Category: Club Drosselmeyer

Content related to the Club Drosselmeyer immersive puzzle event in Boston, Massachusetts.

Club Drosselmeyer – Radio Broadcast of 1944 [Hivemind Review]

by REA Hivemind, posted in Club Drosselmeyer, Hivemind

Club Drosselmeyer’s Radio Broadcast of 1944 is a print-and-play audio experience created by Green Door Labs in Boston, MA.

Club Drosselmeyer Radio Hour Field Agent Manual, a long with a letter and a slide-o-matic code decoder.

Format

Style of Play:

  • Online native experience (can NOT be played IRL)
  • Audio game
  • Play on demand
  • Print-and-play
  • Immersive theater (for the December 2021 live shows only)

Who is it For?

  • Story seekers
  • Puzzle lovers
  • Any experience level

Required Equipment: computer with internet connection, mobile device that can call US phone numbers, printer, pen and paper, scissors (print-and-play version only)

If there are multiple players, it would help to print more than one copy of the materials. If printing from PDF, it’s better to print in color.

Recommended Team Size: 2-4

Play Time: unlimited, about an hour

Price: $30 for a digital and printable pdf (still available for purchase) or $45 for the mailed Drosseldossier (no longer available)

Booking: live shows took place in December 2021, but the printable version is still available to purchase and play at your leisure

Description

This is an immersive theater event with live actors and puzzles. Listen to the radio program and solve the indicated puzzles. Then enter your answers via phone using the keypad.

During December of 2021, there was an option to play during the live show. During the live show, actors phoned and interacted with us, adding humor and immersion to the experience.

Photos and profiles of all of the Drosselmeyer characters.

Cindi S’ Reaction

Version: live show & print-and-play

After hearing so much about the Club Drosselmeyer experience in Boston, I was excited to play the 1944 Radio Broadcast live show event, even if it was a remote game again this year. My team gathered around the computer and at five minutes to showtime, we pressed play. Audio scenes reminiscent of an old-time radio drama drove the story while musical interludes of 1940’s orchestra music provided both atmosphere and pacing for the game. The puzzles were fairly easy, with most solvable by one or two players. But the puzzles are secondary to the immersive experience, which is highly impacted by the mindset of your team. If you are here only for the puzzles, you may be disappointed, but if you all get dressed up in your 40s best and serve your favorite martini, you will get much more out of the game. Since we attended the live show, we received several calls from in-character actors, and while not necessary to the overall storyline, these certainly added humor and quirky fun, and were easily the most memorable part of the game.

Having no prior experience with Club Drosselmeyer, I can’t really compare this to the in-person show – I would imagine it is a much more exciting experience. But the remote game is still worth playing, not for the puzzles, but for the entertainment.

Tammy McLeod’s Reaction

Version: live show & print-and-play

The format of this game is a unique blend of physical paper and audio. I think that the combination is done well, and it is easy to immerse oneself in the story. The game is customized to the players in surprising little ways, and the voice acting is excellent. The printed puzzles are very nicely done, both visually and from a puzzle design standpoint. Experienced puzzlers will find the puzzle content on the easier side, but that makes this game quite appropriate for introducing puzzle games to friends and family.

Cara Mandel’s Reaction

Version: live show & mailed Drosseldossier

For those who, like me, have not yet had the privilege of attending an in-person Club Drosselmeyer event, these virtual experiences have been a delightful alternative. I will admit that this year’s experience was slightly less engaging than last year’s in some ways, but it was still a very polished and enjoyable experience regardless. My friends and I opted for the mail-ordered version and found it to be interactive and group-oriented enough to keep everyone entertained. I did, however, miss some of the previous year’s more immersive elements. I recall receiving phone calls from actors last year as well as more social media engagement encouraging costumes, decor, and period-appropriate food/beverages and crafts. This year’s version felt like a scaled-back, family-friendly, approachable version which may not please the diehard puzzlers but certainly makes for a recommendable activity! In fact, I was pleasantly surprised to see a young child had played along with their parents and everyone in the family seemed to have enjoyed it. Despite a slimmer gameplay experience, the tone-setting elements were still wonderful. From the live radio play with swinging ambient music, to the excellent voice performances from the cast, this year’s Club Drosselmeyer provided a rousing evening filled with adventure and story. Hopefully next year we’ll be able to join in person!

