Toy Fair is an exclusive show, in that you need to be in the industry (or press) to get a ticket. But every area of the industry is represented: manufacturing, design, insurance, shipping, and more. The most attractive booths to someone like me, of course, were those showing off the coolest and newest games. A few interesting games caught my eye while I was wandering dozens of aisles of displays.

Jumbo Games

Jumbo Games is a large international toy and game brand with many, many products on the market. At previous Toy Fairs, we had seen their line of Wasgij jigsaw puzzles. These puzzles don’t 100% match what is pictured on the box, but instead reveal a different perspective of the box image or a moment before or after the box image takes place. The most interesting new product they had on display was Pieces of Evidence, a jigsaw-based detective game. The first box in this line, “The Last Voyage!”, will contain three jigsaw puzzles that each offer clues to help resolve the final mystery. We’re looking forward to seeing it in stores in late 2026.

Fizz Creations

Fizz Creations is a toy company that has recently dipped into the at-home puzzle game experience. Their display had a few notable games on their puzzle shelf, each with an interesting form factor. There was a pop-up book, a manga box set, and miniature cardboard briefcases with puzzles inside. The pop-up book, Cryptic Circus, was a murder mystery. While the format definitely seemed geared for children, the content was not. Wheels of Time promised five different games set in different eras. This seemed to be a theme of Fizz’s puzzle offerings: many of their games said that they had multiple ways to play or different paths to take.

Professor Puzzle

We reviewed a few games from Professor Puzzle’s Quick-Fire Escape Rooms a few years ago. Since then, Professor Puzzle has released new games in the same line as well as a new murder mystery line. Escape Through Time will be their newest entry in the escape room line when it releases, and Death in the Alps is the title for the upcoming murder mystery game. Both games are slated to release in Q2 2026.

University Games

University Games has been a long-time presence in the desktop puzzle space. Their BePuzzled series produces Hanayama puzzles and 3d crystal puzzles, but also mystery jigsaw puzzles and boxed murder mystery party games. Their Murder Mystery Party boxed games come with roles for six participants, as well as a suggested food and drink menu. The newest item in this line is Mistletoe & Malice, which tasks your dinner guests to solve the Christmas time murder of the Noël, Queen of Puddings.

Quick Thoughts

• Thames & Kosmos’ 2026 Exit: The Game Advent Calendar will be called The Magic of Christmas. Look for it in late 2026. We have loved the Advent calendars in past years. (See our reviews from 2025, 2024, 2023, and 2022.)
• Flipsi Puzzles showed off their double-sided jigsaw puzzles. Each promised an intriguing surprise when flipped to the secret secondary side after the puzzle was completed.
• CGE’s Codenames has been a popular game in the escape room community, and they announced three expansions packs for Codenames that will release in Q2 2026.
• Fun Squared Games showed off Code Lock, a head-to-head logic puzzle about following instructions to sort your nine numbered tiles faster than your opponents.

Toy Fair 2027

Toy Fair will return to the Javits Center from February 20-23, 2027. After nearly heading to New Orleans for a few years instead of staying in New York City, I’m glad to see that it looks like NYC will continue to host Toy Fair in the coming years. I’m already looking forward to 2027.

Hopefully we can get our hands on some of these upcoming games soon! Keep reading here for reviews once we do. I expect some of them will end up in our next Holiday Gift Guide in November.

The post Toy Fair 2026 appeared first on Room Escape Artist.

Location: at home

Date Played: January 2, 2026

Team Size: 1-4; we recommend 1-2

Duration: 2-3 hours

Price: $75 CAD

REA Reaction

I’m a sucker for a kitschy sci-fi comic inspired by the 80s and 90s, and The Alien Ship did an interstellar job of combining puzzles, comics, story, artwork, and humor. Each puzzle fit in the orbit of the game world, combining a page or two of the actual comic to read, a puzzle to solve, and a solution to check on CLAIR, your AI (solution disk similar to that of Exit the Game). We desperately wanted more of the comic itself as our favorite part was getting the little story blips and admiring the artwork between puzzle solving. The puzzles frequently utilized the art in the comic, and left breadcrumbs throughout the artwork that culminated to help solve the final sequence.

While the puzzles were thematic and felt like they belonged in the game world, some of the components struggled from lack of polish and were finicky to extract a solution from, even when we knew how to execute the solve. While the game did a pretty good job of hiding future puzzle information in the artwork, sometimes information that was not useful for the current solve would cause confusion. We strongly recommend playing the game in one night or during consecutive nights, as information throughout the game is relevant later. We struggled occasionally to identify when a puzzle required previous knowledge, but we did take a few day-long breaks between play sessions.

Escape Comics’ The Alien Ship is launching on Kickstarter today and I suggest backing it if you appreciate a great comic with puzzles along the way! Of note, they are offering a discounted price today only, for the launch of the Kickstarter.

Who is this for?

• Sci-fi explorers
• Comic book nerds
• Best for players with at least some experience

Why play?

• Old school comic book humor and artwork
• Puzzles that mesh well with the story

Story

As the captain of the League of Nations intergalactic team, we were sent on an expedition to discover the secret plans of an alien race and stop them before they could wipe out planet Earth!

