Room Escape Artist

Pizza? Where we’re going, we need pizza

Location:  at home

Date Played: November 2024

Team size: 1+; we recommend 1-2

Duration: Average 10 minutes per day for 24 days

Price: about $49.99

REA Reaction

Every year Exit: The Game releases another Advent calendar for the holiday season, and The Missing Hollywood Star certainly did not flop at the box office.

In the shoes of a small-town pizza delivery guy with big dreams, we were transported into adorable, tiny movie sets behind each of the 24 calendar doors, We found ourselves amongst the stars. The Missing Hollywood Star was jam-packed with nostalgic movie references, ranging from Back to the Future to The Wizard of Oz. However, if the references aren’t for you, know that movie knowledge was not required for any puzzles.

The puzzles were each individually strong and different from one another. We were blown away by the many ways Exit: The Game was able to use paper components in innovative ways. The puzzles that included non-paper components felt at home in the box too. The puzzles also utilized the theme of each movie set in creative ways to tell the story and really transport us into the world. Each small door and the items contained within it were – with a few exceptions – intricately detailed and adorable. While the box was busy, the story for each day clearly pointed us in the right direction to solve the puzzles without too much confusing searching. The full game truly felt like a premium package for the price point. At approximately $50, the amount of puzzling and graphic design found inside were well worth the dollar-per-minute.

We were impressed by how Exit: The Game thought through how to compensate for broken or misplaced components. Some more breakable components (that were required for a puzzle) had a backup, and if an item slid between sections, there was always a handy note in the storybook detailing what items you should find behind each door. That being said, we unfortunately found ourselves opening multiple doors to retrieve objects that had slid around.

I’ve played so many Exit: The Game installments over the years, and The Missing Hollywood Star shined brighter than most of the previous games. The puzzles worked, the gameplay was thematic, the story was adorable, and the component usage was impressive. I wish I could wipe my memory and enjoy this daily throughout December!

If you’re looking for a puzzle Advent calendar, you can’t go wrong with The Missing Hollywood Star or The Silent Storm (reviewed last year).

Who is this for?

• Puzzle lovers
• Exit: The Game fans
• Any experience level
• Story seekers
• Film buffs

Why play?

• A plethora of well-known pop culture movie reference puzzles that require no outside knowledge to enjoy
• Fun, bite-sized puzzles to solve in the days leading up to the holidays

Story

We had moved to Hollywood many years ago to make it in the industry as an actor, and found ourselves delivering pizzas during the holidays instead. Late one night, we were delivering a pizza to a famous film studio. When we arrived, no one was there to accept the lukewarm pizza. All we found were empty movie sets and a booming voice over the loudspeaker asking for our help to find the missing Hollywood star.

Setup

The game was made up of a calendar box with 24 sealed doors, a story book, a help book, and a translator mechanism.

Each day, we turned to the appropriate page in the story book and read the section; it described the scene we were about to see and told us to open the next door on the box, determined from the prior day’s puzzle. This Advent calendar had puzzles behind every door, in contrast to the typical candy ones.

Once we’d solved the puzzle and discovered the 3-digit code, we entered the code into the translator. The resulting symbols showed us which door to open on the following day.

Gameplay

Exit: Advent Calendar’s The Missing Hollywood Star was a unique play-at-home escape activity with a moderate level of difficulty.

Core gameplay consisted of reading the story, searching, making connections, manipulating objects, and puzzling.

Analysis

➕ The storytelling was heartfelt and endearing without being overly corny. The pizza delivery guy/ wanna-be Hollywood star we found ourselves playing was a relatable character stuck in these movie sets, reacting as most people would in the same situation: curious and excited, while still being hesitant. This allowed for the story to be portrayed more strongly than in other Exit: The Games installments.

➕ The puzzles were so different from door to door. No two days had similar puzzles, solutions, or solves, and each felt like they belonged in their respective movie set. The puzzles contained multiple steps each, allowing for approximately 10 minutes of solving each day. The perfect puzzle-bite to start your morning!

➕/ ➖ We had a few components slide around inside of the box to other days. Thankfully, Exit: The Game compensated for this by giving us a list of material to expect inside of each door in the story book, but we had to spoil some later-game sets to retrieve our missing pieces.

➕ We loved exploring the intricate details of the movie sets while solving the puzzles each day. I found our team going back to previous days, noting a cute detail we had missed.

➖ As in previous years, the story sections were great, but we found ourselves constantly distracted by the curious objects behind that day’s door before reading the story.

❓/➖ The game used our phone’s flashlight (or any small flashlight) in a multitude of creative ways, but these puzzles were sometimes difficult to solve at such a small scale. These interactions still shined, however finicky.

➕ While still vaguely Christmas themed, this Advent calendar had enough days that strayed away from the typical Christmas theme that it could be played leading up to any big event, holiday… or just 24 random days of the year. The pop culture references included in about half the game explored so many different themes unrelated to the holidays.

Tips For Players

• Space Requirements: You will need room on a table for the fairly large calendar box and the items found behind each door. Don’t throw anything away; you never know when you might need it!
• While playing, store the day’s components in each door to keep your space as tidy as possible. There’s a lot going on!
• Required Gear: scissors, pencil, permanent marker, phone flashlight
• All of the Exit: The Game Advent calendars are standalone experiences; they do not need to be played in a specific order, and are not specific to any given year.

Buy your copy of EXIT: Advent Calendar’s The Missing Hollywood Star, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Disclosure: Exit: The Game provided a complimentary game.

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