Escape Adventures
05 February 2021
at home
3.5 out of 5.0 stars
Unlock Escape Adventures is another game in the Unlock series by Space Cowboys or more accurately, the first game in the series! Game play happens through a series of cards and an interactive app, each story takes about an hour and can be played with up to six players. Escape Adventures includes three stories, The Formula, Squeek & Sausage, and The Island of doctor Goorse.
First up, The Formula. In this story, you are tasked with inspecting the laboratory of Dr. Hoffmann, a genius chemist who has been working on a truth serum. He has gone missing and you must find out what happened to him and his work. Difficulty level wise this one was quite easy, but came with a large variety of puzzles and riddles that all felt logical and built upon one another. A very linear story that held a few little surprises.
In Squeek & Sausage you must face your “old enemy” Professor Noside. To sabotage his plans, you must enter his lair and outwit his traps to save the world. The story is very cute and has some really great puzzle elements! Very logical and linear, this is definitely a great beginners game, but might lack in challenging tasks for more experienced players.
The Island of doctor Goorse is a very different beast. This one is to be played with at least two players or groups, who start off playing individually. Archibald Goorse is an eccentric billionaire who collects archaeological rarities. You are invited to his island, but your aircraft got caught in a storm and crashes in the middle of the jungle. Your two groups are separated and must now find their way to each other and off this island. At first both teams must work separately to reinstate communication. Once that has happened, you can work together to finish the story.
This one is definitely more difficult, but also has some puzzles that I found a bit obtuse and not as logical as the other ones. Still, a fun story to discover and many things to do!
Overall, I can see how the Unlock series has evolved over time and found its feet more with later boxes. Escape Adventures is still a good game to get started with if you’ve never played any escape game boxes as it seems good for beginners.