Setup

Within The Alien Ship box, we found multiple envelopes sealed for later and, well, a comic book. (It IS called Escape Comics after all!) This comic book was used as a guide throughout the experience, providing us the story, puzzle elements, and steps for progression. Most of the envelopes contained paper and cardboard used in unusual ways.

Hints were delivered through a progressive hint deck, with different amounts of hints depending on the complexity of the puzzle. Answer verification included a decoder disk and a deck of cards, similar to the Exit the Game series.

The Alien Ship box was fully resettable without any printing or destructive components.

Gameplay

Escape Comics’ The Alien Ship was a narrative driven, play-at-home escape game with a moderate level of difficulty.

Core gameplay orbited around reading a page or two in the comic, being pointed to an envelope or other material in the game box, solving the puzzle using items both in the envelope and items we had unlocked previously, and verifying the solution with the decoder disk.

The puzzles included observation, manipulation of objects, making connections, and reading between the lines.

Analysis

 The story, components, artwork, and humor struck the perfect balance of 80s/ 90s sci-fi comic books. We loved reading the panels between every puzzle and piecing together the story.

 Escape Comics had a fantastic progressive hint system that helped whenever we got stuck. We loved how the puzzles had a varied amount of hints depending on puzzle complexity, and all included a walkthrough in case we got REALLY stuck.

 One puzzle did not fit together properly, leaving gaps between important pieces and requiring significantly more trial and error than expected. Additionally, this puzzle required a player to hold an object up, hindering their ability to solve using only one hand. We never ended up finishing this puzzle fully, but got the gist of the solve enough to move on.

We especially loved a simple yet elegant early-game solve with some of the more interesting components in the box.

 Symbols that were used throughout were sometimes difficult to identify and tell apart, causing a cypher to be tedious on occasion. Thankfully, there were no large portions of translation.

/ A specific late-game puzzle had a clever solution that we appreciated, but using the cardboard pieces to accomplish the solve was difficult. We had trouble keeping these components perfectly aligned to see the answer.  

 The game was fully resettable to hand off when we’d finished. No components were destroyed, and clear instructions were provided to help repackage the game.

Tips For Players

• Space Requirements: A small table
• Required Gear: A pen and paper

Back Escape Comics’ The Alien Ship, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Disclosure: Escape Comics provided a complimentary game.

The post Escape Comics – The Alien Ship [Review] appeared first on Room Escape Artist.

Location: at home

Date Played: November 29, 2025

Team Size: 1-6; we recommend 2-3

Duration: about 90 minutes plus setup time

Price: $29

REA Reaction

Mystery Locks’ The Alchemist’s Box was a combination papercrafting activity (if you opt for the full experience setup) and a tabletop puzzle game. Available only as a printable game, some level of arts and crafts was necessary to play this game, but the effort was worthwhile.

We chose to set up the game using what the creators called the “full experience” – using all of the provided assets. For about an hour before playing, we crafted themed envelopes that contained story cards, puzzles, and hints. The final piece was the game’s centerpiece, a cube that would be heavily involved in nearly all of the puzzles. Because this assembly portion provides the opportunity to know which items are in which envelope, I recommend – if time permits – assembling and then waiting a few days before playing to allow yourself to forget any behind-the-scenes knowledge you may have accidentally picked up.

The Alchemist’s Box was heavily focused on making connections between different sources of information. The cube played a central role in this, both from a mechanical perspective and a narrative one. This led to some very satisfying aha moments in the early part of the game as we discovered not just how a single puzzle worked but how the whole game would flow. The downside was that as the game continued on, there were fewer opportunities for those aha moments as the way ahead became more focused.

The highlight of The Alchemist’s Box was the meta puzzle at the end. After making connections faster and faster as we progressed through the game, we stumbled and slowed at the meta. But when the breakthrough happened after some trial and error, the solution was a truly gratifying moment. It was a great capstone on an already enjoyable game. If you like spending time crafting and solving inventive puzzles, The Alchemist’s Box might be a good choice for you.

Who is this for?

• Puzzle lovers
• Anyone into papercraft
• Best for players with at least some experience

Why play?

• Well-designed components you get to assemble yourself
• An excellent meta puzzle

Story

A letter set us down the path to find Isaac Newton’s final experiment, the Philosopher’s Stone. We needed to parse through his notes and diagrams to find it.

Setup

The Alchemist’s Box took a good amount of setup to prepare before play could begin. Because this was a print and play game, everything had to be assembled prior to solving. The instructions provided for three levels of setup, starting with the full experience where every asset was printed and assembled. Players could reduce the items to assemble and therefore the time to set up in a few ways, for example by replacing the themed printable envelopes with standard envelopes they already owned.

Full setup took about an hour to cut, fold, tape, and glue everything just right. The provided instructions were very detailed and made the process relatively simple and streamlined. Once the envelopes were filled with puzzles, stories, and hints and the centerpiece of the game, the paper cube, was assembled, it was time to play.

Gameplay

Mystery Locks’ The Alchemist’s Box was a standard play-at-home game with a moderate level of difficulty.

Puzzles were heavily focused on making connections as well as decoding.

Analysis

 Phenomenal meta puzzle to end it. One of the best coming together moments of any paper puzzle that I have played.

 Some fonts, especially on the hint cards, could be a little larger to increase readability.

