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The Curious Correspondence Club: Warehouse on the Wharf | Review

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The Curious Correspondence Club: Warehouse on the Wharf | Review | Chapter II takes you to Padstow Wharf to find the second of 12 ancient artifacts hidden among the hundreds of shipments arriving and leaving the warehouse.

Hot on the heels of another agent who went missing in action, you must use the map, film negative, and cargo panels she left behind to piece together the artifact’s location before it is moved and lost forever.

Completion Time: 70 Minutes
Date Played: October 3rd 2021
Party Size: 1
Recommended For: An incredibly inventive, stimulating, and varied at-home experience

Chapter II of the Curious Correspondence Club leads you from the museum to the wharf for an exciting continuation of your journey as a new recruit of the mysterious organization. Following the footsteps and clues left behind by the missing AGENT RED, I found this chapter to be even more immersive and engaging than the first (check out my review of Chapter One here).

Once again, I was blown away by the variety, beauty, and inventiveness of the game pieces that came in the envelope. Intricate is an understatement. The variety of items that the creators portray in a 2D format is fascinating (I found the film negative to be particularly delightful)!

Just as in Chapter I, be prepared for a variety of puzzles that cater to different types of thinkers. In my previous review, I admonished myself for diving into these mysteries as a “solo agent” and suggested playing with at least one other person, however, I rarely listen to anyone, including myself, and therefore attempted Chapter II while home alone on a chilly autumn night. Luckily for me, I did have an easier time with Chapter II, in part because I was familiar with the foundations of what makes the Curious Correspondence Club tick, but also due to the setting.

While I loved the museum setting of Chapter I, I found the objectives within Chapter II more directly connected to the puzzles at hand, something that I struggled with in the first chapter. The puzzles were not necessarily less challenging, however, I did find them, to their benefit, more easily completed because of this correspondence (no pun intended) to the in-game tasks. Given that I am now a full fledged agent rather than going through my initiation, I hope that the following chapters follow this model, as having clearly defined tasks laid out handily in the introductory note gave me more time to focus on the actual tasks at hand rather than questioning what I was supposed to be doing.

As a humanities minded individual, I was initially unsure if I would be well suited to solving the code breaking, observational puzzles contained in Chapter II. To the contrary, I found them more intuitive and satisfying to solve (and more easily done without hints!) than the museum-set Chapter I, perhaps because I didn’t have any outside knowledge about the Greeks or dinosaurs clouding my thought process. I very much enjoyed taking on the role of a secret agent for the evening, next time I’ll have to break out my black polo neck.

I definitely relied a lot less on the hints this time, although I would use them to “check my work” if I wasn’t 100% sure of my answer because I learned from Chapter I that a wrong solution in one section could lead to disaster later down the line (disaster here meaning I had to unnecessarily redo things, something that I find very annoying). When I did use the hints, I found them to be more helpful than last time, again I think the plot structure of Chapter II definitely helped in this regard.

The one tactile/building puzzle in the envelope, while very interesting in concept, proved to be an absolutely impossible task for me as a solo player. That being said, as I stated in my previous review, fine motor skills are by no means my strong suit! The rest of the puzzles I could have managed alone, but I think every player could benefit from an extra pair of hands when it comes to this task.

The Verdict

I found Chapter II to be a brilliant instalment of the Curious Correspondence Club that creates an excellent blueprint of how the future chapters could play out. Like the Godfather Part 2 or Shrek 2, I’d class it as a rare sequel that surpasses the original.

It made me very excited to play the future episodes, perhaps I will even finally listen to my own advice and make my partner play Chapter III with me. I would highly recommend this game to all puzzle lovers who are up for an exciting and unique challenge.

Warehouse on the Wharf can be purchased as part of the Curious Correspondence Club subscription on their website here.

Ratings

Curious Correspondence Club: The Custodian’s Keys | Review

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Curious Correspondence Club: The Custodian’s Keys Review | A museum ticket marked with a curious symbol leads you to the M. B. Franklin Museum of Natural History to investigate six keys, six exhibits, and one strange lock. You must explore each exhibit and solve the clues to pair the right keys with the right locks. Completing this puzzle will reveal the location of an ancient treasure within the museum. Will you be able to unlock the secrets?

Completion Time: 80 Minutes
Date Played: September 22nd 2021
Party Size: 1 (and a half)
Recommended For: A challenging, beautifully designed, and tactile at-home experience

Each envelope from The Curious Correspondence Club contains a world of treasures: the relatively small letter opens up to reveal an array of cleverly and beautifully designed props with puzzles to solve and mysteries to uncover.

It’s impossible not to be impressed by the detail, variety, and scope of this at home experience. You’ll truly be transported to another world from the comfort of your own house.

Expert puzzle solvers, this game is for you! I believe even the most experienced minds would be challenged by the mysteries contained inside this little envelope.

When I first opened the envelope, I immediately laid out the various props, delighted and amazed by the inventiveness and quality of each piece of paper that has been expertly engineered and transformed into items you encounter in the M. B. Franklin Museum.

Top marks for beauty and originality!

