Murder on a film set of a murder.
Location: at home
Date Played: November 11, 2018
Team size: 1-¯\_(ツ)_/¯; we recommend 2-4
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: from $22.50 per month
REA Reaction
From the installment that we’ve played from Deadbolt Mystery Society, it seems they are delivering on the subscription model better than most. It’s tough to crank out subscription puzzle games. It takes a lot of thought and effort to pull together gameplay, narrative, and production on a rapid and constantly looping deadline.
That doesn’t mean that The Cabin was refined. The Cabin had a sprawling story with a ton of forgettable characters and no gating. It was a bit of a free-for-all at the onset. After we got over the initial surprise, we settled in and honestly enjoyed the puzzles.
I can’t speak to Deadbolt Mystery Society’s larger subscription program at this point, but this was a solid episode from a subscription. If you’re a puzzle-focused player who wants regular tabletop puzzle play, this one might be worth a try.
Who is this for?
- Story seekers
- Puzzle lovers
- Players with at least some experience
Why play?
- Solid puzzles
- Regular publication
Story
Decades ago a series of gruesome murders had been committed at Camp Echo. Now a horror movie was being shot at the site of the killings. During filming, the murders started happening again.
Had the murderer returned? Or was this a copycat? We needed to examine the evidence and solve the mystery before more people died.
Setup
We cracked open the box that we had received in the mail and found a great many documents pertaining to the past and more recent murders at Camp Echo. We needed to parse through all of the papers, match up the items that belonged together, and then puzzle through their meanings.
There wasn’t any gating within this game. We started with access to everything that we would have at the conclusion of the game.
Gameplay
Deadbolt Mystery Society’s The Cabin was an atypical subscription-based play-at-home escape game with a higher level of difficulty.
Core gameplay revolved around reading, observing, making connections, and puzzling.
Analysis
➕ The Cabin contained a lot of great puzzle content.
➖ The puzzles were buried within tons of papers, all of which were immediately accessible. Without gating, The Cabin felt initially overwhelming with no clear starting place or direction. We played The Cabin on a pretty large table, but constantly left like we were drowning in papers.
➕ Once we got past the initial volume of content, Deadbolt Mystery Society clued which in-play elements needed to go together. This worked well and gave us a way to approach the mystery.
➖ There was a lot of reading material. It felt like a chore rather than a way to connect with the characters and their stories. With so many characters, it was hard to keep them straight and impossible to be invested in their situation. We wanted to solve the mystery because it was a puzzle, but we didn’t care who lived or died.
➕/➖ Deadbolt Mystery Society had an excellent concept. Although The Cabin needed gating and focus, with a bit more direction, it could definitely have created meaningful character/ mystery connections for the players.
❓ The price is a value judgment. The product isn’t refined or fancy. You’re paying for the rapid production and fulfillment. I can’t say whether that’s a good or a bad thing; it’s individual choice.
❓ Subscription games are tough to fulfill. We commend Deadbolt Mystery Society for delivering a monthly subscription with quality puzzles and interesting concepts. Because of the pace of production, subscription games easily devolve into mounds of paper and Deadbolt Mystery Society had a bit of that going on too. From what we’ve seen thus far, it’s the nature of the beast.
Tips For Player
- Space Requirements: We recommend a larger table or floor space.
- Required Gear: Frixion pens, Boogie Boards, or more generic writing supplies.
Subscribe to Deadbolt Mystery Society, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.
Note that Deadbolt Mystery Society’s The Cabin was a previous month’s episode and it is now sold out. Your purchased subscription will start with the current month’s game.
Full disclosure: Deadbolt Mystery Society provided us a free reviewer’s copy of The Cabin.
