The Box
Curiosity is always at the forefront of a problem that needs to be solved. (Galileo Galilei)
The name might be a bit misleading, because this game is not just about a complex puzzle box. In fact the mysterious box is just something like an elaborate bonus task. The goal of the game is to leave the apartment within 90 minutes. But by opening the door you miss the opportunity to reveal the secret of „The Box“. In the end, thanks to Tanja’s persistence and her technical understanding (which we men seem to lack completely), we opened and solved the mysterious box, but unfortunately lost sight of our primary goal a bit. So curiosity has become our undoing, and in the end we were missing 3 minutes to leave the apartment in time.
But to the beginning…
During the briefing we were told that we were allowed to do everything in this setting that we would do at home. That was a helpful announcement, because otherwise we would certainly not have dared to do some things. We wake up in a strange place, without any memory of the last night. – No, this is not Hangover! – The doors are locked. It’s dark! In order to increase the level of difficulty for us, this special hurdle was build in.
The environment is very authentic, and we actually had the feeling to penetrate deep into someone’s privacy. Someone who likes puzzles, loves high-tech gadgets, likes to collect things and to play, drinks a bottle of beer or two (and seems to have other vices as well). And above all there is this ominous box that seems to cry “open me!“.
Surely no ordinary escape game! The owner, Nathan, who lives upstairs from the escape game, build it all himself in about 4 month full time – the clever puzzles, the partly well hidden technology, the box, the programming up to a computer game as well as elaborate game statistics, which he used to show us in the follow-up conversation exactly where we were fast or lost above average time.
I liked the box, which is advertised for 3-8 players. My recommendation would be to play with three or four players. Many thanks to Nathan for the warm welcome, the nice conversation and the after game beer.
