MysteryLocks: The Monster Chest | Review

The Monster Chest Review | At the prestigious Academy of Magic, you and your friends are deep into your magical studies when an urgent message from your Monsterology teacher, Professor Ghelsestein, appears out of thin air, pleading for your immediate help. Without hesitation, you dash to his workshop, only to find it in chaotic disarray—books and scrolls are scattered, a mysterious blue potion leaks ominously, and tiny, furry purple monsters scurry about.
At the heart of the chaos is a large, monstrous chest resting on a table, its ornate features demanding attention. The room is sealed, and it’s up to you and your friends to solve the mysteries hidden within the chest and rescue Professor Ghelsestein. Your magical adventure begins now—can you decipher the clues and unlock the secrets before it’s too late?

Date Played: October 2024
Time Taken: 35 minutes (50 minutes set up time)
Number of Players: 1
Difficulty: Easy

Note, all photos and videos in this review at (c) MysteryLocks

Halloween is creeping closer which means it’s time to dim the lights, put on some spooky music and solve some monsterous puzzles! A missing professor and a curious chest lie at the heart of The Monster Chest – one of Mystery Locks print at home escape room games. Download the files, print out the pages and set enough time aside to cut out and glue together the pieces.

If you don’t have a printer at home, the team are currently looking into an option to print and ship the files directly to you. Hopefully this will be available soon, as although we suspect this option will be a little more expensive, it would definitely worth it. The MysteryLocks team were incredibly helpful in shipping a copy to us directly, and the experience was a lot better than if we’d tried to print ourselves. The colours looked great, the paper was very durable, and the whole thing looks and feels great. Granted, this game is very heavy on the visuals and wouldn’t quite pack the same punch if it were printed in black and white or if the colours started to run halfway.

Once you’re ready to play, an introduction card sets the scene of a workshop in disarray, and I love the idea of mimicking this setting at home. An image provided of the workshop itself provides a clear visual of your imagined backdrop which would be fun to explore recreating as a way of really immersing the players in the game. Of course, this isn’t necessary as all materials required are provided. The scene setting is enhanced by a built it yourself 3D replica of the Monster Chest, which is coated with guides and pointers for the puzzles ahead and provides a fun prop to interact with throughout the game.

The premise of the game remains the same throughout – you must solve each puzzle to get a four digit code and find the corresponding envelope to reveal the next bit of the story along with a puzzle. It means it’s always really clear where to go next, but I’d recommend keeping the envelopes hidden from sight until you get a potential answer to check, otherwise you can quite easily put two and two together.

The Monster Chest is aimed at families, which I think is a perfect audience for this particular game. The difficult level of the puzzles is easy, though they do get more difficult as you progress. Whilst it may not challenge a seasoned puzzler, if you have any young puzzlers, this’d be a good game to play alongside them and guide them through. There’s a lot of pattern spotting and observation puzzles which are great for kids, and some trickier logic based puzzles for those players who are a little bit older.

Overall, the design is beautiful – it enriches the puzzles and you can tell this is a company with a wealth of experience both designing puzzle games and making them look fantastic too. My only quibble is I would have liked a bit more variation on the types of puzzle. By the time I got to the end it felt like I was doing the same sorts of things over and over.

As a solo player enjoying a cosy night in for spooky season, my frustration lied in that it took longer to set up than to play. After 50 minutes of cutting and sticking, my enthusiasm to play had dwindled. I admit that I am not the target family audience, so if this was to be set up in advance for the kids to enjoy that would be the ideal scenario. This is especially given that I had to put the final correct answer in a specific envelope, thus slightly spoiling the end! Don’t worry, a well timed break after the set up meant I forgot by the time I sat down to play!

The Verdict

Mystery Locks have produced an impressive 80+ print at home games, and you can tell. The Monster Chest is well designed, flows seamlessly and has satisfying puzzles with a surprise story ending. The only downsides are the very long setup time and if you plan to print this at home you may need to replace your ink colour several times to get to the end. I’d recommend this for a family audience to experience something a little bit different over Halloween. Enthusiasts playing solo may not be challenged, but there’s a little something in it for everyone.

The Monster Chest can be purchased by heading to Mystery Locks website here. As a printable game, you’ll be responsible for printing out and assembling your own copy. Please Note: We were not charged for our experience playing The Monster Chest but this does not affect the contents of our review.