It was almost too beautiful, as I felt the urge to preserve the items. For the first 20 minutes of game play, I resisted marking up or damaging the pieces, which did not make the task at hand any easier for myself. And these puzzles are certainly not an easy task.

The puzzles themselves are incredibly varied and cater to different types of thinkers. The tactile elements were particularly exciting, although some of them proved a bit tricky to manoeuvre correctly. I was led down the wrong path on more than one occasion by a minutely askew piece, but to be fair, fine motor skills are not my strong suit!

I found the experience challenging, not necessarily because of the puzzles themselves (although they were challenging by their own merits), but because I had trouble adapting to the mindset of how everything was meant to connect. This was less of the case in Chapter Two, which I also played (no spoilers yet for that review!) This was, in part, because I had a better understanding of how the game-makers think, but more significantly because the tasks at hand were laid out more directly and it was easier to connect the plot based challenges to the actual puzzles that you were meant to solve. I understand from a story perspective why the second chapter had more clearly explained directives, however, it feels like a missed opportunity that the first chapter didn’t act as more of a tutorial on what makes these mysteries tick.

I did end up using the hints and some spoilers, and to be honest with you, I doubt I could have completed the game without them. I liked how the hints were in character, but I felt they could have been more helpful if they were a bit clearer. I often already realized the “hint” by myself, the challenge was making the leap from that story driven thought process to the literal task at hand, so I would end up having to spoil myself. Again, this was less of the case in Chapter Two.

I did this game alone for the most part, but when I called in my partner out of desperation, there were things I missed that they quickly figured out. I would definitely recommend doing it with at least one other person, unless you’re a puzzle solving genius who’s up for a challenge.

The Verdict

Despite the difficulty level, I really enjoyed the ingenuity and novelty on display in Chapter One and I would definitely recommend it to others, particularly mystery and puzzle enthusiasts who want their skills to be tested. I love that they’re part of a larger narrative and I’m excited to dive further into the series to see where the Curious Correspondence Club takes me.

The Custodian’s Keys by Curious Correspondence Club can be purchased on their website here.

Don’t forget to check out their free Halloween event this October.

Ratings

Win A Limited Edition Halloween Pin in The Curious Correspondence Club’s Halloween Event

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Following the success of Curious Correspondence Club’s Puzzletember event, things are starting to get a little spookier this October on the Curious Correspondence Club Instagram account!

This October, players are invited to take part in a free online puzzle game to join the Creepy Creatures Club – the paranormal and cryptozoological branch of the CCC. Part escape room, part puzzle hunt, part alternate reality game… The goal of the game is to go in hunt of infamous cryptids such as vampires, werewolves, and mothman.

Clues will be revealed weekly on Sunday, starting Sunday 10th October and each will build upon the previous in a puzzle adventure open to anyone. The first 1,000 players to solve the puzzles and complete the game will receive a special prize including a limited edition pin.

How to Play?

The game is free and available to everyone with an Instagram account – simply keep an eye on the Curious Correspondence Club Instagram account every Sunday in October and keep your wits about you!

About the Curious Correspondence Club

The Curious Correspondence Club describes itself as,

“…an immersive analogue puzzle experience delivered right to your door. Each new envelope contains the next chapter of an ongoing episodic adventure, filled with cryptic challenges to confound you and your friends. Scour physical documents and ephemera, construct papercraft tools and devices, and immerse yourself in a unique deductive experience each month.”
Curious Correspondence Club

Mobile Escapes: The Haunted Tunnels of uOttawa | Review

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Race to escape! University of Ottawa and Mobile Escapes challenge you to escape from the campus’s haunted tunnels in less than 60 minutes!

Rating: Educational
Completion Time: 55:18
Date Played: 28th June 2021
Party Size: 2
Recommended For: Ottawa Residents, University Students

On a sunny Monday afternoon, one of the loveliest people in the world (shout out to Helen!!) invited me to play a lesser known escape room she’d come across earlier in the year: The Haunted Tunnels of uOttawa. This game was a partnership between the University of Ottawa and escape room company, Mobile Escapes designed to show folks around the campus in a time of global lockdown. It’s a charming little game, ideal for new students exploring the city, or those who want to learn more about the local history. For us, it was a fun in-browser game to get to know each other and hang out over our shared love: escape rooms!

Explore your new university through puzzles

The Haunted Tunnels of uOttawa is a browser-based game in every sense of the word. On every page you must solve a puzzle and then input your answer into a box at the foot of the page before you can advance. To track your progress, there’s a handy map around the campus detailing your footsteps and which buildings are still to explore.

For us, playing in a team of two, we opted to play with one player sharing their screen and the other co-solving puzzles. I don’t know if this method would work for a much larger team or if it would be better for all players to have their own link – but the more you know the better you can plan your own escape!

At it’s core, this game is an exploratory one. As you navigate around the environment you’ll bump into a number of ghosts whose role is to challenge and guide you through a series of university inspired puzzles. You’ll find yourself scouring alumni records, engaging with uOttawa’s social media accounts, watching old sporting matches from the football team, and so on.

