Puzzle Post: The Missed Flight

You gave your message to Lucy Kingston to deliver. She’s been travelling around Europe but has been caught up in some unscrupulous business. She’s hasn’t done anything wrong, but someone’s after her and she’s gone into hiding.

Rating: Brilliant!
Completion Time: 32 minutes
Date Played: 26th July 2020
Party Size: 1

The Missed Flight is a brand new gift concept from the clever people at Puzzle Post. The idea is simple! A good friend of yours has sent you a message via third party, Lucy Kingston. But in an exciting twist, Lucy goes on the run! Unable to pass along your message, she goes into hiding. Perhaps the clues she’s left behind in her travels hold the key? If you want your message, you’re going to have to solve the clues.

Unlike other similar services I’ve bought for friends (*cough cough* sending one of these to your flatmate so you can backseat play along), I got to play The Missed Flight all by myself which I LOVE. It’s honestly exciting enough receiving a letter in the post, but then having that letter wrapped up in mystery and intrigue? YES!

What really stands out for me with this one is that it’s so wonderfully timed. We’re still in a pandemic. All our summer holidays have been cancelled. So for that brief moment to receive a letter from the sunny Hotel Placa de Catalunya sparks so much joy. It’s a wonderful theme and the puzzles work so beautifully in this setting. You’ll find yourself pouring over flight maps, postcards, cafe menus, beer mats and tickets. It’s a holiday in an envelope! Waiter, bring me a jug of sangria please!

In terms of difficulty, I’d say this game is very comfortably paced. It’s not terribly difficult, but it’s not easy either. Effectively, as a player you’re looking for a string of numbers. Each puzzle is different and gives almost no clue to how to solve – so you must really read everything carefully. Some of them you’re like “yep, I’ve got this” and jump right into it. Other’s require you to really, really think outside the box.

My favourite puzzle was the one involving the napkin. I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but it was such a realistic puzzle within The Missed Flight’s universe. It’s my biggest bug bear when an escape game has puzzles that don’t fit in the world, but Puzzle Post absolutely nails it.

If you … Or your recipient… Manages to solve the whole thing, they’re given access to “The Vault”, within which contains a message. The message could be a video, a photograph, or even just a plain text. For my Puzzle Post, I received a super sweet video which brought me such a smile. But I can definitely imagine this being a great way to gift someone some tickets .. Perhaps even plane tickets for a holiday? Why not!

The Missed Flight can be purchased for £12.99 from Puzzle Post‘s website.