Author: REA Hivemind

Edaqa’s Room – Office [Hivemind Review]

by REA Hivemind, posted in Hivemind

Office is a point-and-click game created by Edaqa’s Room.

Illustration of an office desk with a computer, a stack of books, and many plants.

Format

Style of Play:

  • Online native experience (can NOT be played IRL)
  • Play on demand
  • Web-based inventory system
  • Point-and-click

Who is it For?

  • Puzzle lovers
  • Best for players with at least some experience
  • Players who don’t need to be a part of every puzzle

Required Equipment: computer with internet connection, pen and paper

Recommended Team Size: 1-3

Play Time: 60-120 minutes, but you have 15 days to complete the game

Price: priced per player from $4.75 for a solo player to $13.00 for a group of 4+ players

Booking: purchase and play at your leisure

Description

Office is a point-and-click online game where you collect useful items to solve puzzles of varied complexity. Solving puzzles involved entering codes, manipulating objects into appropriate configurations, or using inventory items in the correct places. When a player solved a puzzle or discovered an inventory item, all players were notified of the discovery.

External voice chat is necessary. Edaqa’s Room offers an option, but players are free to use whatever chat platform they prefer.

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HomeScapeHome – Blast From the Past [Hivemind Review]

by REA Hivemind, posted in Hivemind

Blast From the Past is a print-and-play or tabletop escape game created by HomeScapeHome.

Blast From The Past paper puzzles. Cover looks reminiscent of Stranger Things, interior pages have a wide assortment of puzzles, one has pictures of a Rubick's Cube, another has a map.

Format

Style of Play:

  • Play on demand
  • Print-and-play or tabletop escape game

Who is it For?

  • Story seekers
  • Any experience level

Required Equipment: computer with internet connection, printer, pen and paper, scissors

Recommended Team Size: 1-3

Play Time: There is no timer. Expect 60-120 minutes depending on team size.

Price: $14.90 for a digital copy, $24.90 for a mailed paper copy

Booking: purchase and play at your leisure

Description

Read through a set of documents that set the scene, then sort out which apply to each puzzle, and solve to determine a set of 10 locations on the map. Enter those location names into a Google Form to validate, and then solve a meta-puzzle based on the response.

There are two versions: a digital download and a mail-order paper kit. If you buy the digital download, you will need to print out the game. You will need to print in color.

An intricate map puzzle laying on top of a stack of pages.
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Gather x Raid the Room – Escape the Island [Hivemind Review]

by REA Hivemind, posted in Hivemind

Escape the Island is an online escape game created in a collaboration between Gather and Raid the Room.

A beautiful 16 bit island environment rendered in Gather. The Hivemind team is on the island and can see on another in video chat.

Format

Style of Play:

  • Online native experience (can NOT be played IRL)
  • Point-and-click
  • Interactive NPCs

Who is it For?

  • Puzzle lovers
  • Could be a good choice for a mixed group of novice and experienced players

Required Equipment: computer with internet connection

Recommended Team Size: exactly 2 or exactly 4 players

Play Time: 60 minutes

Price: free

Booking: play at your leisure

Description

Each player is a character in a video game and controls their own on-screen character to solve a series of puzzles and escape being stranded on an island after a shipwreck.

Using Gather in an unusual non-proximity chat mode, players explore a pixel-art world and interact with puzzles by picking up and dropping items in specific locations.

The game has a 2-person and 4-person mode, effectively adjusting certain puzzles to require two or four collaborators to complete a puzzle.

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Hourglass Escapes – Nova [Hivemind Review]

by REA Hivemind, posted in Hivemind, Hourglass Escapes

Nova is a point-and-click game designed by Puzzle Effect and built by Hourglass Escapes.

Rendering of the inside of a spaceship.

Format

Style of Play:

  • Online native experience (can NOT be played IRL)
  • Play on-demand
  • Point-and-click

Who is it For?

  • Adventure seekers
  • Puzzle lovers
  • Any experience level

Required Equipment: computer with internet connection

Recommended Team Size: 1-3

Play Time: 90 minutes

Price: $25 per team

Booking: purchase and play at your leisure

Description

Nova is an online game with built-in video function so you can see and talk with your teammates. It’s a nicely-skinned Telescape interface with point-and-click-and-drag interactions. You explore the scenes and solve puzzles. Although multiple puzzles are available in parallel, the game structure encourages group solving instead of parallel solves.

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Nomis Piy – Missing [Hivemind Review]

by REA Hivemind, posted in Book, Hivemind, Nomis Piy, Products

Missing is a puzzle book created by Nomis Piy in Singapore.

Nomis Piy Missing Escape puzzle book cover and demo interior pages printed in a colorful, cartoonish style.

Format

Style of Play:

  • Puzzle book

Who is it For?

  • Puzzle lovers
  • Best for players with at least some experience

Required Equipment: computer with internet connection, pen and paper

You need an internet connection to check your answers. A pen is necessary to record your answers on the answer sheet. Paper is helpful for notes, but not necessary.

Recommended Team Size: 1-2

Play Time: There’s no clock. Expect 4-6 hours of play, perhaps more.

Price: S$25 (roughly 18.41 USD) plus shipping from Singapore

Booking: purchase and play at your leisure

Description

This is a puzzle book with a light story and lots of puzzles. As you solve each puzzle, you input the answer online. If correct, you get instructions to fill in the answer sheet in the front of the book. Sometimes you get information you will need for a subsequent puzzle. If incorrect, nothing happens. You need to use different parts of the book in unique ways to solve the puzzles. One section is sealed and only available when you’ve reached that section.

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