Escape Mail Episode 2 Review!

Back in December we received & reviewed the first episode of Escape Mail. If you didn't have the chance to catch that review, Escape Mail is an escape room in an envelope. There are twelve different episodes to complete, you are able to sign up to get one a month or they have an option where you can get several or even all of them in one go instead of waiting for the next episode to arrive. This month we received the second episode & I will be sharing a short review on it. The subscription is $14.75 per episode or you can bundle and buy them at once for $12.50 each. 

In the first episode it had a map included & had mentioned that there was a missing piece. I wasn't sure if that meant to hold onto the game pieces or not, but I did hold onto them. However, we didn't need them for the second episode. Aside from a pair of scissors, a phone with Wi-Fi & a pen/paper everything you need can be found in the envelope. The amount of time this takes will depend on how well your detective skills are. If you end up getting stuck, they do have some small hints that can get you back on track & if you want music playing while you are figuring everything out, they have a QR code for a customized play list that fits with the episode. We do not really pay attention to anything other than figuring out the clues, so we do not have anything playing during our sessions. 

Each episode is engaging & really pushes you to think about each piece included in the envelope and how they might connect. The piece you need to start will have a small riddle included on it that will give you the clue to where to start next. During this episode there was only one puzzle we got a little stuck on, so we peeked at the clue & realized we had done the puzzle correctly we were just looking at the answer in the wrong way. Otherwise, we just needed to take a moment to think about how the clues intertwine with each other & how they could be used to solve a puzzle. 

As this is something that is meant to be completed by yourself or with a group of friends/family, I won't go into detail about any specific puzzle, so I won't accidently giveaway the answer or how to complete it. I will say that some of these puzzles make you think outside of the box & they are a lot of fun to complete. My family and I have really enjoyed both episodes so far & think this would make a fun monthly game night if you do the twelve-month subscription. Age wise it is recommended for ages 10+ and I think that is pretty accurate, due to the complexity level of some of the clues. Younger children might find it too difficult or too boring as they can't really participate in helping solve the puzzles. My son is right at the age limit of ten, he enjoys helping out with the puzzles and thinking of ways they need to be solved. We are looking forward to seeing what the other episodes have in store! I think they did a fantastic job at putting these envelopes together & hope they come out with some other story lines in the future as well. 

✉ Does this sound like a Mystery Escape you'd enjoy subscribing to? What stands out to you the most about this subscription?

Disclaimer- Escape Mail provided Episode one for this review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.

Escape Mail Episode 1 Review!

 

If you enjoy solving mysteries & completing puzzles then Escape Mail may be just the thing you are looking for. Escape Mail is a fun escape room in an envelope! Season one of the series currently has twelve different envelopes to complete, you can buy them one at a time or subscribe to them all at once. They are $14.75 per episode or you can bundle and buy them at once for $12.50 each. If you aren't a big mystery solver yourself, but know someone who is, I think this would make a wonderful holiday gift. 

I received episode one to complete with my family & we had a good time trying to solve everything in this episode. Each episode will take you one to two hours to complete & can be played with one to four players ages ten and older. You'll have everything you need in the envelope aside from one or two things that you should have around your house. We needed to grab a pair of scissors, a roll of tape & our cell phone in order to get started on solving clues. I like that they had a little card that included a play list with songs that went with this episode, it was nice to have in the background. 

There will be a QR code to scan which will bring up a short introduction video on their website. This video will go over the basics of what you will need (the items mentioned above) & give you a small clue of where to start your adventure. If you ever get stuck & need a small hint there is another QR code which will allow you to take a small peek at any spot you feel like you can't get past. However you may not need that QR code depending on your detective skills. 

We have done escape room boxes in the past that were kind of meh, they lead to a little bickering and seemed to just drag along. That wasn't the case with Escape Mail, I actually enjoyed it quite a bit & everything seemed to move along at a steady pace. Some of the clues took a little bit to figure out however we eventually managed to combine our ideas & thoughts and figure out the clues. The only thing that bugged us slightly was that the all the S's on one of the papers all looked like plus signs which threw us off a little when it came to that particular part of the game. I think this episode was set up wonderfully, I liked the different assortment of puzzles types. It was fun brainstorming with my family to work on one puzzle to lead us to the next clue. I also like that this doesn't have to be completely at home, you can take it with on a trip to complete in your hotel in your down time or even have a picnic at the park on a nice day while completing these puzzles. 