 Extremely detailed setup instructions and a fully detailed walkthrough were included.

 The progressive hint system was helpful when needed, but could use more granularity. Often some of the steps felt too large.

The low price point makes this game a good bet for the player on a budget.

/ Having to assemble the game at home made it cheaper and easier to ship (all digitally) but added a significant setup time to the playthrough, and also set up opportunities to gain information you should be gaining through gameplay instead (e.g. recalling the sequence of the envelopes).

For a play at home game with so many good looking pieces, The Alchemist’s Box has a lower than expected cost. Players will want to decide for themselves if the additional setup time is worth the reduced cost.

 The Alchemist’s Box did a great job of building on itself. Things learned in earlier puzzles were sometimes useful in later ones.

Tips For Players

• Space Requirements: A small table. There are a lot of components but few of them are out at one time.
• Required Setup Gear: Scissors, tape and/ or gluestick.
• Required Playing Gear: Pencils and a notebook.

Buy your copy of Mystery Lock’s The Alchemist’s Box, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Disclosure: Mystery Locks provided a complimentary game.

The post Mystery Locks – Alchemist’s Box [Review] appeared first on Room Escape Artist.

Location: At home

Date Played: January 10, 2025

Team Size: 2

Duration: 4 chapters, 90 minutes per chapter

Price: About $180

REA Reaction

When Month of Date Nights by Giddy Box arrived, we were excited to have a chance to spend some quality time together after welcoming a new family member into our home. You can see Kirito below. He even helped us unpack the box.

True to form, we were unsure what to expect from our first date night. The date night started with an initial puzzle which was incredibly well designed and satisfying to solve. However, we were underwhelmed with the activities and game during week one. After week one, we were happily surprised that all of the other activities were fun, engaging, encouraged creativity, and provided nice keepsakes. The puzzles also continued to surprise and delight us each week, though they understandably were on the easier side.

Even though the puzzles were great, they were a rather small part of the overall experience. Each week we spent about 5 minutes solving the puzzle to obtain a 4-digit code, and then 85 minutes engaging in couples’ activities. Since this is Month of Date Nights and not month of puzzle nights, the balance didn’t put us off and made sense for the product Giddy Box produced. (If Giddy Box came out with an escape room or puzzle-centric game, we would buy it in an instant.)

No puzzling experience was needed to enjoy Month of Date Nights, but we wouldn’t recommend the experience to brand new couples. Many of the activities in Month of Date Nights drew on memories or stories about your partner; therefore, we would recommend that couples with some tenure embark on the Month of Date Nights journey. However, Giddy Box did a good job designing an experience appropriate for any level of relationship (dating, engaged, or married) that was not intended to go beyond PG. Since we’ve been married ten years, we found some of the activities weren’t as challenging as intended, but we had fun reminiscing and creating more memories together.

Compared to other guided couples’ activities we have tried, Month of Date Nights was certainly the most memorable and self-contained. Giddy Box provided us with a great opportunity to shut out all the other noise for an hour or two while we enjoyed each other’s company.

Who is this for?

• Any puzzle experience level
• Couples who have been together for some time, and already know each other

Why play?

• Effortless date night plans
• Humorous and playful couples’ activities
• Opportunity to make memories and keepsakes with your partner

Story

The gods were meddling in human affairs again! Over the span of four weeks, we spent time partaking in activities crafted by different Greek gods to recount and grow our love story as a couple. As all gods tend to be a little tricky, we had to solve their puzzle to obtain each week’s supplies before we dove into the challenges and games within.

Setup

To begin each week’s activities, we referenced the Month of Date Nights book for the required materials, gathered wine and charcuterie, scanned the QR code for a curated soundtrack, and lit the provided candle. Most components were contained within labeled bags which were unlocked by solving a simple puzzle; however, there were some components for general use across weeks (i.e., dice, meeples, and Sharpie markers) and some materials carried over from previous weeks. We found that a kitchen table was about the right size to hold our drinks, snacks, and the necessary components.

Gameplay

Giddy Box’s Month of Date Nights was a four-part experience with some light puzzling. Each part is intended to be played a week apart leading to a month’s worth of self-contained date night experiences.

The gameplay was predominantly couples’ activities that focused on guided creative writing and simple games. There was one puzzle at the beginning of each week that used spatial and visual connections to find solutions.

Analysis

 The few puzzles included in Month of Date Nights were clued well, logical, and satisfying to solve.

 The activities in the first week were underwhelming and left us worried that the next three weeks would be a slog due to the shallow writing prompts and a simple roll and move game. However, the following weeks were significantly more involved and enjoyable offering deeper questions and more cooperative and complex activities.

 After the first week, Month of Date Nights provided cute and creative activities to test your knowledge of your partner. We were able to share stories and memories that led to a lot of laughter and some sweet moments.

 Other than snacks and beverages, Month of Date Nights contained everything we needed to complete each week. It was nice to have a short evening planned out without any effort on our part.

/ The Greek pantheon theme was woven throughout all four weeks, though the story was only loosely tied to the activities and fairly forgettable.

Tips For Players

• Space Requirements: A dining room table
• Required Gear: Internet connected device, and drinks and/or snacks (optional)

Buy your copy of Giddy Box’s Month of Date Nights, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Disclosure: Giddy Box provided a complimentary game.

