Room Escape Artist

“Love consists of one soul that is living in two bodies.” – Aristotle

Location: At home

Date Played: January 10, 2025

Team Size: 2

Duration: 4 chapters, 90 minutes per chapter

Price: About $180

REA Reaction

When Month of Date Nights by Giddy Box arrived, we were excited to have a chance to spend some quality time together after welcoming a new family member into our home. You can see Kirito below. He even helped us unpack the box.

True to form, we were unsure what to expect from our first date night. The date night started with an initial puzzle which was incredibly well designed and satisfying to solve. However, we were underwhelmed with the activities and game during week one. After week one, we were happily surprised that all of the other activities were fun, engaging, encouraged creativity, and provided nice keepsakes. The puzzles also continued to surprise and delight us each week, though they understandably were on the easier side.

Even though the puzzles were great, they were a rather small part of the overall experience. Each week we spent about 5 minutes solving the puzzle to obtain a 4-digit code, and then 85 minutes engaging in couples’ activities. Since this is Month of Date Nights and not month of puzzle nights, the balance didn’t put us off and made sense for the product Giddy Box produced. (If Giddy Box came out with an escape room or puzzle-centric game, we would buy it in an instant.)

No puzzling experience was needed to enjoy Month of Date Nights, but we wouldn’t recommend the experience to brand new couples. Many of the activities in Month of Date Nights drew on memories or stories about your partner; therefore, we would recommend that couples with some tenure embark on the Month of Date Nights journey. However, Giddy Box did a good job designing an experience appropriate for any level of relationship (dating, engaged, or married) that was not intended to go beyond PG. Since we’ve been married ten years, we found some of the activities weren’t as challenging as intended, but we had fun reminiscing and creating more memories together.

Compared to other guided couples’ activities we have tried, Month of Date Nights was certainly the most memorable and self-contained. Giddy Box provided us with a great opportunity to shut out all the other noise for an hour or two while we enjoyed each other’s company.

Who is this for?

• Any puzzle experience level
• Couples who have been together for some time, and already know each other

Why play?

• Effortless date night plans
• Humorous and playful couples’ activities
• Opportunity to make memories and keepsakes with your partner

Story

The gods were meddling in human affairs again! Over the span of four weeks, we spent time partaking in activities crafted by different Greek gods to recount and grow our love story as a couple. As all gods tend to be a little tricky, we had to solve their puzzle to obtain each week’s supplies before we dove into the challenges and games within.

Setup

To begin each week’s activities, we referenced the Month of Date Nights book for the required materials, gathered wine and charcuterie, scanned the QR code for a curated soundtrack, and lit the provided candle. Most components were contained within labeled bags which were unlocked by solving a simple puzzle; however, there were some components for general use across weeks (i.e., dice, meeples, and Sharpie markers) and some materials carried over from previous weeks. We found that a kitchen table was about the right size to hold our drinks, snacks, and the necessary components.

Gameplay

Giddy Box’s Month of Date Nights was a four-part experience with some light puzzling. Each part is intended to be played a week apart leading to a month’s worth of self-contained date night experiences.

The gameplay was predominantly couples’ activities that focused on guided creative writing and simple games. There was one puzzle at the beginning of each week that used spatial and visual connections to find solutions.

Analysis

➕ The few puzzles included in Month of Date Nights were clued well, logical, and satisfying to solve.

➖ The activities in the first week were underwhelming and left us worried that the next three weeks would be a slog due to the shallow writing prompts and a simple roll and move game. However, the following weeks were significantly more involved and enjoyable offering deeper questions and more cooperative and complex activities.

➕ After the first week, Month of Date Nights provided cute and creative activities to test your knowledge of your partner. We were able to share stories and memories that led to a lot of laughter and some sweet moments.

➕ Other than snacks and beverages, Month of Date Nights contained everything we needed to complete each week. It was nice to have a short evening planned out without any effort on our part.

➕/➖ The Greek pantheon theme was woven throughout all four weeks, though the story was only loosely tied to the activities and fairly forgettable.

Tips For Players

• Space Requirements: A dining room table
• Required Gear: Internet connected device, and drinks and/or snacks (optional)

Buy your copy of Giddy Box’s Month of Date Nights, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Disclosure: Giddy Box provided a complimentary game.