I want to provide you with a more in-depth details about some of the fun activities in this game, but I also do not want to give away any game clues. We had a great time solving this first mission & we are excited and want to know what happens next. If you are a little impatient & do not want to wait for a monthly envelope to arrive you can purchase one of the bundles that sends all of them at once. 

✉ Does this sound like a Mystery Escape you'd enjoy subscribing to? What stands out to you the most about this subscription?

Disclaimer- Escape Mail provided Episode one for this review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.

2400 Crime Solving in the Future!

 

2400 is the third game in the Chronicles of Crime the Millennium series, it is a mystery murder/crime solving game set place in a futuristic time. This is a part physical card game along side a digital app that helps you navigate crime scenes, investigate suspects and look at evidence. The app is set up to allow you to play on your own or with a group of crime solvers. The Chronicles of Crime series along with many other exciting games is sold by Lucky Duck Games. 

In this game you will play as a character known as Kalia (shown on the front of the cover & the image above). She is a former officer of the Elite BelCor Watchmen who left to become a detective on her own terms. This is set in a futuristic time so through out some of the story lines you will receive different electronical devices that will help you solve the crime, these devices are placed onto her player card above. She also has a cybernetic raven who is a companion that helps search a data base on information on some of the people & clue cards you will scan during the game.

Each game in this series typically has four story lines/games to play along with a tutorial showing you how the game is played. For your first time around it is helpful to do the tutorial so you can get a hang of the game & see how everything works. Even if you've played one of the other Chronicles of Crime games, I suggest doing the tutorial anyways. It may be a shorter version of an actual play through, but it gives you an additional crime to solve which is nice. Depending on how good your crime solving skills are, how quickly you can come to conclusions and work out how clues connect to one another a game can last anywhere from half an hour to about an hour and a half. 

When using the app I highly recommend playing this in a well lit area, if there is too much of a shadow on the QR code it tends to not want to scan it right away. We usually play at the kitchen table with the window open or in the living room under the lights. One of my favorite features of this game is the crime scene investigation mode, you can use VR glasses or select "No glasses" & it will let you view it on your phone. The crime scene investigation mode allows you to take a 360 degree view of the room or area you are investigating simply by moving your phone around the room as if you are viewing everything in person. You can view the floor, all the walls & even the ceiling are beautifully animated. While one person is viewing the room they will state out loud what they see in the scene, during which time the other players will be looking through a deck of clue cards to pick out which go with the scene to be scanned & investigated. 

Scanning the clues you found at the scene will lead you to other suspects, areas & more clues to be found to complete the goal. I would say about half of the game is pretty straight forward, the other half you'll really need to think about how to connect clues to suspects, how to get people to talk & where to go next location wise. Each time you scan a new location, ask suspects about clues, ect. it adds minutes to an in game time, certain activities such as traveling will add more time to your total. Your in game time can affect your total score at the end if you go over the given amount of time, for example one story might give you three days to complete the search while another only gives you twenty-four hours. However your out of game time does not add into the in game total & time is only added to it with each scan you do, so you are able to take time to talk & debate where to go next, what to scan, talk through the clues, etc. If you wish to play solo there is an option in the app that will let you search the crime scenes as a solo player to make it easier to look through the clue stack at the same time. 

I personally love the Chronicles of Crime games, I like the mystery & looking for clues. The game is recommended for ages 12+ as some scenes might contain blood or a story might contain sexual references, the app will let you know which have this type of content. Is this a family friendly game? This is completely up to the parent! If a parent is reading the story as you progress through the game it is easy to leave out certain details without affecting the game. My nine year old doesn't usually play this with us as some of the clues can be a little difficult to piece together at times so he finds the game boring, my thirteen year old likes the game a bit more & enjoys helping out figuring out where the clues lead. The only negative thing about this set is I wish it came with a few more stories so I had more game to play as once you finish all four stories you already have the answers & can't really play it a second time. The good news is though that if you don't want to keep it in your collection after completing everything, you can pass it onto a friend or loved one to play. You can buy this game on their website for $29.99, you can also find some of their games on Amazon & in stores.  