Play Club Drosselmeyer’s Radio Broadcast of 1944

Club Drosselmeyer 1943 – Digital [Hivemind Review]

by REA Hivemind, posted in 2020 Golden Lock, Club Drosselmeyer, Hivemind, Special

Club Drosselmeyer 1943 is included in our recommendation guide for  The Best Online Escape Games for Large Groups. For more of the best online escape games in this style, check out the recommendation guide.

Club Drosselmeyer 1943 is an interactive audio experience, created by Green Door Labs in Boston, MA.

An assortment of puzzle components.

Format

Style of Play: interactive audio experience with tabletop puzzle components

Required Equipment: computer with internet connection, mobile device, pen and paper, scissors, and a printer if you purchased the print-and-play version

If you’re playing with remote friends, you’ll need a video conferencing platform (like Zoom) to communicate. One person will make many phone calls (ideally on speaker phone).

If you are based outside of the United States, note that telephone-based interactions are critical to this experience.

Recommended Team Size: 2-6

Play Time: 2 hours

Price: $35 for print-and-play or $55 Drosseldossier of mailed components

In advance of the live shows in December 2020, there were also Drosselboxes of mailed components for $65, which is the version most of our reviewers played.

Booking: with no more live shows, you can now purchase a printable PDF or mailed Drosseldossier and play at your leisure

2020 Golden Lock Award Ribbon
2020 Golden Lock Award Winner

Description

The year is 1943, and every citizen has a role to play in the war. You’re corresponding with non-player characters through a phone line, hoping to advance your mission of aiding either Herr Drosselmeyer, Rhett the Rat King, or both!

The story and gameplay were delivered by a blend of printable (or shipped) puzzles, a web-based radio show, and phone-based interactions.

Note that the radio broadcast and phone number are connected. If you’re playing in a group, you must make all the calls from the phone number linked to your radio broadcast.

A wax sealed envelope from Drosselmeyer Industries Inc.

Hivemind Review Scale

REA's hivemind review scale - 3 is recommended anytime, 2 recommended in quarantine, 1 is not recommended.

Read more about our Hivemind Review format.

Continue reading “Club Drosselmeyer 1943 – Digital [Hivemind Review]” →

Dancing with the Digital Club Drosselmeyer

by David Spira, posted in Club Drosselmeyer, Events

Note, supplies are limited and they need to be shipped in advance, so if this is something you’re interested in, act now.

Lisa and I are a couple with few annual traditions; we like trying new things and visiting new places.

However, for the past 4 years we’ve made an annual trip to Massachusetts for Club Drosselmeyer. We adore this reimagining of the Nutcracker as a World War II era techno-conspiracy. (Past reviews)

This event blends so many of our favorite things into one giant spectacle… puzzles, immersive theatre, music, swing dancing. When we went to the first one I said, “It felt like someone made this specifically for us.”

Lisa and David dressed up and swing dancing on the Club Drosselmeyer floor.
Yours truly tearing it up on the dance floor.

Well, we can’t travel to Boston this year. There is no real-life Club Drosselmeyer, and the last time we went out dancing was at last year’s Club Drosselmeyer.

The Good News

There is a digital Club Drosselmeyer, the Drosselbox.

I really have no idea what to expect from this. I know that it will be a profoundly different experience, simply because it can’t be a giant puzzle and dance party. I am just happy that any amount of Club Drosselmeyer will be bottled up and sent to warm our home and keep up our annual tradition.

This is a ticketed event, not just a boxed game. There will be one show on December 12 and two shows on December 13.

I can’t wait to see what it’s like.

Get your Drosselbox

Club Drosselmeyer 1942 [Review]

by David Spira, posted in Boston, Club Drosselmeyer, Massachusetts, Reviews

Echos

Location:  Cambridge (Boston), Massachusetts

Date Played: December 13, 2019

Team size: we recommend 2-8 depending on the experience you’re looking for

Duration: 2.5 hours

Price: $49-85 per ticket

Ticketing: Public event

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

Club Drosselmeyer 1942 was the finale to a 4-part annual saga that was introduced in 2016 (or 1939).