The post Giddy Box – Month of Date Nights [Review] appeared first on Room Escape Artist.

Location: At home

Date Played: September 28, 2025

Team size: 1; we recommend 1

Duration: 316 Pages

Price: $13.99 paperback; $4.99 on Kindle

REA Reaction

As an escape room enthusiast, I’ve daydreamed about overnight and multi-day experiences on a grand scale. So, I was excited to find out more about the escape-room-esque attraction Kayla Hicks invented for her new novel Escape City. Escape City fictionalized a city-sized playground where patrons could experience the danger and thrill of a zombie apocalypse paired with puzzle laden streets hiding secrets and safe houses.

This fast-paced novel took me on a wild ride through a high-tech amusement park gone wrong. Though I didn’t connect with the ultra-rich influencer characters on a personal level, it was fascinating to see them stretch their intellect to overcome the hurdles placed in their way. I chewed through this book at a impressive rate. Kayla Hicks’ writing style kept me glued to the page and itching to find out what happened next.

My biggest disappointment was that the reader could not solve the puzzles and riddles that the characters encountered with the information provided. However, there was enough context to deduce what the character’s next step should be, which was satisfying up to a point.

Overall, Escape City provided a unique tie-in between escape rooms and literature outside of “puzzle books” and classic murder mysteries. Although Escape City was targeted toward YA readers, I believe the book would be enjoyable for anybody who likes escape rooms and zombie survival stories.

Who is this for?

• People looking for a pulse-pounding adventure story
• Anyone who likes puzzles, escape rooms, zombies, and survival games

Why read?

• Digestible characters and a fast-paced survival adventure
• Commentary on the potential dangers of cutting-edge technology
• Portrayal of escape rooms in “mainstream” media

Story

Noah Bronston, heir to an amusement park empire, invited his friends to his dad’s newest attraction, Escape City. The teens expected to embark on a multi-day, low-stakes survival romp. By solving puzzles, they could evade the animatronic zombie horde and make their way to the evacuation zone at the heart of the city.

Something unexpectedly went wrong, and the metal monsters acquired a taste for flesh. Now our heroes’ lives were on the line. Would their wits and wiles be enough to get them safely through the deadly streets? They had three days to find out before the rescue helicopter left for good.

Setup

Download the e-book or buy the paperback and start your adventure!

Gameplay

Kayla Hicks’ Escape City was a novel with some escape room elements sprinkled throughout.

Core “gameplay” revolved around reading about the characters’ experiences. The puzzles were not presented in a way where the reader could solve them, but there was enough information that I often deduced how they needed to solve the puzzle before it was revealed.

Analysis

 There never was a dull moment. Even the safe zones maintained a level of tension as the story progressed.

 The characters felt flat. There wasn’t a good reason to root for them or against them. My apathy toward Noah and his friends detracted from a deeper connection with the adventure.

 Escape City was geared toward a YA market and fit that audience well. I would have gobbled this book up as a teen.

 The e-book that I received included a short story that gave insight into the experience of the theme park employees. It was a fun peek behind the curtain to understand what caused everything to go sideways. There were also some fun world-building materials in the appendix, including a “Zombie Survival Guide” and handouts or posters that park patrons would encounter. 

I would have liked a map of Escape City in the front of the book to help follow along with Noah and his friends’ escape. There was a map in the appendix, but it wasn’t very detailed.

Tips For Players

• Space Requirements: A comfy chair
• Required Gear: An e-reader if purchasing the e-book

Buy your copy of Kayla Hicks’ Escape City, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Disclosure: We received a complimentary e-book.

Support Room Escape Artist’s Mission

There are lots of ways to support Room Escape Artist, like buying from Amazon or Etsy after clicking into the links included in this post or backing us on Patreon.

The money that we make from these helps us to grow the site and continue to add more value to the community that we love so much.

The post Escape City [Book Review] appeared first on Room Escape Artist.

Location: at home

Date Played: November 6, 2025

Team Size: 1+; we recommend 1-2

Duration: about 5 hours total, or 10-15 minutes per day for a whole month

Price: about $49

REA Reaction

Alternatives to the traditional chocolate Advent calendar have proliferated in recent years, but the EXIT Advent Calendar is the first escape Advent calendar that I noticed, and they have been consistent in publishing a new one every year.

EXIT’s offering is also the puzzle-related Advent calendar that I look forward to the most. If you have ever played one of their standard boxed escapes, you will have a sense of how they hide clues in unconventional ways. The Advent calendar is more of the same, and I love how it challenges my assumptions of how an at-home game can be played.

I have played all the Advent calendars that EXIT has published in the United States so far (REA Advent calendar reviews, including these.) This year’s Advent calendar The Intergalactic Race, like every previous year, included new puzzle mechanics, which kept solving it refreshing. It also felt as though in The Intergalactic Race, EXIT had somewhat reduced the amount of puzzle content that was hidden in the room art. I appreciated this because it is always hard to see clearly inside the dark little box. If you have to choose between the different annual editions, this one is my favorite so far!

