EXIT: The Game
Age: 10+
Players: 1-4
Play Time: 65-120 min
Difficulty: 2/5
It's been a few years since we played a tabletop escape room (Escape Room: The Game + some expansion packs), and since it's impossible to do a real-life escape room every week, we decided to try out another tabletop game. After some research, we decided on EXIT: The Game, and started off with one of its "easier" rooms, The Cursed Labyrinth, even though the dude at the store warned me that it's "really hard".
Well, the dude was right! Without giving too much away, The Cursed Labyrinth was a real challenge for me and the boys, though I suspect it has a lot to do with us being first-timers and not knowing "how" to play the game. In that sense, a 2 out of 5 difficulty level was quite apt, and we look forward to tackling some of the more difficult rooms in the future.
My first impression of the game is that it requires a lot of reading. There is a story that connects the puzzles together, but of course, it's not going to be very engaging, yet you can't skip anything because you might risk missing clues. The game contains an instruction booklet, a game booklet, cut-out cardboard pieces, riddle cards, clue cards and answer cards, which you use to solve a series of puzzles that give three-digit codes as solutions you input into a spinning cardboard wheel. It takes a while to get the hang of the process, but once you do, it's smooth sailing — for the most part.
The puzzles really require you to think, utilising not just logic but also memory and extreme attention to detail. Pretty much anything in or on the box can offer a clue or a solution, and we found this design both mind-blowing and frustrating at times. It can be easy to get stuck, in particular if the instructions are not fully clear, and since you can't just ask your GM for a clue, you just have to figure it out for yourself or utilise one of the three clue cards for that particular puzzle. There were a couple of times where we already did what the first two clue cards told us to do, but just couldn't figure out that final step. There were also multiple occasions where we could not believe what we actually had to do to figure out the puzzle. On the positive side, the puzzles are varied enough to not feel repetitive.
Given the "labyrinth" theme, there are mythological creatures, treasures and weapons involved in the puzzles, but I find the focus is always on the puzzles themselves as opposed to the story, so there never is a true sense of immersion.
Ultimately, The Cursed Labyrinth offers a fun time and can kill a couple of hours on a lazy weekend, but cannot really be considered a substitute to a real-life escape room. I enjoyed how ingenious some of the puzzles are and the overall design and artwork, though the extent of the fun and immersion is definitely limited.
RATING: 7/10
PROS and CONS of EXIT: The Game
+Clever puzzles that offer a strong challenge
+Ingenious design that requires you do use every part of the box
+Beautiful artwork
+Interactive - requires using pencils, rulers, scissors, and your hands
–Requires a lot of reading
–Game can only be played once (as you may have to destroy certain parts)
–Puzzles can be frustrating, especially for the inexperienced
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