RATING: 5 Keys          RESULT: Win          REMAINING: 0:36 

An iconic classic board game evolves into a hybrid escape adventure… what could possibly go wrong? Except, you know… the murder.

News outlets across the globe are abuzz with talk of the latest and greatest event, held in our very own Hue County. The World’s Fair: a beacon of scientific advancement, exploration and research, where the greatest minds gather to gain the attention and investments of wealthy elite looking to do the world some good. One such mind is Felix Carmine, a brilliant scientist devoted to reducing the devastating environmental impacts of waste disposal. In accordance with that, the Fair is being held on a man-made, fully self-sufficient island. It’s the night before the premier, and all is well. Those still on the island for personal matters gather at the exit, waiting on Dr. Carmine and the Monorail to take them back to the mainland. Suddenly, a loud electrical noise erupts behind you. All at once, the lights go out, the doors lock, and the island’s power system shuts down!

There’s a moment of stillness after the power goes out before you all clamber to the exit gate, stumbling against one another as the dim emergency lighting flickers on. You’re troubled to find it locked. Not that it matters; the Monorail is nowhere in sight, and that’s the only way off the island. You were meant to meet Carmine before leaving, but there’s no sign of him – it’s possible he lost track of time in the Biolab, and now can’t get out due to the sudden loss of power. Reluctantly, you agree to work together to find a way back into the exhibit halls and find Carmine.

Hasbro’s CLUE Escape series is a largely card-based home game that also involves building a playing board little by little while progressing through the mystery. It typically includes some additional physical objects.

Traditionally, when discussing an At Home game, the Scenic section will instead focus on graphic design quality, as well as the durability and overall presentation of its printed materials. With the CLUE Escape product, cards are a fairly standard size: 3.5″ x 2.5″, printed on a medium weight card stock making them durable, but not quite as thick as a standard playing card. The pieces used to assemble the board are much thicker and ready to be assembled and disassembled without risk of damage. When assembled, the board is actually quite large, measuring roughly 17.5″ x 15″ in size.

Graphically, the illustration style is similar in tone to a classic CLUE board game, making this new spinoff series feel instantly familiar. The board, like CLUE itself, is split into several distinct rooms. Further adding to the nostalgia, each set in Hasbro’s At Home escape line also comes with six colored plastic playing pieces matching the style one would expect in a traditional CLUE board game.

CLUE Escape does not have an accompanying app, and while this alone did not hinder the game’s experience, it does come with a few notable caveats such as a lack of themed background music or a time clock (so we set a phone to a ninety minute countdown.) Hints are delivered through a numbered chart at the back of the instruction manual, and though they do offer progressively increasing information, there are no available printed solutions for those looking to throw in the towel on a given task.

Hasbro truly cracked the code of home game puzzles with The World’s Fair. From start to finish, every puzzle in this box tells a flowing story – and one written in such a way that it’s actually interesting to follow. New pieces of evidence are steadily discovered, serving as the perfect proverbial carrot on a stick to really tease what’s still to be revealed. Every task furthers the investigation in an organic way that feels ‘real life.’

But that’s far from the highest compliment for CLUE Escape’s puzzles. Every single step is logical and intuitive. It’s always clear what would-be detectives are looking for, and even better, whether or not they currently hold every card needed to solve a given challenge. It’s difficult to say if the puzzles are on the easier side, or if we’re just so used to being beaten down by convoluted, nonsensical At Home games from many other brands that The World’s Fair *feels* easier by proxy because its actions *actually* make sense. Either way, it provides a satisfying and enjoyable challenge, even for more experienced players.

In true CLUE fashion, everything builds toward opening the coveted solution envelope. Throughout the course of the investigation, evidence cards are acquired, marked with an hourglass symbol. These cards don’t connect to any of the individual puzzles, but all come together to determine the suspect, weapon, and location for the game’s climax. Solving the mystery will require actual detective skills, finding holes in characters’ alibies, and picking up location-based evidence that narrows down the possible choices. It creates a tone that is organically high-stakes, and cranks the game’s excitement up several notches even higher for its grand reveal.

Hasbro’s CLUE Escape is the textbook definition of ‘understanding the assignment.’ So many times we’ve seen a game based on an established intellectual property that does little to embrace the spirit which made it so well-known in the first place. Hasbro hit a home run. CLUE is one of the most popular board games of all time, and this hybrid adaptation embraces everything that works in the original – identifying the suspect, weapon, and location of the murder – while also adding puzzles that make it a full-fledged escape game in the process.

Moreso, we’ve played a lot of At Home games over the years, and, with few exceptions, often encounter illogical roadblocks that create frustrating hurdles which hinder the experience. CLUE Escape’s The World’s Fair may actually be the very first At Home game we’ve ever played where we didn’t need to look up even one hint or solution. It’s a highly satisfying and smoothly flowing adventure from start to finish.

For the record, we did correctly solve the mystery – with just thirty-six seconds to spare! What’s interesting is, like in any good detective story, our suspicions changed several times throughout the investigation, and, even seconds before opening the envelope, we were virtually certain it that a completely different suspect would be guilty. That just goes to show how important it is to pay attention to every last detail that CLUE Escape provides.

And as for the next case, we’d be confident in speculating that in the envelope, you’ll find three cards: The EA Team, At Home, with another CLUE Escape game!

*Montu, Escape Authority’s VP, Dog Business™ and lead home game correspondent endorses the opinions found within this review.

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Venue:  Hasbro

Location: At Home Game

Number of Games: 6 (one in this box)

GAME SPECIFIC INFORMATION:

Duration: 90 minutes

Capacity: 1-6 people

Group Type: Private / You will not be paired with strangers (but if you are, call 911 immediately to report a home invasion.)

Cost (at Publish Time): $12.81 (Amazon.com)