Disclaimer- The products mentioned above were provided by Lucky Duck Games for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.

Escape the room at home with Escape Notice Games.

 

Have you ever wanted to do a Escape the room, but either didn't have enough people to go do it or weren't sure how well you would do? You can now have an escape the room experience at home thanks to Escape Notice Games. They started their company during the pandemic as a way to help people have some fun at home while keeping their minds engaged, they have a 100% female staff that creates and puts together these kits by hand to ensure that everything is just right. They currently sell two different themed games and a party pack for their Stolen at Sea escape box. They are recommended for ages 14 & above, we played this with just the four of us - my husband, my two children ages eight and twelve and myself.

Today I will be covering their Stolen At Sea escape the room box along with the party pack that is available for it. The main game box can be purchased for $44.95 and the party pack is an additional $19.95, it may sound like a little bit of a steep price for a game you can only play once however; 1.) You can play with up to six people, if you were to take that many people to an actual escape room you'd be paying 2-3x that price. 2.) You may only be able to play this once, because once you are done you already know the outcome, but the game is re-usable by others. They include a set of instructions of how to reset everything and it has a spot inside for different teams to write their scores so you can pass this game onto friends or family to play too. 

The Party pack contains six different characters that each come with a backstory card and some kind of trinket that goes with the character. This party pack is great for anyone who likes to roleplay or would like to roleplay while playing this game, instead of picking our characters we decided to just reach our hand in the bag and see what fate dealt us. I ended up being Professor Oliver Edwards, whose character comes with a bowtie to wear. His character card shows he had a mustache, so before we started playing I snuck into the bathroom and drew on a fake mustache using some of my eye liner. I was laughing so hard it came out a little crooked, but it gave my family a good laugh too. 

Now let's dive into the actual box itself, it has way more packed into it than I had expected it too. All of the materials provided in the box are high quality, from an actual book being used to the thick cotton bags with real locks everything looked fantastic. We laid everything we needed for the game out on the table and kept the un-needed items in the box until the end which included the re-set instructions and selfie signs. 

Their home page describes this as a "Challenging mysteries delivered" and boy they weren't wrong. Some of the puzzles included in this took a few minutes to figure out, while others were more complex and really made you have to stop and think about the answer without trying to rush through it otherwise you might end up with the wrong answer. Getting stuck on a riddle can be trouble some as the game has a sixty minute time limit for you to complete it in, of course depending on how you want to play you can always take your time and just have some fun playing a detective. The goal in the game is to figure out nine different riddles that each give you one number once solved, these numbers open up three different bags that have locks on them. Once the third locked bag is open, you have won the game. 

It is fun trying to figure out the different puzzles, but to help everyone get involved I might have a specific person or set of people figure out one puzzle while someone else works on the next step. Otherwise you might have one or two people just sitting there not doing much if they are stumped on the current riddle trying to be solved. Both our kids are smarty pants and play advanced table top games with us so they themselves each helped solve a riddle, but then there were several even my husband and I were stumped on so the kids just kind of sat and waited for us to figure it out. I think it would be awesome if they could also come up with a game for families with younger children who would like to do an escape the room type game as well, but are too young to take to an escape the room.

You'll need a range of different skills to figure out the clues in this game, some of them involve decoding messages, some are math problems and others are simply trying to fill in some blank answers to figure out where the passengers were to get the answer you are looking for to get the locks open.

If you get to the point where you are beyond stuck and have no clue how to move forward they have a set of "M16 Intelligence" cards that give you hints to help guide you through the game if needed. Not going to lie, we used them once or twice when we didn't see a clear direction of what step needed to be completed next. After our game was finished and we got the last bag open, getting everything re-set and back to how it was when we started was quick and simple! The game comes with a dry erase marker and the papers you need to write on are laminated and can be wiped clean, which means everything still looks brand new and it is perfect for re-gifting. 

You can tell this team of intelligent ladies put a lot of time, thought and effort into creating these games from the clues to each character and the actual materials included in the sets. Their customer service is quick and friendly, we had a small issue with the box we had received and they solved the problem right away. I look forward to seeing what else they come up with.

What is a theme you'd love to see be featured in a game like this? 

Disclaimer- Escape Notice Games provided a the items mentioned above for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.

