Room Escape Artist

Dartfully crafted

Location: at home

Date Played: March 19, 2026

Team Size: 1-8; we recommend 1-4

Duration: 60-90 minutes

Price: about $23

REA Reaction

I never expected to be so invested in a professional dart league. But then again, I also never expected to be able to play a home escape game with more than 2 people being engaged. In this way, Puzzle Post’s The Underdog was a bit of a ringer. Beyond its rather plain exterior, the game featured deliberate design choices to ensure accessibility for larger groups and less-experienced players. Fear not, seasoned players: Several novel props and puzzles await for you, too.

To draw more players into each puzzle, Puzzle Post included 2 copies of each tactile element within the game’s flat mailer envelope. Furthermore, the game’s non-linear design allowed players to solve any of the 9 puzzles in any order (though this wasn’t highlighted in the instructions). Both of these deliberate and thoughtful design decisions helped mitigate the issue of one side of the table bogarting the one active puzzle. 

The usual escape-at-home props (flyers, business cards, booklets) dominated the experience but were of high quality in both design and feel. Coasters, a foldable dart box, and a drink ticket more deeply immersed players in the theme and provided some satisfying interactions. Additionally, small amounts of online interactions were sparingly peppered throughout.

Where The Underdog was a bit rough (ruff?) was in its use of text and story. The overly-serious tone for a goofy theme elicited chuckles, and a key element of an audio puzzle also delivered comedically. In fact, most of the words, numbers, and details within the materials developed the theme well, but most of the text did not merit its length. For those allergic to reading, be warned: The game blended puzzles with in-world text frequently. The puzzles generally availed themselves quickly, though. However, numbers in close proximity to puzzle text caused unnecessary noise and red herrings in parts, which was especially problematic when all puzzles solved to a number (or a math equation),

The Underdog was a small-but-mighty dart-themed escape game. It boasted a number of strong points across a flight of puzzles for groups to barrel through with some shafts of inspiration, even if it didn’t quite hit the bullseye.

Who is this for?

• Any experience level
• Larger groups who love to puzzle together
• People fascinated by interpersonal drama at a high-stakes darts tournament

Why play?

• Playfully on-theme puzzles
• Strong signposting
• A streamlined at-home escape experience

Story

The Duel of the Darts tournament’s integrity may have been compromised. Could we solve the informant’s puzzles and uncover the truth?

Setup

Within the game’s flat mailer envelope, we found 1 introductory letter and 2 identical sets of 12 puzzle props. The introduction letter pointed us to a to-do list that alluded to the starting place for each of the game’s 9 puzzles. All puzzles solved to a number between 1 and 99.

Multiple players should have cell phones with an internet connection, as select puzzles involved minor use of digital assets. Additionally, all answers needed to be validated/ submitted via a webpage, and a separate dedicated webpage was available for hints. That said, don’t dart away from this experience if you’re wary of tech-heavy games; the focus was predominantly on the paper props, and the digital bits did not overstay their welcome.

Gameplay

Puzzle Post’s The Underdog was a standard play-at-home escape game with a low-to-moderate level of difficulty.

The gameplay called for players to observe deliberate details, make connections, and manipulate props.

Analysis

➕/➖ An in-world to-do list provided guidance for what materials were in play for each puzzle, providing clear signposting and avoiding information overload. However, the numbered list implied a linear puzzle flow. This undermined the game’s nonlinear design, which is a strength when players may need space to ponder a puzzle.

➕ Certain props leaned into the theme in really satisfying ways, providing some delightful aha moments.

➕/➖ Providing 2 copies of each puzzle enabled concurrent group play in a way that most other at-home escape room games truly can’t do. However, Puzzle Post’s suggestion that this game could accommodate 8 players would require either 4 people to be huddled around a single puzzle (which is unrealistic) or smaller groups to split up and tackle different puzzles simultaneously (which is missing the point).

❓The game relied on internet-based assets for several aspects: puzzles, hints, and answer submission. The time spent on devices in our experience was minimal and tasteful. Tabletop purists may still bristles at the presence of a screen.

➕ The game’s concept is inherently silly, and the writing and voice acting leaned into the absurdity with aplomb.

➖ When each brand of home escape games has its own philosophy surrounding destructible elements, clarity is always appreciated. Opportunities existed to better set players’ expectations for how the materials should be interacted with in The Underdog. Only 1 prop required physical manipulation in a way that would spoil an aha for future players. However, I would have appreciated better understanding what degree game materials can be preserved.

➕ Most home escape games are peppered with moments of tedium and frustration. Across the 3 games played by Room Escape Artist, Puzzle Post products proved to be consistently approachable and enjoyable. You won’t break a sweat playing them, but you will crack a smile.

➖ For those in the US (or otherwise far from the UK), the shipping price was a little steep when coupled with the cost of the game. Ordering multiple games at once is definitely encouraged (or adding them on to your order of the next Taskmaster Advent Calendar).

❓The on-theme text throughout the game gave this experience character. However, several occasions arose in which superfluous elements obfuscated an otherwise-straightforward puzzle.

Tips For Players

• Space Requirements: A small section of a table (while there are a lot of materials, you don’t need to see more than 1-2 items at a time)
• Required Gear: Phone with internet connection and a note taking system (e.g., pen/ paper, quill/ parchment, etc.)

Buy your copy of Puzzle Post’s The Underdog, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.