Room Escape Artist

Narrative Echoes

Location: at home

Date Played: June 19, 2025

Team Size: 1+; we recommend 2-3

Duration: 4-6 hours

Price: $69 for Kickstarter backers ($75 retail)

REA Reaction

Emerald Echoes was a beautiful experience. The art was gorgeous. The stories were well-written, masterfully intertwined, and exquisitely voiced. The puzzles were artistic, precise, and well-clued.

Emerald Echoes exceeded the quality of almost everything in the tabletop escape room market. In the PostCurious lineup, however, it was just really good. As a sequel to the acclaimed, Gold Lock Award-winning Emerald Flame (reviewed in 2020), it worked well, but it didn’t entirely recreate the magic. The finale puzzle sequence was the true standout, and an impressive creation. However, Emerald Echoes waited a little too long to hit us with this level of magic.

From a game design standpoint, the most remarkable aspect of Emerald Echoes was the length that PostCurious went to keep players off their devices. This was a fully offline experience.

We know players have been asking – begging, even – for offline experiences of this nature. We know how upset some players are about opening up a computer or phone to play a tabletop game. I have to admit, I’ve wanted this too. The reasons make sense:

1. We spend too much time on our devices. I spent all day at a computer.
2. We want to play while traveling, when we might not have internet.
3. The game can’t be played years later if the website is no longer operational.

With Emerald Echoes, PostCurious forced me to really reflect on these desires. #3 isn’t an issue with a company I trust like this one. The large box size pretty much negates #2. And after playing Emerald Echoes, I’ve changed my perspective, even towards #1. It’s not because Emerald Echoes did the shift to offline poorly. Contrarily, they did this masterfully. The materials were meticulously organized and carefully crafted. The offline hinting worked seamlessly. Every aspect of the transition from website to paper was thoughtfully designed. But was it worth that much extra paper, the bigger box, and the inability for PostCurious to tweak the hinting once the game hits shelves? I don’t think so.

Emerald Echoes was an exceptional game. It had some meaty puzzles, but it started out in approachable territory, and guided us to the more challenging puzzles. Plus, the hints were part of the fun, so there would be nothing lost by using them as a resource. In fact, there is something gained. Plus, you don’t have to have played Emerald Flame to enjoy this sequel. (But let me say, we wholeheartedly recommend that experience as well.) If you like tabletop escape games, or even if you are curious about them, you should absolutely back this Kickstarter.

Who is this for?

• Story seekers
• Puzzle lovers
• Art aficionados
• Players with at least some experience
• Tabletop puzzle fans who hate using computers

Why play?

• A strong narrative with well-voiced characters
• A collection of high-quality puzzles
• You do not need a computer for any part of Emerald Echoes

Story

Following the events of The Emerald Flame, two historical investigators looked into the mystical misadventures of an alchemist and her companion.

Setup

Within the very large Emerald Echoes box were four different dated parcels. We opened them in order, and each contained a collection of puzzles as well as some exceptionally well-written narrative material.

Most of the puzzles revolved around beautifully made paper components, with the exception of one incredibly cool finale puzzle, which was a lot more tangible.

In order to entirely remove the PostCurious website from the equation, each puzzle had a folder that included a sheet of paper that we could slide out, one line at a time. This would reveal text message conversations between two characters that would serve three purposes:

• Provide hints
• Add to the story
• Deliver/ confirm solutions

Gameplay

PostCurious’ Emerald Echoes was a narrative-driven, play-at-home escape game with a higher level of difficulty.

Core gameplay revolved around puzzling and engaging with the story.

Analysis

➕ PostCurious presented the printed materials in an exceptionally structured way. We could not make a wrong turn. We understood exactly what to open when, what was story and what was puzzle, and which hints to consult when. It was easy to follow, so easy that the simple instructions were barely necessary.

➕ The juxtaposition of historical characters with modern characters added depth to the story. It was artfully done with different aesthetics, materials, and writing styles. There was no confusion. Each set of characters had an arc, and we appreciated the somewhat parallel stories. This setup also worked well for the printed hinting mechanic.

➕ PostCurious has become known for some of the most detailed hinting in tabletop escape games. They nudge as gently as possible to guide players to each aha. With Emerald Echoes, PostCurious created their accordion-style website hinting on paper, with a hint sheet that we revealed line by line from the pocket that concealed it. This was an impressive medium transition.

➖/❓ One character arc was largely buried in the hint system. To us, this story felt a bit forced, probably because we didn’t need to read every hint. This dual setup could be equally frustrating if we were looking for a hint and receiving story or if we were looking for story and reading through each hint. That said, we will not discount how clever this setup was. It’s debatable if it landed, but it was an ingenious design.

➕/❓The writing was effective and concise, given the depth of story. It was well-written and judiciously edited. The characters voices were consistent. However, it was still a lot to read; if you are allergic to reading, this is not your game.

➕/➖ The puzzles were well integrated with the story. Through the puzzles, we took the actions alongside the characters. These puzzles were more meaningful than those in most tabletop escape games. That said, the balance of prose to puzzles felt overly on the side of prose. We wished more of the storytelling could have come through our actions.

➕ The difficulty curve worked perfectly. The first two chapters opened with a relatively simple onramp with small tactile components, and later worked up to more complex puzzles which were largely paper-based. We especially enjoyed one early reuse of a system, letting us demonstrate our earned mastery of it. The later two chapters offered fewer puzzles, but more challenging material that we spent more time on. Structurally, we were happy.

➖ We spent extra effort on a few puzzles that wasn’t necessarily warranted. We kept our guard up for too long against one puzzle that was essentially solvable without all the constraints. We put down roots on another puzzle where the effort was not proportional to the solve.

➕ Emerald Echoes was at its best when it combined artistic elements with precision puzzling to stun us with ahas that worked. One earlier puzzle layered in this way. Then the finale puzzle wove together artistically to make magic appear where it hadn’t been before.

➕ The artwork was gorgeous throughout the game, but especially in the second chapter. It was beautiful, far more beautiful than it needed to be for its puzzle purpose. No complaints.

➖ The Emerald Echoes box surprised us with its size, but it was mostly paper. While there were a few more tactile components, including a beautiful finale prop, the box was mainly envelopes, folders, and paper. PostCurious did an outstanding job creating high quality paper components, but this game lacked some of the wow that more physical props bring.

❓PostCurious jumped through hoops to make Emerald Echoes playable entirely offline. It’s commendable. They needed to develop a lot of extra paper components, and this comes at a cost, in terms of dollars and space. The paper was all high quality and the price is justified. Still, it’s a steep price for a largely paper-based game. For players who want a fully offline experience, this is justified, but for those like us – who thought we wanted this – it certainly makes us rethink what we value most in a tabletop game.

🥚 One particular Easter egg felt wonderfully noble.

👧 When we play tabletop escape rooms, Lisa reads all the text out loud. She often adds her own asides, and works them naturally into the writing. One of these characters sounded exactly like my wife. Lisa didn’t have to add anything. I eventually stopped asking if the asides were her own, because they were always there, in the writing, from the character. We both marveled at how this character seemed to speak just like Lisa.

Tips For Players

• Space Requirements: a small table
• Required Gear: a pen and paper

Back of PostCurious’ Emerald Echoes, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.