A ghostly cast of characters

In particular, the ghost characters themselves were absolutely delightful – especially the names! With a running theme of being named for your department, see if you can guess which departments the following ghosts belong to:

Professor Juridik
Professor Curee
Professor Creato
Professor Anthropaul

Just brilliant!

Note to Self: Buy a Canadian phone

The only issue we experienced with The Haunted Tunnels of uOttawa was one puzzle towards the very end that required phoning a Canadian telephone number. Helen and I are both based in the UK, so to help us out we had to reach out to the brilliant David Ma of District 3 (you’ll remember him as our host for Something Brewing and Haunted). David quickly dialled the number for us and relayed the message so we could get on with our adventure. A huge shout out to him!

The Verdict?

A fun little game that serves a specific purpose – to introduce people to the university campus and the history there, but may still be enjoyed by a wider audience. I don’t want to mark it down for a number not working internationally, as I do appreciate the game isn’t particularly for a team playing from the UK, but we had a lot of fun regardless. I’ve learnt a lot, had a good laugh, and reckon I could definitely impress my Canadian friends and family when I next visit with my vast knowledge of uOttawa alumni (and ghosts!)

The Haunted Tunnels of uOttawa was a collaboration between Mobile Escapes and uOttawa that ran from December 15, 2020 to August 10, 2021. It can be booked via Eventbrite, and you can support Mobile Escapes here and the University of Ottawa here.

Mystery Mansion Regina: Night Terrors | Review

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After finding one of his childhood drawings, Alex is suddenly plagued by nightmares of the “Sleepyman”. Seeking to rid himself of these nightmares, Alex turns to a hypnotherapist. Playing the role of his subconscious, you will need to help Alex figure out what is causing his nightmares… before it’s too late.

Ratings

Theming: 5/5
Puzzles: 4/5
Decor: 4/5
Immersion: 5/5
Difficulty: 3/5

Overall: 4/5 ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

The Scariest Sunday of the Summer…

So, it’s one of the HOTTEST Sunday afternoons we have had in the UK for a while. Outside is bright, sunny and warm. But inside, we are just beginning our 5 hour escape room adventure with Mystery Mansion Regina, an escape room company based in Regina, Canada. Night Terrors is the first part of the ‘Sleepyman’ trilogy (click here for our review of D’Viles Curio Shoppe and Sleepy Man). Players are introduced to Alex, a boy plagued by mysterious nightmares, and your mission is to find out what is causing these strange disturbances.

The Game

You are tasked with playing Alex’s subconscious, guiding him through the room to solve puzzles and riddles, each taking you a step closer to discovering what is going on, and finding out who is the mysterious figure plaguing Alex’s dreams. This works particularly well on the online platform, with the first-person view of the gamesmaster tying in nicely with the idea that you are in Alex’s mind. Mystery Mansion Regina have cleverly set up the game to really play on this idea, with special catchphrases and an ingenious clue system: it’s definitely unique!

The room is pitched at a solid ‘creepy’; there are unsettling stories of children disappearing, and allusions to a slenderman-style villain tip-toeing behind every locked door. We really enjoyed the atmosphere created in the room – the background music supplied in the Telescape software worked really well alongside the live zoom call (this is definitely a game to play in headphones!). The puzzles themselves are spread across the live call and the Telescape software, with parts that players can manipulate and other parts that you rely on Alex putting together for you. We liked this – the combination of the two platforms is quite seamless, it certainly didn’t feel clunky switching between the two.

Image taken from Mystery Mansion Regina (https://mysterymansionregina.ca/online-escape-rooms/)

The puzzles themselves were the right level of challenging and there were plenty of them! We love a room with variety, and we were not disappointed with what Night Terrors had to offer. We are particular fans of puzzles that appear to players at the start of a room (almost teasing you to solve them!), but do not become clear until later in your gameplay. This leads you to some proper A-HA moments, as you finally realise what it is you’ve been looking at for so long!

There was one particular puzzle at the end of the game that really stood out to us all. The interaction between Telescape and the Zoom call is used wonderfully, to create an intense and extremely immersive atmosphere, which can be difficult in a virtual room. It certainly had us looking over our shoulders to double check that no-one was creeping up behind us.

The Story

The storytelling across the trilogy is immense, we got thoroughly pulled into the ‘Sleepyman’ saga. Night Terrors does a good job at introducing you to the Sleepyman universe, channeling some strong Buffy vibes. One of our party ,Tasha, noticed a niche reference to ‘Sabrina’ during our gameplay, which the host informed us was the first time anyone had noticed the link! We think this says more about Tasha than it does about the room (haha!) – although it did make it it feel more ‘real’. Always good fun in a horror themed room.

The end of Night Terrors leads very nicely onto the second and third games. As a side note, we strongly recommend that you play all of these in order as it makes it SO much better. In fact, doing them all back-to-back, as we did, is definitely the optimal way to experience the trilogy.

Of the four of us, two of us had nightmares after this game, which I think says a lot about the experience that we had!

The horror, the decoration, the technology… It all clicked together so well! Night Terrors does a brilliant job of sucking you in, and leaves you eager to find out what happens next. When we think back to this Sunday, it’s been one of our favourite online experiences and definitely scratched the escape room itch: we were thoroughly immersed! If you get the chance, it is so worth giving these a go.

