OVERALL PRODUCT RATING: 3 Keys
Insert your coins and press start to fall down a rabbit hole of three games that try so hard to be different that at times, even the great Sherlock Holmes might not recognize them.
We’re starting with the OVERALL section, which typically closes out each of our reviews in order to provide the big picture information about this product. From there, we’ll bounce to one general SCENIC section for the entire product – as all four games have equal quality materials and graphics used. In place of the traditional STORY and PUZZLES sections, we will be replacing them with three mini-reviews – one for each included game.
Unlock! Heroic Adventures is Space Cowboy’s fifth commercial outing – packing not one but three different full length home games inside the box. As with each Unlock! offering, a playable Tutorial is included. It should be noted that the Tutorial is the same in every Unlock! series, so once you’ve played it, there’s not much benefit in revisiting it.
Earlier Unlock! releases could be purchased in one of two ways – individually per game, or as a package set housed in a single themed series box. Interestingly, we’ve found that in some instances, it has proven cheaper to purchase each single game one by one on Amazon. It would appear as though Unlock! has since moved away from the individual games with newer releases, as both Unlock! Heroic Adventures and Unlock! Timeless Adventures are each only available as single-boxed three packs.
Space Cowboys also has a series of free, downloadable games – called Unlock! Demo Adventures – available through their website, which you can find by clicking here. They range in length, although several are full 60 minute games. To play them, it’s best if you have access to a printer and several sheets of cardstock, as well as a scissors to cut out each individual card. Just for fun, we did try playing one game “fully digital,” with the help of Photoshop to lay out each of the cards on our virtual desktop – and while it did work, and we still were able to enjoy the Unlock! experience, we found this to be far more time consuming than just taking a few minutes and a few sheets of paper to print them out as intended.
Progressing through an Unlock! game will lead players to either a number or letter – and if correct, this will indicate the next card(s) to draw from the deck.
Each Unlock! game is run through a free app, available in the Apple iTunes and Google Play stores. Through it, you’ll not only manage time limits and receive hints, but also enter various codes and even solve some of the puzzles in tech-driven, digital setting. As an added bonus, the Unlock! app also includes themed background music that helps bring the storyworld of each game to life.
The app allows games to be played either with or without penalties for incorrect answers. We prefer playing without penalties, as we feel it more truly mimics a physical escape game experience where you may try a code in a lock when you’re uncertain. Although the penalty free mode is activated (in the app’s Settings) by turning off the timer, rest assured you will still receive your escape time at the end. In fact, turning off the timer is the only way to receive an accurate escape time, as penalties add multiple minutes to your overall duration.
Although the Unlock! Heroic Adventures Box does indeed hold three unique stand alone games, we’ll be presenting them as one single review simply because they cannot be purchased separately. You’ll notice there is one “OVERALL PRODUCT RATING” – which we’ve combined together to give an average score. Each individual game within the box will also get its own rating below.
As we’ve touched on previously, being a home game, we define “Scenic,” from a graphic design perspective, as well as the quality, weight and feel of print materials inside the box.
We mentioned that Space Cowboys goes the route of fully card-based escape home games. Each edition is produced to the highest levels of quality – with thick, glossy textures that have the feel of a upscale deck of playing cards. Unlock!’s decks, however, are larger than a traditional card – measuring in at nearly 4.5″ tall by 2.5″ wide.
Something we’ve always enjoyed about Space Cowboys is their use of multiple different artists for each Unlock! box set. What results is a distinctly different animation style, evoking unique moods that help bring each storyworld to life. No two decks within a set will ever feel the same, or even slightly similar, for that matter.
Each game’s respective page within the Unlock! app fully compliments the theme of its storyworld, with unique buttons, sound effects and background music scores to transport the adventure off the cards and bring it to life all around players.
Insert Coin
RATING: 5 Keys RESULT: Win REMAINING: 18:23
It’s been raining for hours and your phone battery is now flat. This day doesn’t look too good unless… Hey! you know a way to kill boredom: you just have to climb up the ladder to the attic where your grandpa’s dusty old arcade machine is stored.
Beat all the levels in this virtual adventure. Escape or it’s Game Over!
Get transported to the Kingdom of Pixel and become the hero, Superboy in this totally rad 80’s vintage throwback. Set inside a video game world. players are literally transported inside an old arcade machine, left to traverse multiple levels and conquer several boss battles along the way – that is, if they hope to ever save the helpless Princess Marion from the dastardly Wolfix.
Scene triggered audio brings this classic world to life, adding energy to the battles (and maybe even a little surprise return to reality in the end.) Everything carries an iconic 8-bit motif, right down to the playing cards themselves, further activating the storyworld.
Insert Coin makes heavy use of Augmented Reality technology – and frankly does so in some of the strongest ways we’ve ever seen in an at home game. From searching cards to activating (and animating) perils along the course, the AR touch makes this experience feel so authentically video game.
Adding further, classic trope like extra lives and ability upgrades play out in real time – adding a logical sense of familiarity to anyone who grew up with an Atari or Nintendo. And there’s plenty of nods along the way as well – with everything from warp pipes to Tetris, Donkey Kong and Space Invader referenced in ways that do the IPs proud.