Each December for the past 4 years we’ve traveled to Boston, put on our fancy clothes, and spent an evening puzzling, roleplaying, and swing dancing among friends and characters in Club Drosselmeyer. Each year we’ve been treated to a different reimagining of The Nutcracker as a World War II techno-conspiracy.

It’s kind of sad to say farewell to a show we’ve watched evolve and grow over the years. (I believe that the plan is to loop back to 1939 next year.) The Club and its characters feel like friends that we only get to see at Christmas.

In-game: Two very good looking and brilliant puzzlers standing beside and actress as they all peer off into the distance.

At this year’s Club Drosselmeyer the band was on fire, the stage was gorgeous, the drinks were flowing, and the puzzles were plentiful.

In-game: The band playing on the Drosselmeyer stage.

The most noteworthy change was the stellar quality of the acting and performances. This has improved with each year, but this most recent show felt leaps and bounds better than the previous year. On the negative side, the line for seeing the main characters had reemerged for the first time since year one.

The puzzling was plentiful, and really enjoyable – if you either knew what you were doing or had someone to guide you into the deep end. Club Drosselmeyer has an impossible amount of content, and part of the experience is acknowledging that you’re going to have your own experience, not an all-encompassing experience.

Our night had a funky, entertaining ending that I truly enjoyed as a conclusion for our night… but I didn’t love it as an end to a 4-year journey. Endings are hard, especially variable endings for immersive experiences.

I love Club Drosselmeyer, and if it loops, I’ll probably go back, even if it’s just to dance. At this point it’s a holiday tradition in our family. Viva la Drosselmeyer.

Who is this for?

  • Puzzle lovers
  • Jazz lovers
  • Swing dancers
  • Immersive theater fans
  • People who are fine with crowds
  • People who don’t need to be part of every interaction
  • Any experience level … for puzzlers or dancers

Why play?

  • Spectacle
  • Dance, acrobatics, and magical performances
  • Music
  • 1940-themed party
  • Larping (optional)
  • Dancing (optional)
  • Puzzle hunt-style puzzles (optional)

Story

It was 1942 and the American war machine was starting to move forward. Resources were limited and everyone was looking for ways to tighten the proverbial belt and pitch in.

In-game: A table with an illuminated "D", a table number and a Club Drosselmeyer comic.

Industrialist and inventor Herr Drosselmeyer had decided to throw another one of his famous parties. His aim was to sell war bonds and raise money for the nation’s armed forces. As always, Drosselmeyer also intended on using the event to unveil his latest creations from Project Nutcracker.

In-game: David in a suit holding a green glowing object and looking evil.
We wants it; we needs it. Must have the precious.

Setting

We returned for a fourth (and final?) time to Club Drosselmeyer. It was the same night club, the same band, the same bandstands, and many of the characters that we’ve come to know, love, and hate… plus a few new characters.

Club Drosselmeyer was the same decadent party that it has been in past years. Everyone was dressed up and the performative acts were as good or better than ever. The spectacle was in full swing.

In-game: the dance floor is filled with people while the band plays on the Drosselemeyer stage.

Gameplay

Club Drosselmeyer 1942 was immersive game with a high level of difficulty. It required a team effort – with teammates focusing on different types of interactions – to solve the story through to its conclusion.

Core gameplay included solving puzzles, conversing with characters, and watching performances. Individuals could choose to engage in any of these as much or little as they liked.

Club Drosselmeyer goers could also choose to opt out of gameplay, sit back and enjoy the band, or spend an evening on the dance floor.

In-game: A woman sitting at a war bonds stand.

Analysis

➕ Waiting for us at our table, we found a fantastic comic book that got us up to speed on the story. For those jumping in at year 4, this was especially helpful.

➕ Club Drosselmeyer was as beautiful as ever. I don’t think that I’ll ever get tired of that staging. The new additions to the set were lovely.

➕ The performances were noticeably better than in previous years. Back in year one, the acting was cringe-worthy. It has improved each year since. This year the performers were wonderful and entertaining.

