Escape Room The Game – 2 Player Incarceration Edition with 2 Games | Solve The Mystery Board Game for Adults and Teens

Very good games! I wanted to introduce escape games and escape rooms to my family and this was a good option. Some puzzles didn’t make much sense but it was a fun time. I would say these games can be played with up to 4 people

My wife and I play the regular games by ourselves and thoroughly enjoy them. When I saw a 2-player edition available, OF COURSE I jumped at the opportunity and purchased it, naively thinking it would be easier... or not necessarily easier but, I don't know, "something" different and unique. Honestly though, other than the format, I really didn't see much difference between the 2-player edition and the regular games. There are still three parts to each game, each part still requires a 4-key code to be entered, and the order of the keys still needs to be determined; or in other words, you're still putting in the exact same amount of effort and solving the same amount of puzzles, and they're not dumbed down in any way. And hey, I'm just fine with that. I wouldn't want it any other way. However, I really don't see what makes this edition more suited to two players. And I think that's the kicker; i.e. it's not "more suited" to two players as much as it is "restricted" to two players. The _format_ in which the games are presented doesn't lend itself well to more than two players because pretty much the players need to be sitting side-by-side. In short, it's not the games that changed, but the ability to share game materials around the table. The games are manufactured in, for lack of a better description, a newspaper or map type format. Lower production costs, perhaps? Regardless, my wife and I enjoyed these. Kidnapped (introductory game) This wasn't terribly bad for an introductory tutorial. However, if you haven't played at least one of the base sets before, I imagine you'd be pretty lost at the start; so I can see why a lot of reviewers say they felt lost, that they didn't know where to begin, that it makes no sense to them, they can't finish, and ultimately never attempt to play the real games. That kind of defeats the purpose of a tutorial game. What makes things worse is, when I read the Walkthrough a few days later, the explanation reads a whole lot more into the clues than my wife and I did (and presumably, by extension, what any normal person would). It didn't really affect the game--after all, my wife and I finished it pretty quickly--but it's like, "Wow, where did that come from?!" Anyway, long story short, this was an adequate tutorial, but not really tailored to true beginners. I suspect this was more about familiarizing experienced players to the 2-player format. [3 stars] Prison Island (Level 3) We didn't enjoy this game as much as we should have... and we have no one to blame but ourselves (me, in particular). Part 2 was extremely difficult, dragged on forever, and left us with tons of questions. After we finally solved the puzzle and started clearing the table to begin Part 3, we discovered why Part 2 was so difficult. Apparently, when I was punching out the materials for Part 2, I put one of the objects to the side while I punched out the others. Somehow it got lost in the shuffle; we never examined the object, and it had all the information we had been missing on it. I felt about 1" tall! Okay, stupidity aside and looking at the game in an entirely new perspective now, this one was pretty clever. Anyone with an introductory computer class under their belt should be able to whip through Part 1. Part 2 required the most thought (even with all the information available), but is readily doable. Part 3 kind of stretched the logic a little bit (if you look at it from a real-life perspective), but is fairly easy when restricted to only the game materials; or in other words, the authors take certain things for granted without actually conveying those things to the players during the game. Thus, you kind of have to read between the lines a little bit. Overall, though, this was a good game. [4 stars] Asylum (Level 3.5) We liked this game. Admittedly, the story line was subpar, but it was still somewhat amusing. Some of the puzzles required a lot of thought (Part 2), but they can be solved if you just keep chipping away at them. There was one puzzle in Part 1 that my wife and I had a lot of trouble with and had to resort to the answer given on a hint card. Upon reading the Walkthrough afterward, it was a clear case of overthinking the problem on our part. Regardless, when the game was over, we both looked at each other and said (in a good way), "That was an interesting game." Apart from our own overthinking--which isn't the game's fault (though perhaps the clues/hints could have been more concrete)--we enjoyed this one a lot; certainly more so than Prison Island. [4 stars] As you can tell from the above critiques, my wife and I weren't performing our best during these games. Nevertheless, we both had an enjoyable time with them. Obviously we're a little disappointed (in ourselves) since you only get one chance to play these before you know the answers and can't play them again, but they were still fun to play and we had a great time together. That's what it's all about, right? [Update 1/7/2023] My wife and I played the new set containing Dagger of the Sultan and Viking Funeral. This is a really good two-game set. Both games were really fun and entertaining... and challenging. Dagger of the Sultan (Level 2.5) This game had a good mix of puzzles, all of which required a fair amount of logic to solve. In fact, a good percentage of the puzzles -were- logic puzzles, though at least one of them required a bit of trial and error with it. The puzzles were straightforward--no giant leaps or weird connections--and doable with thought, though one or two of them tested your bounds of patience due to their intricacies. All in all, this was a really good game. [4 stars] Viking Funeral (Level 3.5) Okay, at level 3.5 it goes without saying that this one is a bit on the challenging side... but it is a FANTASTIC game! Again, it contains a number of logic puzzles, plus a couple puzzles with a unique approach to them that I don't believe have ever been done before in the Escape Room The Game series. I mean, sure, you're limited to the same six keys, but how you got there was novel at times. Part 1 is the most difficult, and most likely the reason it got the 3.5 difficulty rating. Half the battle here is figuring out what they were going for; i.e. as I said, some of these puzzles were unique, plus there was a lot of dialog to sift through for important clues. Part 3 had a couple of puzzles that required some out-of-the-box thinking and were rather clever. Everything--in all three parts--is once again straightforward. My wife and I really liked this game, and I personally think it is one of the better ones in the entire series. The only downside to Viking Funeral is that it is the one and only game (thus far) in the Escape Room The Game series where one of the non-replaceable items is ruined, making it a one-time-use-only game that can't be passed on to family/friends or a local thrift shop. I mean, it's not _completely_ destroyed, but it is certainly degraded in quality. [4.5 stars] [Update 7/10/2023] And now my wife and I have played the Horror edition. These are quite the challenge... The Little Girl has a difficulty level of 3.5 and House by the Lake is 4. Please keep in mind that this is a "horror" edition. The games are creepy and unsuitable for youngsters. Pay attention to the recommended age group (16+). Bloody Mary (introductory game): A decent game to get you familiar with what's to come, both in terms of game mechanics and the macabre story lines. The only bad thing about this game was the toilet paper puzzle. That one was a bit over the top, especially for an intro game. [3.5 stars] The Little Girl (Level 3.5) All I can say is divide and conquer, at least in Part 1. There's a lot of detail work in Part 1; but if you just keep plugging away at it, every puzzle you solve contributes to the final code. The other two parts weren't as demanding, but still challenging. I still don't understand the answer to one of the puzzles in Part 2--something about our playing area and/or the playing materials prevents me from seeing colors properly--but fortunately my wife doesn't suffer from the same problem. [4 stars] House By The Lake (Level 4) This one was difficult. Half the battle was trying to figure out how to go from the clues to the actual puzzle solutions. You either need unusual insight, or a hint. In our case, we needed a hint on multiple occasions to nudge us in the right direction; but once you have an idea what that direction is, deducing the solution is straightforward, though often involves drudgery work to get there. Again, just keep plugging away at it. I liked this game. It reminded me of an old (I believe) "Night Gallery" episode from back in my teen years. [4.5 stars... even though we needed a couple hints to nudge us, the logic was there. If you're good at thinking (way) outside the box, you probably won't need any help.] Again, I have to warn you, none of the games in the horror edition, and especially House By The Lake, are suitable for young children. I don't think what I'm about to say qualifies as a spoiler, but I'm going to share with you some of the topics involved in these stories. Stop reading *RIGHT NOW* if you want to be "surprised" when you actually play the games. In the horror edition, you've got demonic possessions, exorcisms, serial killers (& copycats), interacting with dead girls, embalming of live people, cannibalism, and severed limbs/fingers; and the accompanying images on the playing materials are just as gruesome.

