Room Escape Artist

Good things come in small packages

Location: Play at home

Date Played: June 15, 2025

Team Size: 1-2; we recommend 1-2

Duration: 30-120 minutes per game, depending on the game

Price: $25.00 for a pack of 3 puzzles

REA Reaction

Puzztastic! Puzzle Pack 1 contained only a few items: a card, a booklet, a tiny composition-style “notebook” and a bookmark-shaped paper. At first glance, I thought surely my pack must be missing something, but no, I was looking at three complete games containing hours of puzzling fun, and was impressed with how many puzzles fit in a few simple pages. The pack included a recommended playing order, suggesting I start with the easier of the three and progress to the most difficult set, but the games can actually be played in any order, as they are not related experiences. Some props are altered or written on during gameplay, so all games are meant to be played once. For the amount of puzzling time in this puzzle pack, $25 was a good deal. If you like brain teasers and mental challenges, you will enjoy this set of games. 

NINE CODES: The Initiation – Our first game, the easiest of the three, consisted only of a single black & white 4×6 card, one side with the image of a mobile phone showing a variety of app icons, the other, a cryptic welcome message and QR code. Our goal? Solve nine puzzles through an interface in our phone to prove ourselves worthy detectives. The puzzles in this game were clever yet bite-sized. Some clicked with us right away, while others had us staring at the phone, trying to figure it out. Pencil and paper helped with a few, though we didn’t need to take actual notes.  These puzzles challenged our brains – in a good way – and when we solved a puzzle, it felt like we were just as clever! We got tripped up when artwork for one puzzle led us down the wrong path while solving, but the helpful hint system gradually nudged us towards the answer without spoiling it. The final puzzle pulled everything together. Overall, it was about an hour of gameplay that whetted our appetites for the next two games.

Lost in Mine – This game was medium difficulty, and quite a step up from the first. But where Initiation was a series of standalone puzzles, this one brought us on a journey through a mountainside mine as we looked for a kid who was, well, lost in said mine. Colorful, stylized artwork was used creatively to facilitate puzzling and to support the basic storyline. But where this game shone was the tiny 4-page composition notebook that was used in unique and creative ways. There is more to this little prop than meets the eye, and it was a puzzler’s delight to figure it out. In fact, we used every inch of that notebook, and then some, sometimes more than once, but always in different ways. There were a couple of puzzles that were difficult to solve, and the help system for these was not always helpful. But overall the game flowed smoothly, and each new twist brought a smile. Puzzling time – approximately 90 minutes.

Puzzle Menu – Puzzle Menu was the third game in this series, and the most difficult. The six sections ranged from straightforward and simple to downright diabolical. Theming was on point, with each puzzle centering around a food item, and no story connecting the sections. The variety of puzzles gave us plenty to do for a couple of hours, and most solved smoothly. There was one puzzle that we chose to break the rules to solve (shh…, don’t tell Funbi!), and we still found it challenging to get to the right solution. The final puzzle built upon all the rest, and it was a fun, layered puzzle to work on. Only the final answer needed to be entered on the website, so most of the game can be played offline, with nothing more than a pencil and your brain.

Who is this for?

• Puzzle lovers
• Any experience level
• Players who want to feel smart

Why play?

• Fun, challenging puzzles
• Creative mechanics
• Surprises!

Story

Story wasn’t a big factor in Puzztastic! Puzzle Pack 1. The individual games were not connected, and the only one with any sort of story was Lost in Mine, where we set off to find a kid who’d become lost while exploring a mine in the mountains. Though basic, it gave purpose to the puzzles beyond simply solving. 

Both Initiation and Puzzle Menu had simple goals, but no story.

Setup

Each game in this pack is a standalone game and unrelated to the others. Puzzle Menu is primarily paper-based, Initiation is mostly online, and Lost in Mine is a combination of both paper and online puzzle play. Paper and pencil will be useful at times, though note taking isn’t necessary.

NINE CODES: The Initiation – To start the game, players scan the QR code on the card. Puzzles are then accessed through an interface on your smartphone. A pencil is required to record answers, though some answers are entered online through the interface. Puzzles can be solved in any order, though we needed to complete all nine to find and complete the final puzzle. 

Lost in Mine – To start the game, players use their smartphone to go to the website listed on the inside page of the small composition notebook. Both the webpage and notebook are used throughout the game, with answers being input through on the webpage to progress the story. No pencil is necessary, and we had to play on a smartphone.

Puzzle Menu – Players puzzle through a 4-page booklet, solving puzzles and recording answers on one of the pages. A pencil is required for several sections. There are no instructions for the puzzles; part of the puzzling is figuring out what to do. Players access hints and input the final answer on website listed in the booklet.

Gameplay

Puzztastic! Puzzle Pack 1 from Funbi Games was a set of 3 paper-based puzzle games that use both paper props and a web interface; it had a moderate level of difficulty. 

Core gameplay revolved around logic, wordplay, tactile tasks, observation, making connections, and puzzling.

Analysis

➕ Puzztastic! Puzzle Pack 1 contained a wide variety of unique, imaginative puzzles. With more than four hours of playtime, this pack is a great value and works well for playing at home or on the go, either solo or with another player.

➕ The input structure worked well for all three games, and we always knew when we’d solved to the correct answer.

➕/➖ While each game is a complete, standalone experience, it would have been fun to have some sort of connection between all three games, bringing the three experiences to a close in a united way.

➕ While all three games offered a fun experience, Lost in Mine stood out for me as the most creative; I really enjoyed the interactions with both the app and the notebook.

NINE CODES: The Initiation

➕ Clever, bite-sized approachable puzzles with relatively quick, satisfying solves. The meta-puzzle pulled it all together nicely.

➖ The final puzzle solution was a bit difficult to get to, even though we knew exactly what to do.

Lost in Mine

➕ The colorful artwork was fun and used in interesting ways, giving a certain fluid and stylized vibe to the game.

➕ Several video clips were very useful, helping us understand next steps within the game.

➖ Some puzzle mechanics were tricky, and while the available hints gave good instructions, they did not provide the actual answer. At one point, we still couldn’t figure it out, and it became a roadblock.

➕ The final puzzle was a gem, ending the game with a fun surprise.

Puzzle Menu

➕ Puzzle variety included easier, quicker solves as well as more difficult ones that had us scratching our heads, appealing to a range of puzzlers.

➖ The starting point for the game was unclear, and it was only after checking the hints did we know where to start. Adding an introduction or even a small nudge somewhere in the booklet would help get players started in the right direction.

➕ The puzzles in this game were well-connected by the theme and in how the mechanics functioned. Some references were a nice nod to the escape room community.

Tips For Players

• Space Requirements: a small table
• Required Gear: internet connection, phone, pencil

Buy your copy of Puzztastic! Puzzle Pack 1 from Funbi Games, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Disclosure: Funbi Games provided a complimentary game pack.

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