Tag: Brett Kuehner

Eleven Puzzles – Parallel Lab [Hivemind Review]

by REA Hivemind, posted in Eleven Puzzles, Hivemind

Parallel Lab is a point-and-click adventure game created by Eleven Puzzles in Poland and Scotland.

A comic of two people speaking, discussing the case at hand.

Format

Style of Play:

  • Online native experience (can NOT be played IRL)
  • Play on-demand (i.e. purchase and play any time)
  • Point-and-click

Who is it For?

  • Story seekers
  • Puzzle lovers
  • Any experience level

Required Equipment: computer with internet connection

Recommended Team Size: 2

Play Time: 60-120 minutes

Price: $20 per team

Booking: purchase and play at your leisure

Description

Each player connects from their own computer (via web browser). They proceed to play in parallel, with the each player having access to a set of information and puzzles that the other player does not see. Players must share information verbally and coordinate their efforts to progress, with the story remaining synchronized for both players.

An illustration of a basement hacker's den with many monitors.
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Project Avatar (Hypno Dive) – Mystery Hotel [Hivemind Review]

by Lisa Spira, posted in Hivemind, Project Avatar

Mystery Hotel is an avatar-led online escape game created by Project Avatar of Hypno Dive based in Ukraine.

Card reads, "This escape room created in Ukraine."

Format

Style of Play:

  • Adaptation of an in-person game
  • Avatar controlled by the players
  • Includes video segments

Who is it For?

  • Adventure seekers
  • Any experience level

Required Equipment: computer with internet connection

Recommended Team Size: 2-8

Play Time: 60 minutes

Price: $100 for a team of 4 players plus $25 for each additional player

Booking: book online for a specific time slot

Description

Mystery Hotel is a first-person avatar-led escape game with graphic overlays and cut scenes that give it a videogame style.

First person view, with a HUD. Hands reaching out to open an ornate book.
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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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