Room Escape Artist

Murder Mystery House is a browser-based online escape room created by CodeCandyBlue.

Format

Style of Play:

• Online escape room
• Point-and-click

Who is it For?

• Puzzle lovers
• Best for players with some experience

Required Equipment: A computer with internet connection, and a communication system if you are playing with a remote team.

Recommended Team Size: 1-4

Play Time: About 2 hours

Price: $24.80 for 6 asynchronous logins

Booking: Purchase and play at your leisure

Description

Murder Mystery House is an online point-and-click escape room. Players move through the rooms of a mansion to solve a murder mystery. Murder Mystery House provides for the sharing of guest codes, allowing for remote collaboration. If you have your own way to communicate (Discord, Zoom, phone, etc.), you can play together by having everyone log into the game and play at the same time. The screen will not synchronize across everyone’s devices, meaning everyone will have to put in the codes to continue on, but it does allow players to look at different information (or divide and conquer) at the same time.

Jayna (Jay) Shea’s Reaction

There’s been a murder! Murder Mystery House is exactly what it sounds like. This escape game takes players room by room through a mansion where, through puzzles, the basics of a whodunit are revealed. Once we figured out that our screens would not synchronize with each other we were able to start playing. Within Murder Mystery House there were story voice prompts in the transitions and the code input area provided the format. Both of these allowed us to identify what we were searching for in each gamespace. While there was only one puzzle per area they varied in type and difficulty and often required more than just what was on the screen. This brought a collaborative aspect to the game, but I could picture myself playing solo with multiple screens if I had wanted.

In terms of flow, it felt like the escape game peaked a little early. Through the story there was an attempt to shift this climax, but because I wasn’t emotionally invested in the characters it fell a little flat. In all, I appreciated the variety of puzzles that were presented and enjoyed moving from space to space. Even though the narrative didn’t resonate with me as much as it could have, I recognize the consistent theming of the desired information and puzzles, and would recommend it for lovers of classic murder mysteries.

Joel Smileypeacefun’s Reaction

In true murder mystery fashion, you’re investigators trying to solve the not-so-natural death of a mansion owner. The list of suspects includes his nurse, accountant, cook, gardener, and housekeeper. But who did it?

At its best, getting the game started and navigating the online-interface was simple. Most of the puzzles made sense while not being too easy. On the occasion a hint was needed, they were detailed and brought you back on track. I liked how some texts were accompanied by matching audio tracks.

At its worst, the game was off to a slow start with a long-winded exposition and a lot to read through. In general, the graphics were on the lower side quality-wise. One chapter in particular felt out of place by requiring an extensive number of steps without a mechanism to check if you’re even on the right track. The worst offender, however, was the last task, which was a tragic example on how not to force story beats down players’ throats.

After all, this was a mixed bag for me, with some fun and some more cumbersome challenges. I think the overall experience could be smoother, but it’s still a solid attempt.

Chuck Kaplan-Smith’s Reaction

My parents warned me about puzzle games like Murder Mystery House–and yet, I entered anyway. I noticed the claims of “premium online puzzle adventures” right next to generic clipart, but I kept approaching. I gasped at the Windows Movie Maker-esque intro; all the same, I persisted. I felt goosebumps overtake my skin as I tried to reconcile how the trope-ridden, overly-dramatic plot rattled against immersion-breaking surnames like Lyttlewhakker and Bigglesworth. I pushed through, finding within its depths the most shocking of discoveries: a well-designed online escape experience!

Beneath the experience’s unpolished, utilitarian design was a bevy of well-constructed & multimodal puzzles that (generally) ramped up in difficulty from “find the answer in a document” to layered solves that required making connections and interacting with unique interfaces. The inventory system automatically added and removed items as they appeared or became obsolete, which allowed for the puzzles to shine. All this said, the story failed to demand our attention, as it rarely integrated with puzzles; mercifully, the flat narrated story beats could easily be bypassed. While its external appearance may scare you off, the thinky interior of Murder Mystery House proved very welcoming–especially at its $24.80 price point for upwards of 6 asynchronous players. I believe I’ll poke my nose around CodeCandyBlue’s neighborhood more in the future.

Disclosure: CodeCandyBlue provided the Hivemind reviewers with a complimentary play.