Room Escape Artist

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Location:  At home

Date Played:  June 12, 2024

Team size: 1+; We recommend 1-2

Duration: 45 minutes

Price:  $10.99

REA Reaction

Endangered Rescue #1: Galápagos Penguins was a pocket-sized 18 card tabletop puzzle game (our 10 week old foster kitten, Moana, provided for scale). In spite of its small size, Galápagos Penguins was packed full of relatively easy, well-designed, logical puzzles. The snappy puzzle design was reminiscent of previous offerings by these designers (Ace & Anna Ellett of Bluefish Games). However, we were especially pleased with the variety of puzzle types offered in this game, compared to the primarily word-based puzzles found in the Hincks series (i.e. The Curious Elevator of Mr. Hincks, reviewed by David in 2020).

Endangered Rescue truly shone by creating an educational experience alongside an entertaining puzzle game. We thought the easy difficulty level combined with the clear mission of educating players made this game a perfect activity for families with children or educators. Additionally, the game was very portable and required only the game, a pen, and a mobile device, which we also thought was perfect for a family on the go.

Since the game focused so strongly on puzzle design and education, the story felt a bit forced at times and there were moments where it was not evident why we were solving puzzles. Additionally, some puzzle solutions did not seem to answer the question posed in the story lead-up until after inputting the answer in the webpage and reading the more detailed description.

In general, Endangered Rescue: Galápagos Penguins was an inspiring display of puzzle design on a minimalist scale. Although the gameplay may have been on the simplistic side for puzzle enthusiasts, the Endangered Rescue series appeared to be tailored for new puzzlers and/ or families with children. Additionally, the low price point made this a very reasonable entry point into the world of puzzling. We look forward to playing other titles in the Endangered Rescue series as they become available.

Who is this for?

• Puzzle lovers
• Animal lovers
• Beginner experience level

Why play?

• Educational and family-friendly activity
• Extremely portable (pocket-sized) game
• An interest in puzzles and animal conservation
• You enjoyed other card-based puzzle games

Story

Filming for WildWorld season 2 in the Galápagos just wrapped. As the host of the show, only a few final voiceovers were needed. However, trouble at camp meant the producer had to go into town, leaving you to finish the show yourself before the afternoon deadline!

Setup

The box unfolded to provide a short set of instructions, a deck of 18 cards, and a web address/ QR code. The website provided several pieces of reference information needed to complete the puzzles in the game (i.e. information about penguins, Morse Code, and Semaphore).

The game started by taking the first card in the deck and flipping it over. All answers were entered into the website, which gave instructions to take additional cards as the game progressed. A progressive hint system was also available for each puzzle through the webpage.

Gameplay

Grand Gamers Guild’s Endangered Rescue: Galápagos Penguins was a play-at-home escape game with an easy level of difficulty that took our group of two enthusiasts 45 minutes to complete playing at a leisurely pace.

We were impressed by the quantity of puzzles included in the game: 13 puzzles in an 18 card deck. The game included visual, word, decoding, and navigation puzzles, which were all tied to educational facts about Galápagos Penguins.

Analysis

➕ Endangered Rescue: Galápagos Penguins provided a plethora of educational facts about penguins, their habitats, predators, and strategies researchers are taking to help remove them from the endangered animals list.

➕ / ➖ We found the puzzles to be relatively easy to solve and may be too easy for some enthusiasts. However, we thought the difficulty level and educational nature of this game would provide an excellent experience for families with children.

➖ We did not find the story in the game particularly compelling; there were several instances where it was not clear why we needed to solve puzzles. Furthermore, in several instances, the puzzle solution did not clearly answer the question provided on the card. However, the website did provide additional clarity after inputting the answer.

➕ Endangered Rescue: Galápagos Penguins was the smallest tabletop game we have played. The pocket-size was perfect for taking on the go and the web interface worked well on a mobile device. We were also impressed by the length of gameplay (45 minutes) and number of puzzles (13) contained in the small package.

➕ I especially enjoyed the conservation simulation puzzle, which was a fun Easter egg for one of the phases of gameplay in the Endangered cooperative board game.

Tips For Players

• Space Requirements: Small Table
• Required Gear: Mobile phone or computer

Buy your copy of Grand Gamers Guild’s Endangered Rescue #1: Galapagos Penguins, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Disclosure: Grand Gamers Guild provided a complimentary game.