Note that this is not a calendar that can be reused — by the end of my play session, it had been reduced to rubble, though I received a nifty little gift for my efforts. Overall, I found it the perfect mix of challenging riddles, cheeky storytelling, and progressively unhinged scissor work. EXIT continues to out-do itself in its ability to find new ways to incorporate every bit of the physical materials into the puzzle.

Who is this for?

• Story seekers
• Puzzle lovers
• Any experience level
• Fans of EXIT: The Game’s normal escape game boxes
• Those looking for a daily bite-sized puzzle experience to liven up December

Why play?

• Daily puzzles are more fun than chocolate!
• EXIT: The Game puzzles are creative and more than a little delightfully unhinged.

Story

This year’s theme was a mixture of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The Amazing Race, and Christmas all rolled into one. I was a sidekick in a competitive space race and, together with my pilot, I encountered all sorts of hijinks on the way.

Setup

The calendar came with a story book, a clue book, and a decoder. Each day, I read a new installment of the story, which sometimes included some new puzzle material. I then opened the door for that day and pulled out clue cards or physical artifacts. I solved the daily puzzle with the provided materials, sometimes including information found behind the door, occasionally the calendar package itself. The solution for each day was a 3-digit number, which when entered into the decoder, provided 3 directional movements and 3 shapes. If I followed the movements, the next door would have the same 3 shapes on it. I would then write the next day’s number on the door, ready for use the next day!

I played through the entire calendar prior to writing this review, and each day took on average 10-15 minutes to play, including the daily story time. I used the hints on a couple of occasions when I knew that I just wasn’t getting the aha myself. Each day had 3 levels of hints, so I could read just up to the point that was helpful, without spoiling the entire puzzle. The answer is also always provided, just in case you’re not feeling it that day.

Gameplay

EXIT: Advent Calendar’s The Intergalactic Race was a standard play-at-home escape game in the form of an Advent calendar. It had a moderate level of difficulty.

The puzzles emphasized observation, decoding, and creative thinking.

Analysis

 The damage I was expected to inflict on the puzzle materials became progressively more destructive. This was a delight to my inner kindergartener.

Due to my prior experience with this brand, I was slightly trigger happy and ripped up parts of the game when I was not supposed to. Fortunately, I was still able to solve the puzzle (and could have resorted to the clue book if not). Player beware!

 The amount of play time (~5 hours total for this reviewer) for the cost ($40-50) was very reasonable.

The accompanying story book tied the puzzle narrative together well, but was somewhat lengthy. Many players that I play with don’t have the patience for a long story-time before getting into the fun part of the game.

 Unlike many other play-at-home escape games, this product absolutely cannot be reused to be given away.

 I love that successfully solving the final puzzle resulted in a prize.

Tips For Players

• Space Requirements: You need enough space to lay the box flat, with the lid open, and some room to lay out any provided cards for the day.
• Required Gear: You will need a marker for labelling the doors, and scissors are definitely required. Pen and paper may be useful. Tape as well.

Buy your copy of EXIT: Advent Calendar’s The Intergalactic Race and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Disclosure: Exit: The Game provided a complimentary game.

Support Room Escape Artist’s Mission

There are lots of ways to support Room Escape Artist, like buying from Amazon or Etsy after clicking into the links included in this post or backing us on Patreon.

The money that we make from these helps us to grow the site and continue to add more value to the community that we love so much.

The post EXIT: Advent Calendar – The Intergalactic Race [Review] appeared first on Room Escape Artist.

Location: At home

Date Played: September 9, 2025

Team Size: 1-4; We recommend 2-4

Duration:  90-120 minutes per chapter, 6 chapters

Price: $79.95 + shipping

REA Reaction

My appreciation for history stemmed from the Dear America and American Girl historical fiction novels that I went through like candy during my middle school years. I even convinced my parents to leave the hall light on, claiming “I was afraid of the dark,” so I could read historical books well past my bedtime. The school librarian was confused how I was able to check out a book one day and return it for another the next morning. Escape Mail’s The Shackleton Series brought me back to those moments by providing an interesting historical story (that I had no experience with prior to playing the game) surrounded by an engaging, fun puzzle experience. I couldn’t wait to open each chapter and find out what happened next. Lyra, Vax’ildan, and Aslan (left to right) joined our crew for this expedition.

Each of the chapters were packed full of puzzles that required us to synthesize information from multiple documents and often required multiple steps. Although the game offered a flow card to help decipher which documents were related to each puzzle, we enjoyed embracing the additional challenge by sorting through the documents ourselves. Without the flow card, we found The Shackleton Series to be one of the harder tabletop puzzle games that we have played recently. This game would be an excellent choice for any experienced puzzle lovers who enjoy learning about history in a hands on way. However, we thought that the flow card was an excellent option for less experienced puzzlers or for players that want a more streamlined experience.

We also loved how carefully Escape Mail kept to the historical story throughout the game. Some of the documents were nearly transcriptions of journal entries or maps created by Shackleton and others on the crew. We enjoyed reading about the progression of the crew’s journey through the journal and thought that The Shackleton Series would be an excellent way to teach students about Shackleton’s expedition in a school setting. However, we would have preferred that more of the journal pages were tied into the puzzles so that players needed to interact with the historical account more closely in order to play the game.

In The Shackleton Series, Escape Mail created an interesting and fun tabletop experience for experienced puzzlers, novice puzzlers, grade school students, and history buffs alike by combining a historically accurate adventure with a multitude of puzzles.