After all, it’s only a dream, right?

Image taken from Mystery Mansion Regina (https://mysterymansionregina.ca/online-escape-rooms/)

You can play Night Terrors with Mystery Mansion Regina for a cost of $25.00/person (plus tax). They recommend 2+ players, aged 14+. You’ve got 75 minutes to find out who is haunting Alex’s nightmares…

https://mysterymansionregina.ca/online-escape-rooms/

Mystery Mansion Regina: D’Vile’s Curio Shoppe | Review

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Local paranormal Youtuber, Estelle Jacobs, was searching for her missing boyfriend, Alex. Shortly after visiting D’Vile’s Curio Shoppe, Estelle vanished without a trace. It’s time to venture inside the Curio Shoppe through a live video feed and find out the truth about Estelle’s disappearance…

Rating: Creepy!
Completion Time: 67 minutes
Date Played: 13th June 2021
Party Size: 4
Recommended For: Horror fans! (14+)

Things are getting creepier and creepier in the Sleepy Man trilogy at Mystery Mansion Regina…

*shudders*

In what was one epic sugar-fuelled horror game marathon, team Escaping the Closet and I took on the Sleepy Man trilogy – a series of remote avatar games centred around their fictional nightmare, the Sleepy Man. The games in this series in order are:

Night Terrors
D’Vile’s Curio Shoppe
Sleepy Man

The Story So Far…

In Night Terrors, the first in the series, we played as Alex’s subconscious – one of the victims who mysterious vanished after complaining of nightly Sleepy Man visits. In D’Viles Curio Shoppe we continued the story alongside streamer Livestreamer1337 (Sam) after hearing the mysterious rumours of Alex’s disappearance. Alex’s girlfriend Estelle was last seen at the mysterious Curio Shoppe and in a jovial ‘Buzzfeed Unsolved’ kinda way we came along for the ride with one goal in mind: capture some ghosts on camera!

…Wait, wait, sorry. Seems like I missed the brief. Our goal was to of course bring the missing people home.

But I wouldn’t say no to helping Livestreamer1337 go viral on Twitch either.

The Experience

D’Vile’s Curio Shoppe is played via a combination of:

Controlling a live avatar on Zoom, and
Your inventory system and 360 degree view of the room on Telescape

You’ll need your sound turned on (and up!) for this game, as both the live avatar and the Telescape work together to create a creepy, almost surround-sound experience. For the large part, Telescape played a supporting role allowing multiple players to be looking at different things at once. Personally, playing over two devices anyway, I spent more time on the Zoom call than rummaging through my inventory, but it was very helpful to have both handy.

Occasionally the Zoom call broke into an almost seamless video transition using Telescape and every single time I had to half close my eyes expecting a massive jump scare but thankfully this remote avatar room’s currency is creepy-scare, not necessarily jump scare. Unless you count– oh wait, I won’t spoil that! You’ll know it when you see it 😉

The Theming

D’Viles Curio Shoppe is the only game in the trilogy that exists in the real world too. What I mean is, it’s a live escape room at Mystery Mansion Regina which can be played at their physical location.

This is worth mentioning as the other two games in the trilogy are actually at a different, remote-avatar only location located at another site. There’s a few noticeable differences between D’Viles Curio Shoppe due to the fact this room has to cater to both audiences, but nothing suffers for it! It’s more of an interesting detail, and very cool that the company have adapted the existing and new experiences to work seamlessly together.

In terms of theming of this room, your host Sam takes you into a very curious looking shop – Estelle’s last known location. It becomes quickly very clear that this is no ordinary shop. Or should I say… Shoppe! From the mysterious tarot cards plastered on the wall to the decidedly creepy fortune teller box in one corner. On the shelves I spotted nothing less than a real monkey’s paw, some cursed trinkets, skulls, and other absolutely horrifying things that I definitely want to purchase for Halloween.

The whole room is also bathed in a rather mysterious purplish light that sets a very creepy shadow on otherwise innocuous items. There’s real tension in the air. Anything could happen. It also doesn’t help that everywhere are warning signs not to touch anything, and yet touch everything we did!

Definitely cursed now. Yep.

We were delighted and surprised to discover that this is not just a one-room experience. But the less I say about how the second space is discovered, the better. This room is packed with surprises and it’s best to go in with an open mind!

The Puzzles

In terms of puzzle difficulty, D’Vile’s Curio Shoppe is slightly more difficult than Night Terrors. That said, we didn’t need to ask for any clues, but our host Sam (real name Owen) was helpful enough to gently nudge us in the right direction when we needed it.

Players can expect to encounter puzzles involving ciphers, keys, number locks, and some very interesting use of tarot cards too! None of the puzzles were stand-out brilliant and I did get the impression that a lot of them would be best experienced in the live room, but I think the true enjoyment of the room is the narrative storytelling and hosting, rather than interrogating the puzzles. We weren’t playing it to be dazzled by mechanical puzzles, we were playing to be spooked- and it succeeded!

