Tag: David Spira

Present Quest [Hivemind Review]

by reahivemind, posted in Hivemind

Present Quest is a free text-based puzzle adventure created by Errol Elumir of the Room Escape Divas for Adventuron’s Christmas Game Jam.

Text adventure: Pixel art kitchen depicts your character's wife and the plate of eggs she made for you.

Format

Style of Play: text-based puzzle adventure

Required Equipment: computer with internet connection

Recommended Team Size: 1-2

Play Time: about an hour

Price: free

Booking: click to play at your leisure

Description

This is a narrative- and character-focused text adventure game with supplemental pixel art.

Note that there is a content warning at the onset, so that you can understand if this game is right for you.

Text adventure: depicts your bedroom and tutorial.

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.

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Real Escape Games by SCRAP – Escape from the Lockdown: The Strange Village [Hivemind Review]

by reahivemind, posted in Hivemind, SCRAP

Escape from the Lockdown: The Strange Village is a digital puzzle game created specifically for online play by Real Escape Games by SCRAP, based in Japan.

To learn more about SCRAP, the first escape room company, check out our interview with them from earlier this week.

A 3x3 video call tile with 9 different characters and a narrator off to the side. The image is captioned, "the village has a few measures in place."

Format

Style of Play: audio-visual experience with puzzle hunt-style puzzles

Required Equipment: computer with internet connection, a pen and paper is also recommended

Recommended Team Size: 2-3

Play Time: unlimited playtime; our reviewers took 1.5 – 3 hours

Price: $27 per ticket

Booking: purchase and play at your leisure

Description

The game consists of “daily” briefing videos where players learn about the game’s characters and their actions. Keeping track of who did what is part of the game play. In between the video segments are short rounds of puzzle book-style puzzles. Everything adds to the information needed to solve the narrative metapuzzle.

Note that the game takes some time because it includes about 45+ minutes of video footage.

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.

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Paruzal – Pizza Makes Anything Possible [Hivemind Review]

by reahivemind, posted in Hivemind, Paruzal

Pizza Makes Anything Possible is an audiovisual escape room created by Paruzal.

Illustrated title art for Pizza Makes Anything possible contains pizza, locks and crayons.

Format

Style of Play: audiovisual escape room

Required Equipment: computer with internet connection, somewhere to take notes

Recommended Team Size: 2-4

Play Time: approximately 60 minutes

Price: $15 per person

Booking: book online for a specific time slot

Description

You work for a pizza restaurant and your boss wants to test you. You need to open the restaurant in time for the first guests to arrive. Can you survive this pressure test?

This is an audiovisual escape room. This game is played in a space made up of two-dimensional illustration with and a gamemaster narrating. The illustrations are simple, and all clues come from the player asking the gamemaster for additional details. You give verbal commands to try ideas and see what works.

Illustration of an empty green room. The walls are all labeled with the name of a different shade of green.

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 “Paruzal – Pizza Makes Anything Possible [Hivemind Review]” →

RC Escape Rooms – The Curse of Amberly Manor [Hivemind Review]

by reahivemind, posted in Hivemind

The Curse of Amberly Manor is a point-and-click adventure game created by RC Escape Rooms in the UK.

A cloaked individual with glowing red yes surrounded by fire.

Format

Style of Play: point-and-click adventure game

Required Equipment: computer with internet connection

Recommended Team Size: 2-3

This game requires at least 2 players on two different devices. It cannot be played solo. It’s best played on a video call.

Play Time: 60 minutes

Price: £12.49 ($16.39 USD) per team

Booking: purchase the game and play at your leisure

Description

This is a standard LucasArts-style point-and-click adventure game. Each player can individually explore the room that the group is in, but when one player solves a puzzle, all connections stay in sync with the solution. When one player exits the room, all players exit together.

Haunted foyer of the Amberly Manor point & click puzzle game. The cursor is a skeletal hand.

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 “RC Escape Rooms – The Curse of Amberly Manor [Hivemind Review]” →

Escape Room in a Box: The Walking Dead [Hivemind Review]

by reahivemind, posted in Hivemind, Products, Tabletop Escape Game

Escape Room in a Box: The Walking Dead is a tabletop escape game created by Mattel.

Escape Room in a Box The Walking Dead box art depicts a cracked door with many zombie hands reaching through it.

Format

Style of Play: tabletop escape game

Required Equipment: pen and paper

Note: You’ll need a computer and printer to reset the game for another user.

Recommended Team Size: 1-3

Play Time: 90 minutes. The timer is only relevant if you want it to be.

Price: about $30

Description

This is a tabletop escape game in the same vein as previous Escape Room in a Box installments. You solve mostly paper puzzles, open real (plastic) locks, and repeat until there are no more puzzles. It is more about the puzzles than the story.

Open box, an assortmnt of locks, paper puzzles, and plastic props.
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