Perhaps the most unique mechanic of all is when Insert Coin truly embraces its inner console game, transporting players into its narrative in a way only it can for an out of this world finale. And don’t worry if you can’t beat a level on your own; there’s always a cheat code…
Sherlock Holmes – The Scarlet Thread of Murder
RATING: 3 Keys RESULT: Win REMAINING: 0:30
“There’s the scarlet thread of murder running through the colourless skein of life, and our duty is to unravel it, and isolate it, and expose every inch of it.” -Sherlock Holmes, A Study in Scarlet
The master of detectives has a peculiar case ahead of him. Can you help him find his way through this investigation?
Sherlock Holmes – The Scarlet Thread of Murder starts its investigation as one of Space Cowboy’s strongest games to date. Sleuths must follow in the footsteps of the world’s greatest detective himself, and solve puzzles exactly as Sherlock would. Inspecting evidence, searching the town’s directory for witnesses and interrogating suspects all play an active role, making this game feel entirely immersive and organic to its storyworld.
Puzzle cards combine to act as Sherlock’s tools of the trade, allowing investigators to search the scene of the crime in greater detail. It should be noted that – with any true detective work – there is a lot of evidence in this case – so sleuths should be prepared with a larger amount of desk space than an average Unlock! mission might require. Beyond the fairly large suspects sheet to unfold, there are a whole lot of active cards at any given time in this mission.
This at home game is anything but elementary, my dear Watson. And while at times, this is precisely our favorite characteristic of the investigation, in others, it leaves sleuths feeling as though they may have little to no direction, and worse, no means of getting a hint for it. (You can’t take a hint on a puzzle card or location that you haven’t deduced you need yet, after all.) Some moments of the investigation feel like a stretch, even for the great Sherlock Holmes – but with a bit of detective work (and a larger than usual number of hints taken) it’s still possible to recreate the timeline of The Scarlet Thread of Murder.
In Pursuit of the White Rabbit
RATING: 3 Keys RESULT: Win REMAINING: +2:26
This is the unfinished manuscript of an astonishing adventure I have in mind. It i entitled ‘Alice in Wonderland’. Please help me write an end to it… and help Alice out of the mess I so maliciously got her into…
Discover Wonderland and all its strange inhabitants. Hurry, Alice is running out of time!
Alice in Wonderland is easily one of the world’s best known public domain properties – yet it seems as though almost every time we fall down that rabbit hole, there’s a new and refreshing take awaiting us on the other side. Unlock! definitely embraces some of the most beloved moments of the timeless novel, from characters like the White Rabbit, Mad Hatter, the Queen of Hearts and her army of cards to the storyworld’s best known settings and iconic moments.
In Pursuit of the White Rabbit gives Alice all of her curiouser and curiouser abilities, a tart that makes her grow to a drink that makes her shrink, and even the ability to play a physical game of croquette. Unlock! finds clever ways to turn these moments into puzzle mechanics – allowing them to play out in logical ways that further both the gameflow and the storyworld.
A companion booklet acts as the unfinished manuscript of what would become Lewis Carroll’s greatest work, allowing decisions to be made that craft the outcome of Alice’s story. Cleverly, it also hides a most unique code required to start the game – before any cards are ever even drawn. From there, multiple “chapters” within set the stage for the adventures to unfold. Triggered background music changes from scene to scene, adding a wonderfully welcome additional layer of immersion.
The problem here is not just that white roses were planted by mistake, but that In Pursuit of the White Rabbit aims so high to be unique that at times, it becomes overly confusing. We found multiple moments where we weren’t certain if we were actually expected to draw particular cards, and, due to its non-conventional mechanic, didn’t really have a way to verify if those choices were right or wrong. In a sense, In Pursuit of the White Rabbit succeeds so well at being different that in certain instances, it becomes a bit of a hindrance to itself.
Those moments of illogical confusion aside – and they were big ones, make no mistake – the parts that work well about In Pursuit of the White Rabbit put it in contention for one of Unlock!’s best games. The story-driven nature is so immersive that it leaves players no choice but to think like a resident of Wonderland – especially when their own heads are at stake. Just be prepared to make use of more hints than usual, hope you make a few lucky guesses when you cannot and never forget Rule #42: The Queen always wins (whether or not she makes total sense.)
Upon first learning of the Unlock! product, we’re not afraid to admit that we thought there was no way a simple deck of cards could ever evoke the flavor of being in an actual, highly themed physical space. We’re happy to say that Space Cowboys has consistently proven us wrong.
Unlock! has become the one home series that we find ourselves constantly checking online in hopes of finding a new release – and the moment one is available, we order ours immediately. The Unlock! series has consistently proven to be a breath of fresh air in the home game setting – providing experiences that are always clever, fun, story driven and set in a wide variety of unique themes – with the one consistent constant being their ability to inspire the feeling of playing a genuine escape game without ever leaving the comfort of our own home.
In their fifth commercial release, Space Cowboys tries hard to do something genuinely different, even from their own format and when they succeed, they knock it out of the park. The problem becomes the moments when they miss. Each game within Unlock! Heroic Adventures absolutely has its own merits, and without question, there’s an enjoying challenge to be had. At times, however, it feels as though this set tries so hard to be different that it almost loses its own focus, making for moments in the games that are almost impossible to follow. Unlock! Heroic Adventures is as ambitious as a Greek god, but despite the good it achieves, it’s perhaps not quite ready for a spot atop Mount Olympus.
*Montu, Escape Authority’s VP, Dog Business™ and lead home game correspondent endorses the opinions found within this review.
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Venue: Space Cowboys
Location: At Home Game
Number of Games: 29 (3 + 1 Tutorial game included in this box)
GAME SPECIFIC INFORMATION:
Duration: 60 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): $39.95 (Amazon.com)