Escape the Crate - Escape the Genie [Review]

Hop a carpet and fly to another Arabian night

Location: At home

Date Played: December 12-13, 2023

Recommended Team size: 2-3

Duration: 2 chapters (45-90 minutes each)

Price: One-Time Box: $39.99 + shipping; Subscription: $29.99 + shipping (per box; delivered every other month)

REA Reaction

My husband, Kurtis, and I discovered Escape the Crate in June of 2020 while trying to find an activity that scratched the escape room itch denied by the pandemic. From our first box Escape the Circus Heist (Escape the Crate’s 20th installment) to our most recent adventure Escape the Genie (Escape the Crate’s 40th mailing), we have found that each box consistently delivered an at-home puzzle experience with a wide variety of puzzles and a clear story established through video recordings.

Each mission we have embarked on over the last 3 years provided a unique self contained adventure. We have traveled through space, time, and reality with Escape the Crate: ancient Greece, California during the Gold Rush, the pages of a Grimm fairy tale, and now to Arabia in Escape the Genie. Escape the Crate has been designing games with strong puzzle design since their first offering (Escape the Confederate Spymistress, reviewed by David in 2017). We have been impressed by how consistently Escape the Crate has delivered adventure after adventure to our door and their ability to implement unique themes that are appropriate for all ages and do not rely on solving another murder mystery.

Of note, Escape the Crate games rely heavily on interacting with the website to progress in the story and we would not recommend these games to individuals desiring a completely offline experience.

We opened Escape the Genie to discover a game with a large quantity and variety of puzzles that provided something enjoyable for each of us and could accommodate puzzlers with a variety of interests. In terms of production, Escape the Genie was filled with an assortment of colorful components, a significant improvement over Escape the Crate’s earliest offerings. However, the components were still primarily paper with only a few tangible props.

An adorable cat in the Escape the Genie box, surrounded by puzzle components.

The gameplay for Escape the Genie was entirely linear, which is not uncommon in Escape the Crate boxes; we recommend playing these games in smaller teams of 2-3. However, some of our favorite mailings from Escape the Crate have featured non-linear puzzling. On the plus side, the linear nature of Escape the Genie meant that we were not overwhelmed by the quantity of content that we pulled from the box and we were each able to experience all puzzles. On the other hand, linearity did simplify the gameplay, though not all of the puzzles were themselves simple.

We found some of the voice acting for the videos in Escape the Genie interrupted our immersion into the story and we were underwhelmed by the final puzzle, which was both easy and repetitive. Thus, Escape the Genie was not our favorite offering from Escape the Crate.

We recommend purchasing the Escape the Genie installment as a one-time box only if you are a completionist and have played all of Escape the Crate’s other games. However, we recommend a subscription to Escape the Crate for anyone seeking a unique, story-driven experience that offers both quantity and quality of puzzles.

Who is this for?

Story seekers
Puzzle lovers
Any experience level

Why play?

To embark on a compelling adventure told via video clips which gives context to the puzzles
To experience a variety of different puzzle types (in the early days we used Escape the Crate boxes for escape room training)
To enjoy a unique theme that usually isn’t a murder mystery and is appropriate for all ages

Story

We had been enlisted as agents of E.M.I.T., a secret time travel agency. Our mission sent us back to meet with Scheherazade, the storyteller famous for her 1001 Tales of the Arabian Nights. We were informed that someone nefarious uncovered the genie of the lamp and it was up to us to stop them.

Setup

To complete Escape the Genie, we played 2 sequential chapters contained within a single box. We needed a charged internet connected device, scissors, a writing utensil, and pad of paper to play Escape the Genie.

Escape the Crate's Escape the Genie box art depicts a magic lamp.

The first chapter began when we accessed the website printed on the welcome page using the provided password. The webpage gave detailed instructions to set up the chapter including helpful photos to ensure all items were facing correctly. We also accessed the rules of gameplay and an optional timer for the experience through the website.

We played Escape the Genie as a group of 2. Each chapter took us approximately 1 hour, playing at a comfortable pace. In each chapter we discovered standalone puzzles that could be played as either a single experience or two separate gaming sessions.

Escape The Genie box contents with a small magic lamp and an assortment of colorful paper items.

Gameplay

Escape the Crate’s Escape the Genie was a play-at-home escape game with an easy to moderate level of difficulty.

Gameplay relied heavily on the webpages. Each webpage provided a video clip to further the story, guidance on the next puzzle to solve, and hints for the puzzle. The puzzle solution gave a password to a next webpage. Puzzles had to be solved in order.

The puzzles were a mix of observation, logic, deduction, and making connections. The video clips provided compelling story beats which gave context to the puzzles.

Analysis

➕ Typical of Escape the Crate mailings, Escape the Genie provided a wide variety and large quantity of puzzles to solve. The puzzles were well-designed and logical. The puzzle variety allowed both of us to use our differing puzzle solving strengths throughout the game.

➕ Since Escape the Crate shifted to multi-chapter experiences, we have noticed and enjoyed an increase in gameplay time and puzzle volume. Additionally, we have appreciated the natural break in puzzling between chapters (usually used to grab more snacks). Escape the Genie contained 2 chapters, consistent with the 2-3 chapters generally found in each Escape the Crate box.

➕ Escape the Crate games have excelled at creating a feeling of adventure and story by using videos to provide story moments in between each puzzle which give context to and instructions for solving the next puzzle. Escape the Genie delivered on a clear story and adventure consistent with the Escape the Crate series.

➖ Some of the voice acting in the story videos did not seem to fit the characters. We found some videos to be silly which detracted from the typically serious nature of the mission in the game.

➕ As is typical for Escape the Crate, Escape the Genie had a hint system for each puzzle which provided incremental amounts of information to aid in the solving process.

➕/➖ Escape the Genie was linear and would not allow us to solve puzzles outside of the order dictated by the story. On the plus side, we were not overwhelmed by content and were each able to experience all puzzles. On the other hand, we couldn’t work on puzzles independently and the linear style simplified gameplay.

➖ The ending to the game was repetitive and under-delivered as a final challenge.

😸 Our resident feline mystery package inspector (Lyra) thought the box was a good size for other smaller package inspectors. She also appreciated the large amount of puzzling content included on the box which made her job of keeping the box from blowing away even more critical.