The Curious Elevator Of Mr. Hincks
01 January 2022
at home
5.0 out of 5.0 stars
I got The Curious Elevator Of Mr. Hincks in a puzzle game trade a few months ago, and finally tackled it on the first day of this year! The game I played is still the older edition that came in an envelope rather than a box like the newer editions, and some of the items were pre-used but perfectly usable.
The premise of the game is that Mr. Hincks is a bit of an eccentric inventor, you know the type, and has created a number of mysterious puzzles that grant access to different floors in his Hincks Tower. To solve the puzzles, we must use physical items provided in the game, as well as digital items found on the website. Each puzzle yields a password that grants access to a new floor of the building, with more puzzles to be solved.
I like the integration of online and “real world” materials, this always makes games a little more dynamic and fun. There could have been a bit more pizazz to the online elements, but they’re perfectly usable and really help with figuring out the puzzles. This game is also played without a timer and with free hints! Many games give you penalties for using hints, but this one is for the fun of the game which I personally think is great! We can use as many hints as we like, though I always try to figure things out without using hints first.
The only little niggle I’d have is that the physical materials are all presented in one batch and players must figure out which ones belong to which puzzle, I personally prefer games that group their materials and only give you access to them once you’ve unlocked that level. Which would be quite easy with this one as each floor could have its own envelope. Despite that, it’s a super fun game to play and I already ordered the follow-up game and a few gazettes to play as soon as they arrive!