Overall

D’Vile’s Curio Shoppe is a brilliantly spooky game that has near-mastered the art of creating tension and a sense of unease in all the players! I (Mairi) am not a horror game fan typically, but D’Vile’s Curio Shoppe was a perfect balance that left me feeling like:

…Without actually making me scream or cry. Bravo!

Of the three in the trilogy, it’s not my favourite, but it NOT to be missed if you want the full experience, start to finish. Oh, and good luck getting to sleep after this one!

D’Vile’s Curio Shoppe (virtual) can be booked for $25 CAD pp on Mystery Mansion Regina’s website here.

Mystery Mansion Regina: Sleepy Man | Review

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It’s time to face your fears and end the nightmare.

Rating: Brilliant!
Completion Time: 73 minutes
Date Played: 13th June 2021
Party Size: 4
Recommended For: Horror fans! (14+)

Be careful, children… The Sleepy Man is coming.

*shudders*

Mystery Mansion Regina knocked it out of the park with their brilliant ‘finale’ to the Sleepy Man trilogy and, despite the swelteringly hot weather we had in the UK this weekend, horror games never fail to send a shiver down my spine! We were also super excited to have booked for the opening weekend…. Which I suppose makes us one of the first teams to take on the evil demonic entity that is The Sleepy Man!

In this case thank goodness we did a good job banishing him. I was worried he might make a surprise appearance in my dreams last night. It’d be a funny explanation as to why I can’t make it into work the next day:

“Ahh sorry I was dragged to hell hope that’s okay see you Tuesday instead.”

The Story

Sleepy Man is the final part of the a three-room story that is told through multiple characters interacting with the same space (both physical and err, astral). The first two games of the series are:

In Night Terrors, you play as Alex’s subconscious – one of the victims who mysterious vanish after complaining of nightly Sleepy Man visits. In D’Viles Curio Shoppe you continue the story alongside streamer Livestreamer1337 (Sam) after hearing the mysterious rumours of Alex’s disappearance. Alex’s girlfriend Estelle was last seen at the mysterious Curio Shoppe and in a jovial ‘Buzzfeed Unsolved’ kinda way, your team and Sam hop along to investigate.

The game Sleepy Man comes in after… You guessed it… Sam also goes missing. This time his producer Jesse is hot on the trail. You’d think Jesse would know better, huh? I’d probably just call the police but hey! Then we wouldn’t get to go on such a fun adventure.

This is where the story sets up for the scariest game in the trilogy.

The Experience

Sleepy Man is played on two screens via Zoom and Telescape. On Zoom, you control your life avatar as they navigate the room: “Pick up this please Jesse”, “Put your hand into that dark hole”, “Poke the severed tongue please.” You know, just normal escape room stuff. On Telescape, you have access to your inventory – anything you’ve picked up along the way, and a map of the rooms.

The experience will flick between both Zoom and Telescape several times throughout the game. For example, the host may say “here let me take a quick video and send it to you for a close up”, or they may take a photograph of something that you can examine more closely in your own time.

This was surprisingly immersive and worked well, but it does mean you’ll want to play on 2 screens or devices for the best experience – and be sure to mute yourself if you don’t have headphones!

Another interesting thing about the experience, which I haven’t seen done in any other live avatar escape room game yet, were the fact there are two hosts in this game. We were hosted by Elijah and Owen, playing Jesse and Sam respectively.

At a few points in the story you’ll be looking at 2 live camera feeds – each with half of a puzzle on it. This means directing two hosts to complete tasks and even more information to take in. At other points both hosts will be on the screen at once interacting with each other and the environment together. I really enjoyed this – it was creative and clever, fitting well within the story Mystery Mansion Regina have created.

The Theming

Mystery Mansion Regina have two sites – one on Albert Street and another in a building they only use for remote avatar escapes. Sleepy Man is located in the latter and with such a large space to explore we practically had virtual free run of the whole site. Parts of the game take place outside, parts inside the ‘escape room’ and parts in the in-between liminal spaces joining the game together.

As there are no customers in this location, I found a lot of the props were very good quality and things that wouldn’t work if you had customers going through the environment daily worked beautifully here. An example is to compare it to D’Viles Curio Shop which is a real life escape room you can play on-site at Mystery Mansion Regina. Many of the more valuable and fragile items are behind glass (well, it makes sense! It is a curiosity shop!). In Sleepy Man, you could break things, squeeze into small places, and interact with hyper realistic body parts- yes! Really!

This experience has around 5 or 6 distinct ‘spaces’. To explain what those spaces are would be a spoiler, but you can be sure that the creepy atmosphere and decoration is consistent throughout. I’m fairly sure I’ve had nightmares that resemble the interior spaces of this escape room.

*shudder*

The Puzzles

Of the three games in The Sleepy Man trilogy, the titular game (this one) is probably the most difficult. However, I preface that with mentioning that we chose to play all three games back to back from around 4pm – 9pm… So, it could have been tiredness.

The style of puzzles in this game differs from Night Terrors and D’Viles Curio Shoppe – in this game it’s less about finding keys and cracking digit code locks, and more much intuitive:

“OK so we’ve found this item, what could we do with it that makes sense?”