Who is this for?

• Story seekers
• Puzzle lovers
• History fans
• Best for players with at least some experience

Why play?

• The attention to historical details
• The quantity and complexity of puzzles
• Clever papercraft interactions
• Fun educational activity for middle or high school students

Story

Captain Ernest Shackleton and his crew of 27 men embarked on their perilous journey to Antarctica in 1914. We found documents from the two years Shackleton’s crew fought the frigid and unwelcoming climate. By solving puzzles crafted by the crew, we discovered an epic tale of determination, camaraderie, and endurance.

Setup

We received the Shackleton box set which included all six chapters and allowed us to experience the full story. Each chapter came in a sealed envelope and contained all of the information and handouts needed to solve the puzzles within.

We also needed a writing utensil, paper, and and internet-connected device throughout our experience.

At the beginning of each chapter we were directed to a website with videos to introduce and conclude each chapter, thematic music, an optional timer, an interface to confirm our answers, and access to the hint system.

Each chapter also included an optional flow card to help sort the materials in the envelope into their respective puzzles. We chose not to use the flow card and deciphered how the materials were related ourselves, which provided us with a more challenging experience.

Gameplay

Escape Mail’s The Shackleton Series was a standard play-at-home escape game with a moderate to hard level of difficulty.

Gameplay revolved around connecting information from a variety of different paper handouts. Puzzles involved papercraft, word play, mapping, logic, and much more.

Each chapter provided a satisfying conclusion allowing us to choose to either pause or immediately move on to the next chapter. However, the story arc for Shackleton’s journey extended across all six chapters. The conclusion of each chapter also involved a meta puzzle which used all of the other puzzle answers from that chapter in an interesting way, including a meta meta puzzle after finishing all six chapters.

Analysis

 Each chapter had between four to seven multi-step puzzles. We also noticed a significant variety in puzzles throughout The Shackleton Series. In several instances we were surprised by the clever solutions to several of the interactions.

 Occasionally, we encountered puzzles that felt under-clued or vague. It appeared that there was a printing issue which made one color puzzle unreasonably difficult. However, the problematic puzzles were an extremely small percentage of the plethora of puzzles distributed amongst the six chapters of the experience.

 The “blue” story pages made this game unique and provided historical information about the journey of Shackleton’s crew. Escape Mail also provided a “historicity” section at the conclusion of each chapter to discuss which elements of the chapter were true and which were fictionalized. We thought The Shackleton Series would be perfect for middle or high school educators because the game was so historically accurate.

While the game instructions indicated that the story pages could be skipped, The Shackleton Files would have lost a lot of its charm by doing so. Therefore, we wished there was more puzzle info on the journal pages to discourage players from skipping the historical fiction narrative.

The flow card included in each envelope allowed us to choose a more streamlined experience by knowing which handouts were related to which puzzle. We appreciated that the flow card made The Shackleton Files more approachable for newer players, but was presented in such a way that we could choose not to use the card and rather synthesize the information ourselves. (A minor nitpick: Since all of the flow cards were packed face up in each envelope, we had to be careful to avoid “spoilers.”)

Tips For Players

• Space Requirements: A coffee table
• Required Gear: A writing utensil, paper, and wi-fi powered device

Buy your copy of Escape Mail’s The Shackleton Series, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Disclosure: Escape Mail provided a complimentary game.

The post Escape Mail – The Shackleton Series [Review] appeared first on Room Escape Artist.

Location: at home

Date Played: October 6, 2025

Team Size: 2-4; we recommend 1-4

Duration: 30 minutes

Price: £35 on kickstarter

REA Reaction

Minty Noodles is currently running a kickstarter campaign for their tabletop puzzle game series, Interstellar Adventures: The Sincerest Form of Flattery. The campaign reward options offer a 3-episode game pack, but this review only covers the first episode.

I received a review copy of the first episode, and it struck me as a delightful cross between a comic book and a choose-your-own-adventure story, with logic puzzles and codes throughout.

The story featured a space crew consisting of a diverse set of beings from all across the universe, reminiscent of a classic popular space-themed TV show. The game cards were richly illustrated and I found the comic-book art appealing. Each card was numbered, and the solution to each puzzle was the number of the next card to draw from the deck. That card would also contain instructions for additional cards to draw, and cards that could now be discarded. In this manner, the cards that were out on the table were constantly changing.

Interstellar Adventures is a worthy addition to the tabletop puzzle game space. Structurally, it is similar to the popular UNLOCK! series. However, Interstellar Adventures is a self-contained package that does not require downloading any app or internet access. Instead, progressive hint cards are included in the game pack, which makes the game portable. Furthermore, the game is fully resettable and can be passed on to other players.

The puzzles that I encountered in this episode used fairly straightforward mechanics, so it is probably most appropriate for newbies or playing with younger puzzlers. However, I found the story engaging, and if the subsequent 2 episodes are of a similar style and quality, I would enjoy seeing the characters continue to develop over the series of games. If you’re looking a starter tabletop escape game, consider backing Interstellar Adventures: The Sincerest Form of Flattery on Kickstarter before their campaign ends at the end of the month.

Who is this for?