Spooky Goods from Creepy Crate!

Do you love Halloween and all things spooky? Enjoy watching horror movies and reading about cold cases and unsolved mysteries? The Creepy Crate Subscription box is perfect for you. I love all of these things too and the Creepy Crate offers all of this rolled up an exciting subscription box that ships out quarterly. Each box comes with one book along with several other goodies that can range from pins to house hold collectables. 

This crate is a great way to find new and interesting books, along with receiving some fun items from your favorite films along with learning about new horror films you may not know about. You can purchase a three box subscription for $120 or a Six box Subscription for $240. If you prefer to receive one box at a time they can be purchased for $40. The average retail value for each box they put together is $90, every box comes with a guarantee of getting one book plus 4-5 other goodies with it. (One of the items from this box is missing from the photo above).

The book included in the crate this time around is a hard copy of "The Case of the Murderous Dr Cream" or you could have received the other book of the month "The Murders That Made Us". Here is a short summary about the book; "The chilling true crime story of the Victorian era’s deadliest doctor “When a doctor does go wrong, he is the first of criminals,” Sherlock Holmes observed during one of his most puzzling murder investigations". Subscribers also received an email with a code to redeem a E-copy of the book "The Wanting".

One of my favorite goodies included in these boxes are the collectable pins! I have a small collection of pins I've been meaning to put on a cork board I have and I love getting new pins that suit my interests and likes. The pin included in this crate is inspired by the movie "Saw" which is a movie series I do enjoy and we usually watch them all during October. 

Next up is a set of slasher playing cards. I like the font and kind of messy ink design they went with for the cards and I look forward to using these for our next game of cards. It is always nice to have an extra set on hand for camping trips and car trips for when we get bored. 

This Good Guy Chucky Beach Ball will be fun to play with in the pool and toss around the yard with the kids. He almost looks sweet in this photo, but we all know he is anything but. The beach ball is a nice size and I like the sharp design they went with for his photo along with the colors of the beach ball. It was easy to fill with air and so far it seems like it will least at least a few summers. 

I am not going to lie this is one that I didn't recognize right away. It is a Camp Arawak draw string bag, I had to look it up and found it was from the 1983 film Sleepaway Camp. This movie came out several years before I was born, and I have never seen it or heard of it so this gives me an opportunity to find a new movie that I may add to my collection. 

Last but not least is this "Pieces" jigsaw puzzle that was included in the box. Due to the shape of the tube it had rolled off of my bed when I was taking photos and I didn't notice. The puzzle pieces are pretty small, but it seems like it would be a fun puzzle to put together. 

Depending on your personal preferences of what you like getting in mystery boxes the Creepy Crate may be a hit or miss for you if you aren't into knick knacks and collectables. I personally think the crates are a lot of fun to receive, they add a little bit of Halloween to my life through out the year. Being my favorite holiday I am always happy to get something spooky in the off seasons. If I do receive something I won't keep I have plenty of spooky lovers that I know and can pass the items onto so it is a win win for me. 

Disclaimer- Creepy Crate provided a box for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.

MysteryBeautyBag.com Reivew!

****This was not a paid post and my honest opinion was used. The opinions are solely my own and may vary from others.The products mentioned below have been provided by MysteryBeautyBag.com for the review free of charge.****

Subscription box companies can never be sure the exact number of subscriptions they will get each month, so to prevent themselves from not having enough of each product to go into the box it only makes sense that they would buy in bulk. So what do subscription boxes do with all of their leftover goods? One of the companies I've reviewed in the past called TomBoxes decided to start a small sub single box service where they would provide boxes with all of the left over products from their main website. Each box comes with 10 makeup or beauty products that range in price from $5 in value up to $21-$30 in value for just $19 a box.





The box I received came with a Manna Kadar bronzer ($21 value), 24k Gold-plated tweezers ($12) value, Beauty Solutions anti-wrinkle retinol serum ($9 value), A blue retractable kabuki brush ($9 value), Palladio seashell baked eye shadow trio ($8 value) and five grab-bag beauty items which included three lip products, a bath salt bag and a eye liner. Everything was packaged nicely so nothing broke while in transit which was surprising because of the bronzer and blush which are both breakable. For $19 for a single box I would say this is a pretty good deal, over all I am very happy with the selection of products I received and think they added a nice range of products. They also offer an 'upgrade' where they will include three mystery jewelry items for an additional $5. They have a promotion on their page where you can share their site in order to get your box for only $9.50! So if you are on a budget but enjoy testing out new makeup this box is perfect for you.

