veterans with a keen eye for detail, patience, and knowledge of existing cipher systems. Or at least, able to google them!

Maybe surprisingly, or maybe unsurprisingly as I didn’t need to discuss the puzzles – I finished in good time under 30 minutes! The ending was satisfying. I saved the world, all whilst my partner napped in the next room. Not bad for a Sunday afternoon!