Think Fun Escape the Room Secret of Dr. Gravely's Retreat - An Escape Room Experience in a Box For Age 13 and Up

Love, love, loved ThinkFun's Escape Game! We were pleasantly surprised at how well this game was organized and put together. The flow of the game, the quality of the pieces and the thought put into each puzzle were above expectation. The story line was interesting and the instructions were well presented and easily understood. All puzzles and game pieces related well to the theme helping players to invest further into the overall mission. Puzzles were challenging but solvable. We really did feel as though we were trapped in a room and solving our way out. It was nice to have the additional option of clues easily accessible on line, which added to the real life "feel" of a traditional escape room. We also appreciated the additional instructions for repacking the game for future play. The 2 hour timeline recommended for 3 people was perfect. We solved well before the deadline. We found it helpful to assign roles to each player before beginning play. With three people we had a storyteller/host, lock/wheel master and store man responsible for game piece manipulation. We felt this game was perfect for 3-5 people. A traditional escape game averages $25/person. Although this game is one time play, at $29 it offered great bang for the buck providing an opportunity to explore the world of escape games without breaking the bank. Extremely happy with our purchase and highly recommend.

My family loves escape rooms, we have done many. We decided to give a couple of the escape room games a go. They are play once and optionally pass it on. I figured for the price it was like going to see a movie, but something we could do together. The game play was very linear, you could really only work on 1 or 2 puzzles at a time. That said, my family liked this better than all scattering to work on different puzzles like the other one we played. We felt we had to work more together. The puzzles were challenging and fun but not real hard, probably intermediate level. The game recommend 2 hours for 4 people, but we finished in 1 hour. One thing we really liked in the game is the solution wheel, it basically lets you confirm your answer before you move on to next step. The game says it is for up to 8 people but more than 4 with the linear play of puzzles would be hard. Another big plus is the online material. It was cool that they had music play lists to set the mood. The hint guide was nice and easy to use. We used it once. I like that you can get partial hints. And they had a very nice online guide for repacking if you do want to pass the game on. We liked the game enough I bought the other two from this publisher. Would definitely recommend for up to 4 players.

c'est super comme jeu. les commentaires que j'ai lu disaient que c'était assez facile. Pour nous c'etait pas si simple. On a réussi à le faire mais pas en 90 mins. Il faut quand meme réflechir en groupe chacun donne ses idées. Je le recommande !

We tried the Cursed Dollhouse game and really loved it. At first, I balked at the extra price, but now I understand why it’s pricier than Dr Gravely’s Retreat and Stargazer Manor. It’s an actual buildable dollhouse, and you explore rooms and discover clues one room at a time. There are a lot of props, too, which adds to your set of clues and to the experience. We’ve played Dr Gravely’s Retreat before and liked it, but felt it was pretty easy. This one is a bit harder; we had to use our brains, but didn’t really get stuck too much. This game has a lot more atmosphere, and a good balance between storyline and puzzling. We spent about 4 hours with two people, and didn’t use their hint system. I wish they’d make another! I was so sorry when it was done. Definitely worth the price. EDIT: We played Stargazer’s Manor a few weeks later. Having heard it was easy, we gave it to our kids (ages 5 & 9). They finished it without help from us in 70 minutes. Very fun and kid-friendly, but quite easy.

I was impressed with the quality of the game and the number of puzzles. A lot of entertainment is packed into one box. Good value for the money considering the per person price for real escape rooms. We played with 3 people and solved the game within the time frame with one online hint. The game can be re-assembled and re-used by someone else. A good re-gift!