Brett Kuehner Archives - Room Escape Artist

Wolf Escape Games – Hallows Hill: The Virtual Escape Room Experience [Hivemind Review]

12 January 202216 January 2022 by REA Hivemind, posted in Hivemind

Hallows Hill: The Virtual Escape Room Experience is a point-and-click game created by Wolf Escape Games.

Hallows Hill title card, looks like its for a horror movie; a van drives into the darkness and fog towards an ominous building.

Format

Style of Play:

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

Who is it For?

Story seekers
Scenery snobs
Any experience level

Required Equipment: computer with internet connection and a mobile device for remote players who are not in front of the main screen

Recommended Team Size: 1-4

Play Time: 60 to 90 minutes

Price: £20.00 per team

Booking: purchase and play at your leisure

Description

Hallows Hill is a well-executed narrative-driven point-and-click adventure, with unusually cinematic presentation and support for remote players to view items on their devices.

A journal with writing and drawings. Text above it reads, "Her journal is full of stuff about the house."

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Ghost Ship Murder Mysteries – Superheroes [Hivemind Review]

26 December 202115 December 2021 by REA Hivemind, posted in Ghost Ship Murder Mysteries, Hivemind

Superheroes is an online murder mystery game created by Ghost Ship Murder Mysteries.

We’ve reviewed their in-person mysteries Murder in the West Wing, Space Smugglers, and Western. This was their first mystery in an online format.

Cara, Peih-Gee, and David in costume on video chat in Gather.

Format

Style of Play:

Online native experience (can NOT be played IRL)
Interactive NPC(s)
Murdery mystery

Who is it For?

Story seekers
People who want to role-play and interact with each other in-character
Players who don’t need to be a part of everything going on
Any experience level

Required Equipment: computer with internet connection, with a webcam and microphone

Recommended Team Size: exactly 12 players

Play Time: 2 hours

Price: $30 per person

Booking: book online for a specific time slot

Description

You will be assigned a role, complete with backstory and goals. By interacting with other players in-character, you can try to achieve your goals and advance the story. There are 4 “rounds” to the game, and in each round every player will get additional information and goals.

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Next Level Escape – The Strange Disappearance On Station Eleven [Hivemind Review]

4 December 20218 December 2021 by REA Hivemind, posted in Hivemind, Next Level Escape

The Strange Disappearance On Station Eleven is a point-and-click game created by Next Level Escape in Sydney, Australia.

Illustration of a trench coat and fedora clad person in the rain. It looks like futuristic noir.

Format

Style of Play: computer with internet connection

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

Required Equipment:

Recommended Team Size: 1-3

Play Time: no timer; plan for 1-2 hours depending on group size

Price: $40 AUD per team

Booking: purchase and play at your leisure

Description

The Strange Disappearance On Station Eleven is an online solo or multiplayer point-and-click game where you explore a space station via an interactive 3D web interface. You must find information, piece together the circumstances of the mystery, and solve puzzles to gain access to new locations or information.

A sleek, white, humanoid robot reaching out with its hand.

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Enigmailed – Chocolateral Bars [Hivemind Review]

15 October 202123 October 2021 by REA Hivemind, posted in Hivemind

Chocolateral Bars are chocolate bars wrapped in puzzles, created by Enigmailed.

A piece of chocolate resting on its green packaging, labeled, "Mind Dark Chocolate, The Case of the Fatal Experiment."

Format

Style of Play:

Light puzzle hunt
Play on demand

Required Equipment: Mouth, tongue, and eyes. Also, lactose tolerance.

No other equipment needed, but pen and paper helps for writing down answers.

Recommended Team Size: 1-2

Play Time: Each bar took about 15 minutes to solve. One reviewer adds, “and a little less time to eat” while another writes, “but longer to eat the chocolate.” We conclude that chocolate consumption speed varies more than solving speed.

Price: £5.50 per bar (plus shipping)

Booking: purchase and play at your leisure

Description

Step 1 – Read mystery on the packaging.

Step 2 – Eat chocolate while solving puzzles, using context clues in packaging. Share if desired.

Step 3 – Enter answers on webpage via QR code… and order more chocolate.

Step 4 – Go to Step 1.

Packaging for two individual chocolate bars: green, labeled, "Mind Dark Chocolate, The Case of the Fatal Experiment." Yellow labeled, "Honeycomb Milk Chocolate, The Case of the Honeycomb Sting."

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So You Wanna Save The World – Episode One: Into The Fire [Hivemind Review]

16 September 202119 September 2021 by REA Hivemind, posted in Hivemind

Episode One: Into The Fire is a free online narrative puzzle game created by So You Wanna Save The World.

We reviewed Episode 0 in October of 2019, which is no longer available, as So You Wanna Save The World has changed their product significantly since then. Episode One is the current introductory episode.

Cartoon of Agent Bishop pulling two guns to him, he exclaims, "Targeted magnetic resonance, gloves. What will I think of next?"

Format

Style of Play:

Online native experience (can NOT be played IRL)
Play on demand

This is a story-based puzzle game with comic-strip video sequences delivering the narrative. Puzzles are based on static images and ARG-style websites.

Required Equipment: computer with internet connection, mobile device

Recommended Team Size: 1-2

Play Time: Unlimited, but your playtime determines your score. Figure on 1-2 hours.

Price: Episode One (reviewed here) is free. Subsequent episodes are $30 each.

Booking: purchase and play at your leisure

Description

You’ll receive instructions via the website and explore other sites, solving puzzles to progress the story. Most of the story is given as comic-style videos with a mix of voice acting and speech bubbles. There are other types of interactions, including phone calls/ messages, that will occur as you progress through the game.

Illustration of a bored office worker in a cubical, captioned, "Kenzie Keaton didn't start off as a confident, badass recruit. Every story has a beginning, this is hers..."

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