Another style of puzzle which, although present in the earlier games, really came into it it’s own here was the idea of castling spells. You find many spells as you explore the area and by the end you’ll need to cast every single one of them. Each requires items and secret spell words, so we generally knew what we were looking for at each point. I also think magic puzzles just work so much better via Zoom than in a real life escape room and there were done very well too!

Besides these, players can expect to encounter a range of puzzles that’ll challenge the whole team. There’s ciphers, sorting puzzles, locks and keys, search and find puzzles… And so on, and so on. With 90 minutes on the clock, you’ll have plenty do to! But hurry – the Sleepy Man is coming.

Overall

We really enjoyed Sleepy Man. It was an excellent conclusion to the horror trilogy and despite my ‘not being good’ with scary escape rooms, this one was easy to digest on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Each game in the series brings a fresh level of creativity and I love that they can be played from anywhere in the world! I hope more escape rooms continue the trend of designing for ‘play at home’ in the future.

Sleepy Man can be booked for $25 CAD per person on Mystery Mansion Regia’s website here.

Ratings

District 3: Interrogation Room | Review

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An investigation begins the day after an attempted heist at a museum. Despite being brought in for questioning as suspects, unease led to your attempted escape. Staying too long may lead to your arrest, or perhaps worse!

Rating: Exciting!
Completion Time: 41:24
Date Played: 22nd April 2021
Party Size: 4
Recommended For: Everyone!

*leaderboard klaxons sounding*

In an exciting first, not only did we manage to ace a District 3 room in under 45 minutes with no hints (yay for the bonus achievements!), but at the time of writing this score also earned us the coveted place of 7th in the leaderboard! I normally wouldn’t be this excited but this is the all time leaderboard- yep everyone who has played in person or online! Wow!

@theescaperoomer
7th on the District 3 Interrogation leaderboards! Can you tell I’m excited??? #escaperoom #onlineescaperoom #leaderboard #exitgame #escapetheroom
♬ original sound – The Escape Roomer

I’ll be showing this TikTok to my grandkids some day *blows nose*.

No, but seriously! I was already excited to play Interrogation Room and to get a great score felt like the icing on the cake. After Something Brewing and Haunted were generously comped by the company, we immediately rushed off to book Interrogation as an extra treat for ourselves and weren’t disappointed.

The Story

There’s been a heist at a nearby museum and priceless artefacts have gone missing! In the play at home version of Interrogation, one of your friends was caught at the scene of the crime with a mysterious briefcase the detectives are convinced holds the key to the case. The only problem? Your friend had nothing to do with it! Is he being framed?

Feeling hopeless, he calls you for help. From here, it’s up to you and your team to guide your buddy out of the interrogation room, crack the case wide open, and escape once and for all! Fail and being arrested is the least of his worries!

The Tech

Interrogation Room is what’s known as a “remote avatar” escape room but has the added benefit of Telescape’s online escape room software to hand. What this means is you see and direct an avatar around the physical space asking him to investigate stuff – pick up this, move that, and so on. You also have access to a 360 degree photosphere of the physical space with clickable links that give you a closer look. For this reason it’s best played with 2 screens – or split screen at a pinch.

At times, where we had to input a code in Telescape to unlock a door in the physical room (a cool touch, btw!), it felt a little bit like we were the ‘eyes in the sky’. But largely the game’s joy is in interacting with your live avatar – something District 3 does really, really well!

The Host

Our host this week was Lindsay, one of the founders of District 3 alongside David. Most importantly, he’s also the person behind District 3’s tech, which we enjoyed a lot! But overall, another stand out host experience with hilarious banter, acting, and gentle guidance in the right direction throughout, bringing the game to life.

The Puzzles

Interrogation Room is about ‘medium’ in terms of difficulty, and I’d agree with this rating. Not too easy, but not too hard!

The game starts in- you guessed it– an interrogation room with almost nothing around you for clues. ALMOST nothing! To properly get started, we had to do a bit of searching around and a fair bit of “can you poke that please” or “can you look really closely at this thing“, and hilariously “is that a plug socket on the wall? impossible, they don’t look like- oh wait we’re in Canada.“

However, once you’ve cracked that first room, the whole experience blows right open in an exciting mix of genres: Heist and Historical. I would say that the two genres weren’t always the most comfortable bedfellows, but the concept was unique and they make it work! The game, at times, parkour jumped between puzzles involving CCTV, or UV Light- as you’d expect in a heist game, to deciphering dead languages and researching ancient Gods, as you’d expect for an historical, or museum themed room.

Interrogation Room was both, and neither. It was it’s own thing and heck it really owned it! The finale, in spectacular District 3 style, both themes came together with some very fun special effects. Boom!

In terms of actual puzzles, Interrogation Room is packed with them! Each area begins with an element of ‘search and find’ puzzles – look around and poke a few things! Players can also expect to encounter a few number and letter locks, black light puzzles, logic puzzles, information in different places coming together, translations, ciphers, and so on!

The puzzle I enjoyed the most involved information in one area corresponding to information in another area – again, no spoilers here, but it was a nice spatial awareness puzzle bringing lots of the aspects of the game up until that point, together!