• Fans of retro-style art
• Story seekers
• Newbies

Why play?

• It would be a good way to introduce tabletop puzzle games to new or younger players.
• Since the game was completely self-contained; it can be played when traveling.
• The art was pretty!

Story

The game was set on a spaceship in the distant future. The multi-racial crew originated from all over the galaxy and was tasked with exploring unmapped regions of space.

Setup

The game was played with a deck of numbered, illustrated puzzle cards. Solving puzzles revealed the numbers of subsequent cards to be drawn. There were progressive hint cards, and bonus and penalty points. Some additional 3D game components were used for a few puzzles.

Gameplay

Minty Noodles’ Interstellar Adventures was a standard play-at-home puzzle game with a lower level of difficulty.

The puzzles tested observational skills, pattern recognition, and logic.

Analysis

 The comic book art style was nostalgic and charming.

/ The puzzles were slightly challenging, but mostly straightforward and approachable for inexperienced players. Interstellar Adventures never asked me to think outside the box.

The price was above average for the genre, but the gameplay was shorter and simpler. It felt too light on puzzle content.

The game was non-destructive, and could be repacked for a different group of players, improving its cost-effectiveness.

The little spaceships were cute, so I was looking forward to using them. However, they were only used for one activity that was not as puzzley as I would have liked. Perhaps they might be reused in subsequent episodes?

 The progressive hint system was simple yet effective.

/Interstellar Adventures was pretty straightforward, in puzzle design and game design. This might be perfect for their target audience, but left me wanting more. There was an opportunity for innovation and novelty.

 The game was playable anywhere since all necessary game materials were included in the box and no internet access was required.

Tips For Players

• Space Requirements: Room for a couple of stacks of cards and some working area was the bare minimum, though puzzle solving would be easier with more room to spread cards out.
• Required Gear: No additional materials were required, though a pen and paper would come in handy for solving puzzles.

Get your copy of Minty Noodles’ Interstellar Adventures by backing them on Kickstarter.

Disclosure: Minty Noodles provided a complimentary game.

The post Minty Noodles – Interstellar Adventures: The Sincerest Form of Flattery [Review] appeared first on Room Escape Artist.

Location: at home

Date Played: September 21, 2025

Team Size: 1+; we recommend 2-3

Duration: 2-3 hours

Price: Kickstarter price is $26, MSRP will be $29

REA Reaction

As we opened Case 2: Finders Keypers, I was once again instantly smitten with the idea of the Ministry of Lost Things. We were extra delighted that this case was key-themed, as regular readers of this site know that we (but especially David) love .

As we’ve come to expect from PostCurious, they delivered a polished game. They used high quality printed materials, and created detailed artwork to contain each and every puzzle. Just look at the artwork on the box. They’ve drawn an entire whimsical world!

I was captivated by the puns as soon as I started charting my way through the first puzzle I touched in transmission one. Impressively, this level of punning never let up. I loved it!

When compared to the first case we played in this series, we felt that the puzzles in Finders Keypers were more similar to each other, meaning less surprises. They were all excellent puzzles, however, with clear clueing and satisfying resolution. The adorable theme, beautiful artwork, and pun-tastic writing kept us engaged – the postcard puzzle was a standout and pure joy. The overall impression was a most excellent sophomore outing that wasn’t quite as wow as the first one… which is, perhaps, because of how much the first one expanded PostCurious’ range, which now we take for granted.

PostCurious launched a Kickstarter for this game today. We have complete faith that PostCurious will deliver on their Kickstarter promise and ship this product, as they have with many products before this one. Yes, you’ll be able to buy this game in stores and online eventually, but if you enjoy tabletop puzzle games, don’t wait. Just back their Kickstarter today. PostCurious never misses.

Who is this for?

• Adorableness afficionados
• Punny people
• Puzzle lovers
• Players with at least some experience

Why play?

• The puns alone are good enough reason.
• But also, how the puzzles and the puns are intertwined.
• Adorable, whimsical artwork

Story

The Ministry of Lost Things helps reunite lost items that have landed in the Elusiverse (a parallel dimension for forgotten items) with their owners in the Realisphere (our world) when some sort of clerical error has an item land in the wrong place (how embarrassing!). In our position at the Department of Returns, we had been assigned a case of a lost carabiner… which meant many lost keys, among other possessions.

Setup

Finders Keypers was all stored in a compact box that we could toss into a suitcase and take with us on a trip (which we did!)

The box contained a welcome note and five envelopes labeled “transmissions.” We opened the envelopes in order, solving the puzzles within before proceeding to the next envelope. The sixth envelope contained the solution and resolution.

With the production copies, the box will also include a refill pack for any items which get “used up” while playing the game.

Gameplay

PostCurious’s Ministry of Lost Things: Finders Keypers was a standard play-at-home escape game with a moderate level of difficulty.

Core gameplay included a variety of puzzle types, but was heavily logic based. There was also a bit of ciphering involved.

Analysis

More than anything else, Finders Keypers got points from us for its abundant and impressive use of puns. The Ministry of Lost Things (MOLT) series leans hard on the puns, starting with the first case, Lint Condition, and never lets off the gas. We were amused by each and every paper and item we read while playing this game. We absolutely loved this style of humor.