In-game: Rhett King shuffling cards at a small table covered in money.
One of our teammates cheated at blackjack against this guy.

➕ The puzzles were varied in approachability. There were some easier game-like puzzles that engaged beginners. There were also challenging solves requiring focused effort from more experienced puzzlers.

➕/➖ Club Drosselmeyer did a lot to onboard first timers and provided some low-skill games, but it was still challenging for true newbies to find their bearings. I don’t think that most of the newbies really understood how hard they had to play if they wanted to complete the main objective.

➖ The puzzles remained paper-based, even in the interactive environment. They leaned heavily into words and logic. There would be opportunity for more dynamic puzzles in Club Drosselmeyer that branched out into more puzzle types and engaged players in the rest of the spectacle as part of the puzzle solving.

➖ The lines for the main characters bottlenecked. Some of these lines were a result of player confusion, rather than something inherent in the game’s script. However, this confusion, combined with Drosselmeyer’s “guard” being a character that players did not trust, resulted in line-management problems, and players focusing their attention on the wrong thing at the wrong time. It was interesting to us how much the character of the “guard” added complexity to this game mechanic.

➕ Club Drosselmeyer has refined its hint system. The waiters were attentive, serving up hints based on the needs of the group and the overall experience.

➖ The cast and players took over the dance floor. It was the easiest place for players to find and approach the characters. This left less room for dancing. Too much of the drama of the show was happening right in the middle of the dance floor.

➕/➖ 1942 was Club Drosselmeyer’s finale. The ending we triggered was fun, but didn’t feel like the conclusion to a 4-year story arc. Because there are multiple ways a performance of Club Drosselmeyer might end, it’s hard to say where the show and characters will be at the end of the final night. That said, when the show wrapped up, we didn’t feel closure to the larger story and these characters.

❓ You can’t see or do everything in Club Drosselmeyer. Your experience is largely what you decide it will be.

In-game: Us with oru friends at in front of the Drosselmeyer stage at the end of the show.

Tips For Visiting

  • Parking: I encourage taking mass transit, taxi, or ride share.
  • Food: There are ample food options in the neighborhood.

If this show returns to Boston next December, or opens in another city, we hope you’ll book your evening at Club Drosselmeyer, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Club Drosselmeyer 1941 [Review]

by David Spira, posted in Club Drosselmeyer, Reviews

We can do it!

Location:  Cambridge (Boston), Massachusetts

Date Played: December 16, 2018

Team size: we recommend 2-8 depending on the experience you’re looking for

Duration: 2.5 hours

Price: $49-85 per ticket

Ticketing: Public event

REA Reaction

Club Drosselmeyer was a magnificent mirage. For a few hours, an idyllic night club filled with swing dancers, jazz musicians, histrionic characters, and challenging puzzles appeared out of the cold Boston air to host a distorted World War II rendition of The Nutcracker… and disappeared just as clock struck 11pm. 

There is no event in the puzzle or immersive theatre world that I eagerly anticipate more than this annual confluence of puzzles, swing dancing, music, and theatrics. It’s all of the entertainment that I love wrapped up for Christmas and tied with a bow.

Club Drosselmeyer banner and microphone.

Each year it has been a little different and a bit improved, but still Club Drosselmeyer. This time around, it was noticeably harder to earn our win (there will be less one puzzle for the rest of the run). Old villains turned into allies and new foes emerged. Above all, they’d streamlined the flow of the experience.

Club Drosselmeyer was glorious because there were so many ways to savor it. For those of us who wished to devour everything it had to offer, the one drawback was the bittersweetness of realizing that just wasn’t possible. There’s something real and immersive about that as well.

As our time at Club Drosselmeyer concluded once again, one of our teammates (an avid escape room player) who was attending for the first time remarked, “I feel high…” That’s certainly how I felt.

Tickets for Club Drosselmeyer are nearly soldout. If you can get your hands on one for this Wednesday or Thursday night, I’d strongly urge you to do so immediately… otherwise you’ll have to wait until 1942. 

Who is this for?