Overall

Overall, another stand-out experience! After playing, I immediately rushed to the Escape Room Discord to share my thoughts and to this date I can’t decide if it’s my favourite of the District 3 online games or not. In any case, I enjoyed playing it a lot. If you’re a fan of drama, excitement, and cool puzzles to boot, you’ll enjoy this!

Interrogation Room (Remote Edition) can be booked for $15-$22 CAD per person via District 3’s website!

District 3: Something Brewing | Review

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You and your friends head to a coffeehouse before the celebration. You soon find out that something is brewing, and your evening takes a turn for the worse. What crucial decisions will your team need to make, and what major outcome will that lead to?

Rating: Impressive!
Completion Time: 53:06
Date Played: 9th April 2021
Party Size: 4
Recommended For: Everyone!

I *LOVE* District 3’s remote avatar experiences, if that weren’t obvious from the fact I’m playing this just one week after Haunted. So much fun! For Something Brewing, I was invited to play alongside Borderline Puzzler, Shiny Life, and the super cool Kelly from Maple Apron (if you’re in the UK go check out her Canadian cakes!)

Something Brewing is a step up from Haunted in terms of difficulty, but also a huge step up in “wow factor”. To put it shortly I DID NOT expect where this escape room took us, and with a big choose-your-own-adventure element there’s a lot of replayability here too. From experience, all the games I’ve played at District 3 are highly rated real life escape rooms that translate so well to a ‘remote avatar’ format, so whether local or online, they’re worth checking out… *glances at calendar to see how long till I can book one for my birthday*

The Story

Since Something Brewing starts out in a coffee shop, I really don’t want to spoil the ‘what happens next’ at all. So I’ll just say that the game will take you on a bit of a roller coaster!

You start out walking into a coffee shop at 11pm. The member of staff (our fantastic host David) working their shift lets you know the coffee shop is about to close and that you should make your order quickly- why the hurry? It’s New Years Eve and he’s got a party to get to at midnight. In fact, until you wandered in he was getting ready to shut up shop but one last order won’t hurt? Right?

BAM! Something then suddenly happens that causes you to stay, something so surprising (and delightful) I’m pretty sure the whole team gasped. But if you, dear reader, want to find out what that is, you’ll just have to book the game!

The Experience

Something Brewing takes place via Zoom and Telescape. On the one hand you’ve a direct channel of communication with your host via Zoom, who occasionally has the camera on POV, and occasionally puts the camera down to move around the room with greater context. Telescape is an online web interface that allows you to have a 360 degree view of the room, click into things for more information and access an inventory system. The two systems work well together as it means everyone has something to do and can spend time looking closely at stuff whilst other team members shout directions at the host.

The most stand-out thing about our experience has to be the hosting! This time we were joined by David who, completely in character, plays a slightly clueless yet charming barista at the cafe who really just wants to finish up his shift. When things happen in the room he is just as surprised as you are, making it seem like he’s just a part of your team.

In particular, I love how natural it was to ‘enter’ the game. Rather than a lofty “you’re here to save the world”, you’re just here to grab a quick bite to eat and a coffee (coffee at 11pm? Yeah don’t ask!).

As mentioned, Something Brewing is a real life escape room you can play at District 3, so a few things have been tweaked to convert it from real-location into the online format, but the game suffers nothing in the process. The only example I can think of is a moment in the game where, if you were playing the real version, members of your team would become separated. In the online version this doesn’t happen as their’s only one host. Instead, something else happens – just as cool though!

The Puzzles

Something Brewing is one of the hardest games at District 3 but we still smashed it! At the time of writing, 9th on the leader boards (as Team Escaperinos) and zero hints used isn’t bad! I think I’d agree that yes, it is hard but this is largely because there’s a lot to do! You’ve got to think on your feet and make quick decisions.

Players taking on this experience can expect to encounter puzzles including (but not limited to) black light puzzles, a cipher puzzle, Roman numerals, logic grid puzzles, a few key and numerical locks, sorting things into sequences, and so on… In short, there’s a lot and a big mix too!

This room also contains a bonus, Easter Egg puzzle which, whilst it does not contribute to your winning or losing, will earn you a pretty cool achievement if you correctly solve it.

Overall

Another, stand-out 5* experience from District 3! I genuinely can’t recommend checking them out enough, especially as Regina in Canada has just gone back into lockdown (my sympathies from the UK where we’re still in total lockdown from before Christmas), now’s a good chance to secure an online game booking.

Everything from the space itself, to the host, to the story with it’s exciting elements were brilliant and I’ll be keeping a super close eye on all their future remote avatar games to be the first in line to book in and play!

Something’s Brewing (Remote Edition) can be booked for $15-$22 CAD per person via District 3’s website, but you can get 30% off this April!

Mystery Mansion Regina: Drag Task Force | Review

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The devious Ruby Hymen has betrayed the Drag Task Force and has stolen all of their powers. The leader of the DTF, Flo Mingo, has selected you and your team to help the DTF infiltrate Ruby’s secret lair. You must find a way to stop Ruby and help the members of the DTF get their powers back!

