Tag: Tammy McLeod

Enigmailed – Chocolateral Bars [Hivemind Review]

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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Paradox Games – Cyber Crime Unit [Hivemind Review]

by REA Hivemind, posted in Hivemind

Cyber Crime Unit is a collaborative, ARG-style, puzzle/ detective game created by Paradox Games.

Cyber Crime Unit web page welcome's Forensic Agents.

Format

Style of Play:

  • Online native experience (can NOT be played IRL)
  • Play on demand
  • Light puzzle hunt

Required Equipment: computer with internet connection, mobile device, and access to email and Facebook

Recommended Team Size: 2-4

Play Time: no timer, probably less than an hour

Price: $19.99 per team

Booking: purchase and play at your leisure

Description

You’re working at a Cyber Crime Unit and there has been a murder at a suspicious company. You have to figure out who the killer is and what their motives were.

This is a website-based game where you look at pictures and different websites, send emails, make a phone call, etc. Once you solve a puzzle, you input the solution on the website to get more information.

All players log into a shared link. Whoever purchases the game is automatically assigned as the detective. The other players are forensic investigators. Players will have different information appear on the screen and will need to communicate to effectively solve together.

Teams need to set up their own communication (via Zoom or any other platform).

A menu evidence to examine, including fingerprint identifier, frequency decoder, and UV blood tracker.
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ThinkFun – Cold Case: A Pinch of Murder [Hivemind Review]

by REA Hivemind, posted in Hivemind, Tabletop Escape Game, ThinkFun

Cold Case: Pinch of Murder is a tabletop mystery game created by ThinkFun.

An assortment of crime evidence. In the center of the frame are two photos of an old kitchen.

Format

Style of Play:

  • Tabletop mystery game
  • Play on demand

Required Equipment: computer with internet connection, pen and paper

Recommended Team Size: 1-3

Play Time: about 1-2 hours, maybe more with all the reading

Price: ~$15

Booking: purchase and play at your leisure

Description

Your job is to solve an old murder case and some related crimes. To do so, you examine all the evidence in the case file and answer three questions about the crimes. When you have your answers, you input them into a website for confirmation.

There were no “puzzles” along the way to the solution, just reading and comparing evidence.

An assortment of crime evidence. In the center of the frame is a photo of a collection of jewelry with a watch circled in red.
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Deadbolt Mystery Society – Last Resort [Hivemind Review]

by REA Hivemind, posted in Deadbolt Mystery Society, Hivemind

Last Resort is tabletop puzzle-based murder mystery game created by Deadbolt Mystery Society.

Deadbolt Last Resort box beside an inflated beach ball and an assortment of colorful paper puzzle items.

Format

Style of Play: tabletop escape game

Required Equipment: mobile device

Recommended Team Size: 1-3

Play Time: 1.5 – 2 hours

Price: the price per box is $24.99 for a month-to-month subscription

Booking: purchase and play at your leisure

Description

This was a puzzle-based murder mystery game. It was designed to be part of a monthly puzzle box subscription service.

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Enibot – Mission: Mars [Hivemind Review]

by REA Hivemind, posted in Enibot, Hivemind

Mission: Mars is an online game played through a chatbot created by Enibot, based in Israel.

A news report about traveling to Mars beside a text chat with a bot.

Format

Style of Play:

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

Required Equipment: computer with internet connection

Note that you need a strong internet connection to load this game. Also, be sure to follow the guidelines for an incognito Chrome browser.

If your game is unable to load at any stage, it will automatically save and reload where you left off, which we greatly appreciated.

Recommended Team Size: 1-3

Play Time: 45-80 minutes, less for experienced puzzlers

Price: $30 per team

Booking: purchase and play at your leisure

Description

Using a text “chat” interface on the side of a webpage, the game sent us through a series of puzzles revolving around becoming an astronaut and going to Mars. We entered answers into the interface and received images of puzzles to solve next. Some of the puzzles were very point-and-click; others were purely visual.

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