The Bach
We have received a very strange message from our Granny. She seems very upset because her invention, which was obviously very important in the history of NZ, is now suddenly being sold by the Aussies as their own. Now she wants us to go into her Kiwiana bach (a beach house) to set the record straight and get the proof that this invention is indeed hers. Since our Granny is of course very clever – otherwise she would not be our grandma – she has secured this proof by numerous traps and puzzles to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands.
What a lovely story! Okay, I must admit, I have never been to a classic Kiwiana, but our grandma’s is decorated much like I would imagine an old lady’s beach house. Antiqued furniture, a lot of old stuff, different framed pictures on the walls. There is harmonious music playing in the background, which does not disturb. If the music is transmitted directly from the room via the Game Master’s smartphone, Remote Escapes unfortunately often only creates an annoying cacophony for the players, which constantly varies in volume depending on where the avatar is in the room or in which direction he is holding his cell phone. But that was not the case here.
There is no inventory! This is also not necessary, because the picture is quite good, and the puzzles and tasks are suitable for remote play. There were 1-2 pints where the camera had some problems to focus, but maybe just the writing was a bit faded. But then our friendly Game Master Kelly was always able to help us. He did a good job and never drew our attention to anything through his camera work.
There are plenty of padlocks in the Kiwiana, which is quite legitimate in such a setting. I like padlocks! Beside many varied, thematic, and logical puzzles there are also some mechanical components and tasks, which would surely be more fun on site, but it also worked well via conference call. I found especially one transition during the game pretty cool. I liked the game a lot, also because it was a refreshingly new topic. We were happy to be able to convey the good news to our Granny that we had found the well-hidden evidence of her invention and made it safe. It took us 39 minutes.