Rating: Hilarious!
Completion Time: ~83 minutes
Date Played: 6th April 2021
Party Size: 4
Recommended For: 16+, a light-hearted laugh

This week I found out about the ‘comedy’ escape room DTF *pause* which stands for Drag Task Force, not whatever else you might be thinking. Excited to give it a go, I invited a new team of three of my closest ‘IRL’ friends*

* isn’t it funny how lockdown has now split all the people I know into ‘IRL’ (or people I knew before the lockdown) and online escape room friends… I.E. Most of the folks I play online escape rooms, who I’ve never even met in the real world!

…And we could not be more thrilled by how light-hearted, funny and unique the experience was!

The Story

The story is… Very silly! But heck, why not?! The world needs a little more humour. A self-styled ‘comedy’, the story goes that after a freak accident the five members of the Drag Task Force gain super-human powers. Abilities such as Super Seduction, or Super Strength! Woah! But one of their member (the devious Ruby Hymen) turns against them, and starts taking down the super Queens one by one.

Flo Mingo, the last left, sends her secret FloBot into Ruby’s dressing room to try to figure out what the plan is and give the Drag Task Force their powers back. This is where you come in, you’ve got to control the FloBot and guide her to success all the while solving the mysterious puzzles Ruby has left for you and avoiding the glitter bomb she’s rigged to explode in 60 minutes!

I can’t say I completely understood the plot, but I’m 99% sure we saved the day in the end. I was too busy laughing to pay complete attention, but it all ended well.

The Experience

Drag Task Force takes place in both Zoom and Telescape. Specifically, we started with a Telescape link and within that found our Zoom link to connect with our fabulous host Mitch. The experience itself starts in Telescape with a fun introduction video and only by solving a couple of preliminary puzzles could we then activate the Zoom portion of the experience.

From here, Telescape becomes your point and click 360* view of the room and inventory storage system, whereas Zoom is where the ‘real action’ happens: Controlling Flo Bot (don’t do as I did and accidentally call her Ruby – she won’t like that!!). By a series of voice commands, Flo Bot explores the room on your behalf, interacting with the environment and responding to your wishes (if you ask her nicely).

The cool thing about the Drag Task Force room is that it’s an online only room, which means it isn’t a real life escape room shoehorned into an online experience, it was designed to be online from the start. This means the creators can do some create things with it. The space is small – but just the right size for one person, for example. Secondly, another aspect of the game is that you can upgrade your Flo Bot as you go along. For example, we discovered an item that allowed her to use UV vision, or x-ray vision, or other technological leaps that a ‘real life’ team wouldn’t be able to do. Pretty cool, pretty cool!

The best part about the ‘experience’ by far has to be the host! We were hosted by Mitch and I’m still (days later) in awe as to how he managed to run the room without laughing or breaking character once. It’s great acting and they really brought the whole thing together.

The Puzzles

In terms of puzzles, I found DTF ever so slightly harder than expected! Of all the reviews I read before we played, a few of them mentioned needing extra time (which to be fair, we did also! We overran by 8 minutes to be exact), and a further few mentioned the puzzles being easy enough, but there are a lot of them!

I think both cases are correct! It’s good to know that the time limit has actually been increased from the original 60 minutes to 75, and never fear – if you do run out of time Flo Bot has a very handy secret ability… She can hack the glitter bomb from exploding in your face, giving you a little extra time.

Players can expect to encounter a good mix of puzzles. A few puzzles centre around finding a code to unlock a lock, or a key for a padlock – but many more are multi-step and require a great deal of logic to decipher. You’ll need to think outside of the box… And when I say that I REALLY mean it. This is the second escape room I’ve encountered that involves singing – but no spoilers on exactly what this means. You’ll just have to go play it yourself to find out!

Another thing to mention is that some of the main ‘puzzles’ also involve you- or more specifically, how you interact with FloBot. FloBot can do a lot of awesome things but only if you figure out how to correctly address her. It’s a nice human touch, rather than a mag lock or a key, you’ve got to solve it by saying the ‘right thing’.

We used (if memory serves correctly) 2 or 3 hints on a few of the puzzles, and one puzzle involving seduction we solved in record time. *hair flick* what can I say, we’re just so seductive.

Other, Cool Stuff

I couldn’t finish a review of DTF without mentioning a couple of interesting, extra cool things about the game that don’t quite fit into the headings above:

A percentage of your ticket cost is donated to a local LGBTQ+ charity, Lulu’s Lodge. What’s more, Mystery Mansion Regina often run hosted events featuring the fantastic Flo Mingo herself.
All of the drag artists in the game are real life, local artists. They’ve also all got excellent names.
There’s a LOT of adult humour, but the game is advised for players 14+ – I reckon (and this is just an assumption) that the host can dial the innuendo up or dial it down depending on the audience.

Overall, a brilliant experience and a fun way to spend an evening with friends. I’d recommend this one for anyone up for a laugh, and for such a good cause, why the heck not?!

DTF can be booked for $25 CAD per person on Mystery Mansion Regina’s website. A portion of your ticket cost is donated to Lulu’s Lodge, a local LGBTQ+ charity.