Room Escape Artist

Mystery Unfolds creates puzzle cards. Each REA Hivemind contributor received a different card in the mail to review. This piece covers The Pirate Code, Blood Sacrifice of a Salesman, and Crossed Words.

Format

Style of Play:

• Puzzle greeting card

Who is it For?

• Puzzle lovers
• Varied experience levels, depending on the card difficulty

Required Equipment: Internet access is only needed to check your answer at the end of the game. Some cards required a pen and paper.

Recommended Team Size: 1-2

Play Time: 15-45 minutes, depending on the difficulty level of the card

Price: $15.95 AUD (approximately $10 USD) plus shipping from Australia, which is $17.49 AUD (approximately $11 USD) for up to 6 cards.

Booking: purchase and play at your leisure

Description

Mystery Unfolds’ puzzle cards are carefully illustrated greeting cards with a series of puzzled embedded within. The sender delivers the card to their recipient along with a narrative introduction to the puzzles. The recipient explores the card, solves the puzzles, and enters the requested solution on a website whose URL is printed on the back of the card. As designed, the recipient (player) would then pass the code back to the card sender as proof of completion and to receive their actual gift.

For this hivemind review, each REA Contributor received, solved, and reviewed a different card. Each card we solved leaned heavily on a different puzzle skillset. Given this, we encourage the website to give more detail about the style of puzzle of each card, to help gifters choose the best card for their recipient.

Sarah Mendez’s Reaction

The Pirate Code (Medium Difficulty)

I completed the The Pirate Code card, a lighthearted jaunt with quick but satisfying puzzles and impressive artwork. Rated as “medium” in difficulty, it took about 15 minutes to solve, and the puzzling involved significantly more process than discovery, though the ahas felt both approachable and earned. As a greeting card, it didn’t waste time on sentiment; the sender is responsible for scribing their own message on the back. The artwork was intricate and playful, integrating well with the puzzling and offering entertainment beyond the central activities. The resulting experience would be best suited for a newer puzzler who enjoys decoding, but even as an experienced player I would appreciate receiving something like this and the sentiment behind it. The main barrier to purchase is the international shipping fee for those of us outside Australia, but otherwise it would be a thoughtful and easy way to celebrate the puzzlers in your life.

Christina Rohlf’s Reaction

Blood Sacrifice of a Salesman (Hard Difficulty)

Blood Sacrifice of a Salesman by Mystery Unfolds implemented a unique concept to turn a traditional greeting card into a puzzle adventure. The card was a nice quality and I enjoyed the style of the illustrations. I was also impressed by the execution of an easy-to-follow storyline. However, I became frustrated with the repetitive nature of the puzzling.* This card contained only one type of puzzle repeated five times. I also found the puzzle path confusing; we didn’t even realize we had skipped a puzzle until reviewing the solution steps at the end of the game. The format of the hint system (listed only as steps) was also challenging to navigate during gameplay. In general, I appreciated the concept of creating a greeting card with puzzle elements, but based on the execution I would not recommend gifting Blood Sacrifice of a Salesman to a puzzle enthusiast.

*Note that this style of puzzle was additionally challenging as a non-Australian solver.

Cindi S’ Reaction

Crossed Words (Hard Difficulty)

Puzzle Cards were a unique concept – a combination greeting card and puzzle in one tidy package. My card, Crossed Words, centered around word play, with the entire inside of the card covered with letters, words, and lines. In fact, the only room left for a personal note was the back of the card. After checking a small insert that gave a subtle clue as to where to start, I still stared at the card for 10 minutes before it clicked. The puzzles were not overly simple but made sense, though there was one clue in the game that referred to something not familiar in the United States. Solving the final puzzle took a bit of creativity, but fit nicely with the rest of the card. Puzzle Cards offer something different than your typical greeting card, and there are a lot to choose from; I would definitely order a few for my puzzle-minded friends.

Disclosure: Mystery Unfolds provided the Hivemind reviewers with complimentary cards.