PostCurious always delivers high quality materials and beautiful artwork. Finders Keypers was no exception. This was a compact game that relied almost exclusively on paper materials, but they looked good and felt nice to handle. We loved all the little details in the art, including the artistic puns!

Our favorite puzzle was the one where the gameplay was the art and the art was the gameplay. PostCurious always produces such fantastic artwork, and we loved traveling through their images on our way to a solution.

Finders Keypers leaned heavily on logic puzzles where we had to uncover all the constraints within the written and/ or artistic details. We sunk a lot of time into a few such puzzles, without noticing quite all the details, which led to some frustration. This isn’t a critique of the design of the game. The puzzles were fair, and the clueing was complete. Rather, this is a word of caution to players to be extremely detail-oriented, and make sure you have a teammate who enjoys logic.

While the puzzles were clued adequately, we would have appreciated more clueing in a few places to make sure momentum wasn’t stymied. For one extraction, we sat around sipping our drinks for a bit too long, with everything correctly placed, but unsure how to get moving. In another instance, since we didn’t receive any intermediary feedback, we were relieved when our answer lined up perfectly after everything stuck in place.

While the majority of the gameplay was 2D, PostCurious added intrigue in the finale envelope with a challenge that came off the tabletop a bit more. It was thematic, layered, and tangible. We loved it.

We suggest playing the Lint Condition, the first case in the MOLT series, before playing Finders Keypers. The first case did more extensive world-building, which we felt added to the experience of the second case. We’d played both, but our teammates hadn’t played the first one and didn’t have the same appreciation for the world that we did.

The prize at the end was thematic and cute, but we could think of a funnier, even more thematic version of this. We hope that’s part of the Kickstarter stretch goals.

Tips For Players

• Space Requirements: a small table
• Required Gear: pen and paper

Back PostCurious’s Ministry of Lost Things: Finders Keypers on Kickstarter, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Disclosure: PostCurious provided a sample for review.

Support Room Escape Artist’s Mission

There are lots of ways to support Room Escape Artist, like buying from Amazon or Etsy after clicking into the links included in this post or backing us on Patreon.

The money that we make from these helps us to grow the site and continue to add more value to the community that we love so much.

The post PostCurious – Ministry of Lost Things: Finders Keypers [Review] appeared first on Room Escape Artist.

Format

Style of Play: tabletop escape game

Who is it For?

• Puzzle lovers
• Any experience level
• Art nerds

Required Equipment: pen & paper, scissors

Recommended Team Size: 1-2

Play Time: about 75-90 minutes

Price: about $18

Booking: purchase and play at your leisure

Description

We had been summoned to track down a lost painting by Vincent van Gogh by following clues through the city of Amsterdam. The game presented us with riddle cards to focus our attention on a series of fold-out locations, each with its own puzzle. By entering our discoveries into a decoder wheel, we progressed to new riddle cards and paper fold-outs, roughly simulating an exploration of the city.

Cindi S’ Reaction

The Hunt Through Amsterdam began at the Vincent Van Gogh Museum and brought us through the streets and canals of the famous city to find a missing painting, rumored to be by the artist himself. What a find that would be! The references to real places in Amsterdam added authenticity to this Exit:The Game experience. Illustrations on story booklets looked like oil paintings, with muted colors and textured brushstrokes. Though very nice to look at, they weren’t used much in puzzling. Overall the game was fun, and at a level of 3 out of 5 difficulty, it flowed smoothly with mostly straightforward solves. We did get tripped up on one puzzle, which could be solved in more than one way. The mechanics of the final puzzle worked well, bringing the adventure to a close. Amsterdam is central to some of my favorite escape rooms, and playing this Exit: The Game installment made me want to plan my next trip!

Theresa W’s Reaction

Exit: The Game’s The Hunt Through Amsterdam followed a very similar formula to the Exit: The Game installments we’re familiar with, with some solid puzzling and appealing artwork. Word on the street was that there was an undiscovered Van Gogh piece, and we were on the hunt to find it! The puzzles were cute and thematic, based on actual locations I’ve visited in Amsterdam! Each puzzle felt at-home in the story and setting. One late-game puzzle in particular was under-clued and clunky compared to how seamlessly the rest of the game played. If this theme is up your alley, check out The Hunt Through Amsterdam!

Sarah Mendez’s Reaction

The Hunt Through Amsterdam was a fine enough Exit: The Game installment that delivered a reasonable set of puzzles but lacked highs and lows. The activities were solid, the construction aspects were approachable, and yet there was that one task that seemed needlessly tedious without adding much to its puzzle. I struggle to find much else to comment on, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. At this point, I think Exit: The Game delivers experiences that are consistent with their box’s “level,” and The Hunt through Amsterdam lived up to those expectations without exceeding them.

Notable aspects of this installment:

• Amsterdam allusions
• Less box manipulation than usual

Disclosure: Exit: The Game provided the Hivemind reviewers with a complimentary play.

Support Room Escape Artist’s Mission

There are lots of ways to support Room Escape Artist, like buying from Amazon or Etsy after clicking into the links included in this post or backing us on Patreon.

The money that we make from these helps us to grow the site and continue to add more value to the community that we love so much.

The post Exit the Game – The Hunt Through Amsterdam [Hivemind Review] appeared first on Room Escape Artist.