Mantry Review!

****This was not a paid post and my honest opinion was used. The opinions are solely my own and may vary from others. The products mentioned below have been provided by Mantry for the review free of charge.****

My fiance gets just as curious about what is in the packages that arrive to our home as I do, and he does get a little bummed out when I open it and he sees it is just makeup,toys or something that isn't too guy friendly. Let's face it, who doesn't like getting mail especially when the package is a surprise so you can imagine how happy he was when I told him we were getting the July box from Mantry for a review. Women have makeup subscription boxes and more so why can't the guys have some fun subscription boxes too? Mantry is a manly subscription box that shows up at your door monthly, with editorial stories and recipes that any guy can master with the products included in the box.





The package arrived in the evening when I was giving our son a bath, I heard the UPS guy knock and my fiance answered the door and he instantly became excited when he realized what it was. I had to tell him to wait to open it until our son was out of the bath so I could take some photos while he opened it. Each month the Mantry items arrive in a neat wooden crate and everything is packed to perfection so that nothing breaks, I like the crate because it can be reused to store things in the garage, broken down for a bon fire, or it can be used for a number of other things. Inside of the package we found Bittermilk - Bourbon barrel old fashioned, Chef's cut Jerky - Chipotle cracked pepper jerky, Vermont smoke & cure smoked pepperoni, Halfpops chipotle barbecue halfpops, Skillet Street food bacon jam and Southern Soul BBQ Hot Georgia soul sauce. As with any subscription of there is no guarantee you will love every single item that comes in the box, my fiance was very excited about all the items aside from the Bittermilk.





The jerky was the first thing to disappear from the box because my fiance loves almost everything having to do with Chipotle and we are both jerky lovers so he ate this right away. The Smoked pepperoni is also pretty good it has a rich flavor that normal store bought pepperoni doesn't offer, we used this to make a BBQ pepperoni and chicken pizza and we also ate some on crackers. The halfpops were also pretty good they are a cross between popcorn and corn nuts, they were crunchy and offered a mouth full of flavor, I would be interesting in seeing what other flavors they sell. We haven't used the other products as of yet but we plan on using them soon. The two recipes they featured with this box are a Smoked Pepperoni, Mozza & Basil grilled cheese and a Pulled pork with bacon jam and sliced apple sandwich that use products in this specific crate. If you want to try out the recipes yourself they are available on their website. What did we do with the wooden box? Our daughter asked to use it as a pet bed for her stuffed animals so we let her keep in after removing the two large staples that hold the lid onto the crate. The crates are $75 a month plus $10 for shipping and handling, it includes Six full sized artisan food products all handmade in the USA.

Cover Your Hair Giveaway & Review

****This was not a paid post and my honest opinion was used. The opinions are solely my own and may vary from others.Products were Provided by Coveryourhair for the Review & Giveaway free of charge****

 Aside from occasionally wearing a beret I don't like wearing hair accessories but when I am in the mood to buy something cute for my hair I enjoy browsing through Coveryourhair.com it is where I received my favorite beret from. One of my favorite site features is that you can search their products by color! For a product review I received their Black Beautiful Cabbie with Diamond Buckle. The hat arrived in a timely manner & is quite adorable! Normally I have to buy smaller hats but this was a little snug on me which I like because I know it won't blow off when it is windy. There are a dozen hair accessories from Coveryourhair that I would like to own including the Black Comfortable Lite Studded Headwrap from the Women's Headbands section & the Black Winter Extra Fuzzy Ear Muffs. I think their products are well made & have great prices I would suggest their website to anyone looking for some fun new accessories for either summer or winter. They offer a lovely selection of Baby Hats,Baby Headbands,Head Scarves,Hair Clips & More.

PRIZE ALERT:
One lucky reader will win a box of Mystery Hair Accessories valued at $25. You can give me three colors you would like your hair accessories to be. This is open to US Residents ONLY sorry!

 a Rafflecopter giveaway