Really hard but a lot of fun!

Pretty tough but not necessarily in a good way. It was a little confusing to get through. I really enjoy the Exit games over this.

Game box arrived early, New condition, as advertised. There was a pleasant and unexpected surprise, along with the 2 games that were advertised there was a 3rd game that was an introductory 15 minute game in the box. My mom (58) had some trouble understanding how the game worked, but we had fun playing together. I will say that these games are timed, and some people who have played timed games can experience anxiety, fear, and frustration due to the timer. So if that could negatively affect you or your gaming buddies please keep that in mind.

My husband and I play escape room games all of the time and for the life of us couldn’t figure these out. The hints are horrible and just tell you the answer instead of explaining how you get there to guide you. It’s kept me from buying any other games by this maker. Did not like or enjoy. We didn’t even finish because we were so frustrated with it.

If you can't get to an actual escape room, this works in a pinch. Similar clues, and we were impressed with how it was all put together. The two-player boards are small, though. Go with the 3+ boards, no matter how many ppl are playing. You could play on your own if you wanted to!

Bought this as a gift for my son for Christmas. He absolutely loves it! I like that it's a game where people must work together to solve/win rather than against each other. We are the only 2 that regularly play games in our house, so this was perfect for us opposed to the regular version which requires 3 or more players. Only drawbacks are that it can only be played once (unless you're a larger family/group that all play games; then you could play in groups of 2 at different times) and that this is the only one currently available for just 2 players.