  • Story seekers
  • Puzzle lovers
  • Scenery snobs
  • Jazz fans
  • Swing dancers
  • Immersive theater fans
  • People who are fine with crowds
  • People who don’t need to be part of every interaction
  • Any experience level … for puzzlers or dancers

Why play?

  • Puzzle hunt-style puzzles
  • Spectacle
  • Dance, acrobatic, and magical performances
  • An amazing jazz band
  • Roleplaying
  • 1941-themed party

Story

It was Christmas in 1941. We’d been attending Herr Drosselmeyer’s annual Christmas since 1939. With each passing year the threat of war loomed larger. With the sudden attack on Pearl Harbor, the war had finally found us. It was time for all Americans to put aside their differences and fight the good fight. 

As in the previous years, we’d heard that Drosselmeyer Industries would reveal the latest work from Project Nutcracker: version Delta. We had a feeling that Herr Drosselmeyer was going to find himself in another pickle and need our help. 

This year we were hunting for a mole. 

Club Drosselmeyer band

Setting

We returned to the glamorous 1941 night club of Club Drosselmeyer. The bandstands were back along with their musicians. The dancers tore up the floor and the singers belted tunes. Everything felt the same, with a couple of improvements:

First, Herr Drosselmeyer had moved from his second floor perch overlooking the festivities to a large table at stage right. This remedied one of the bottlenecks of past years. 

Second, the massive Army and Navy banners looked great. I found them catching my eye multiple times throughout the evening… which is saying something because there was a lot to see. 

Our team puzzling hard.
(Left to right) Lisa’s parents Alan & Eva, Lisa, Theresa

Gameplay

Each year Club Drosselmeyer’s creators put a new spin on their gameplay. 

The core of the event remains the same: participants could puzzle, swing dance, drink, socialize, interact, or simply watch everything play out. 

The shift in 1941 came from the overall structure of the puzzle game. This year there were three distinct paths to follow and an assortment of side quests. This shift maintained the overall feel of Club Drosselmeyer, while streamlining the flow of the gameplay. 

Analysis

➕ The singing, dancing, music, and vibe of Club Drosselmeyer was as wonderful as it had ever been. 

➕ The puzzles played well, resolved cleanly, and presented a challenging puzzle hunt-style game that made us earn whatever intel we received. 

❓ This year’s puzzle game was considerably more challenging than those of previous years. The upcoming performances run will drop one of the more difficult puzzles to make the game more competitive. This is the right call, in my opinion. 

➕ Club Drosselmeyer’s unique and wide-open “take in the experience however you wish” approach is a beautiful thing. There’s something for just about anyone.

➕/➖ The acting was greatly improved from the previous years. There were still moments that didn’t land quite right, but the hit/miss ratio was shifted significantly since last year. 

➕ The new structure simplified the story and gameflow, and shrunk wait times for interactions to a more than acceptable minimum. 

➕/➖ For your own good, I’m blurting out a vague spoiler here for anyone who has played in past years: Just as the structure was different, so was the alignment of one major character who I had no desire to work with due to his past behavior. I didn’t fully appreciate how significantly his character had changed until the end of the experience. Someone deserves a second third chance. I disliked the guy so much in past years that I couldn’t see his character development happening until hindsight had kicked in. 

❓ In actor-driven games, we frequently feel conflicted between paying attention to a performer and solving puzzles. That struggle was more present this year because we had more to solve. As much as I love the challenge of Club Drosselmeyer, there’s a part of me that wishes that I could spend a little more time dancing and taking in the show while playing competitively. 

➕ The expansion of side quests added an additional lower-stakes, lower-difficulty series of challenges. 

➖ I couldn’t tell the difference between side quests and main quests until I was deep in the game. 

➕ The introduction of the Boston Police Commissioner as a character was fantastic. He opened up a whole new gameplay thread for less-puzzley players who wanted to focus on actor interactions. 

➕ I really enjoyed the concluding sequence. It felt right for the story and was well acted. 

Tips For Visiting

  • Parking: I encourage taking mass transit, taxi, or ride sharing.
  • Food: There are ample food options in the neighborhood.

Grab one of the few remaining tickets to this week’s Club Drosselmeyer 1941, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Book Club Drosselmeyer