Category: Hivemind

Wild Hare Escapes – The Comedy of Terrors [Hivemind Review]

by Lisa Spira, posted in Hivemind

The Comedy of Terrors is a point-and-click adventure game created by Wild Hare Escapes.

Illustration of a theature audience going mad, a ghostly presence telling them, they are doomed.

Format

Style of Play: point-and-click hosted experience, not synced across player devices

Required Equipment: computer with internet connection

Recommended Team Size: 2-4

Play Time: 75 minutes

Price: $25 per player

Booking: book online for a specific time slot

Description

Using Zoom to communicate with your teammates and the gamemaster, The Comedy of Terrors functions similarly to a point-and-click adventure game made for any video gaming platform. You collect items that are automatically added to your inventory, and click and drag each item to another item in the space to use it. The interface is not synced across devices, so each teammate can simultaneously play locally, or one teammate can screenshare over Zoom for others to watch.

Illustration of the Lincoln Theatre, "The Comedy of Terrors" is showing.

Hivemind Review Scale

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

Read more about our new Hivemind Review format.

Continue reading “Wild Hare Escapes – The Comedy of Terrors [Hivemind Review]” →

Box One Presented By Neil Patrick Harris [Hivemind Review]

by Lisa Spira, posted in Hivemind, Products, Tabletop Escape Game

Box One is a tabletop escape game presented By Neil Patrick Harris.

Hand holding a gold Box One challenge coin over the game's box art.

Format

Style of Play: tabletop escape game

Required Equipment: an internet-connected device

Recommended Team Size: 1

Play Time: While active playtime was under 2 hours, you will not be starting and finishing this game in a single evening; don’t try.

Price: about $29.99

Description

Box One is a tabletop escape-room-esque experience that describes itself as “an ever-evolving game of trivia, codes, puzzles, and discovery – only from the mind of Neil Patrick Harris.” It was explicitly designed for a single player to enjoy on their own, but there is nothing about the game that prevents more players, beyond designer’s intent (which ain’t nothing). Saying much more than that about its structure will spoil things that ought not be spoiled.

Red, black,and gold, with NPH's eye peering through a keyhole Box One packaging
Continue reading “Box One Presented By Neil Patrick Harris [Hivemind Review]” →

Legendary Quests – Avatar Stalker [Hivemind Review]

by Lisa Spira, posted in Hivemind

Avatar Stalker is an unusual avatar-led escape room livestream, designed specifically for online play, created by Legendary Quests in the Ukraine.

Utya Duck in glowing LED glasses.
Utya Duck, the escape room character that 2020 needed.

Format

Style of Play: avatar-led livestream of a physical room, but designed specifically for online play

Required Equipment: computer with an internet connection

Recommended Team Size: 2-6

There is also a battle mode where up to 20 players compete on opposing teams, starting in different areas, and meet in the final room where they each hope to win the most points.

Play Time: 60 minutes… and you won’t even see everything in this time

Price: 100 € for up to 4 players + 25 € additional player

Booking: book online for a specific time slot

Description

You give instructions to a silent avatar, who will gather items, unlock locks, and sometimes [redacted] [redacted] on [redacted]. You are not escaping rather, your goal is to collect the maximum score. Oh, and you have to avoid Chickman, while helping Utya Duck.

First person view of an old building, the avatar's hands are visible along with various HUD indicators.

Hivemind Review Scale

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

Read more about our new Hivemind Review format.

Continue reading “Legendary Quests – Avatar Stalker [Hivemind Review]” →

Locurio – The Vanishing Act Remote [Hivemind Review]

by Lisa Spira, posted in Hivemind

The Vanishing Act Remote is a real-life escape room livestreamed and played through an avatar, created by Locurio in Seattle, WA.

Room Escape Artist reviewed the real-life version of this game in April of 2016 (yes, 4.5 years ago!) and awarded it a 2016 Golden Lock Award. This is a review of the online adaptation.

Casey showing us into the dressing room over Zoom.

Format

Style of Play: real-life escape room livestreamed and played through an avatar

Required Equipment: computer with internet connection

Recommended Team Size: 4

Play Time: 90 minutes

Price: $140 per team

Booking: book online for a specific time slot

Description

The Vanishing Act was an avatar-led adaptation of a classic escape room with a significant online inventory component. The puzzles were highly collaborative and communication was key.

360 degree image of the room with clickable hotspots

Hivemind Review Scale

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

Read more about our new Hivemind Review format.

Continue reading “Locurio – The Vanishing Act Remote [Hivemind Review]” →

Exit: The Game – Theft on the Mississippi [Hivemind Review]

by Lisa Spira, posted in Exit The Game, Hivemind, Tabletop Escape Game

Theft on the Mississippi is a tabletop escape game created by Exit: The Game.

The assorted items fom Theft on the Mississippi laid on a wood table.

Format

Style of Play: tabletop escape game

Required Equipment: scissors, pen & paper

A mobile device isn’t strictly necessary, but there is an optional companion app.

Recommended Team Size: 1-4

Play Time: about 90 minutes

Price: ~$15

Description

You are trying to solve a whodunit mystery. You have access to a puzzle book, a game “poster,” several suspect cards, clue cards, and various “strange items.” You study these items to identify puzzles and gather information. When you deduce a solution to a puzzle, you enter a code in a decoder disk, which instructs you to collect additional clue cards that advance the game. Also, the game requires you to destroy various components to solve some of the puzzles.

Room Escape Artist has reviewed many games in the Exit: The Game series. Our first review in the series explains the core mechanics and structure of play in greater detail.

Continue reading “Exit: The Game – Theft on the Mississippi [Hivemind Review]” →