Game Review - Adventure Games

*THIS REVIEW WILL NOT CONTAIN ANY SPOILERS*

I'd like to start off this review by saying....WOW. These games were possibly some of the best games I have played in a good, long while. There are two Adventure Games for the time being: The Dungeon and Monochrome Inc. I played both games so I could compare the two and review both at the same time. Throughout this review I'll discuss more of my person experiences and opinions and less of the actual game mechanics so as not to spoil any of the story. Once a player has played through one of these games, they will not be able to play it again without knowing how to solve the puzzles and most of the story. I will definitely not be ruining that experience here today.

The first wow factor I experienced with these games is the perfectly precise packaging and planning that went into the contents so none of the story was spoiled through accidental card glances while opening the game for the first time. There are massive black and yellow banners across all of the booklets and card packaging warning you not to look at anything during the opening process, which proved to be very effective as we saw the warnings and were able to completely unpack and set up the game without even getting a peek at anything. This whole process was very similar to the Exit escape room board games – not surprising as the Adventure Games and Exit are made by the same company, Kosmos. I have to give Kosmos a lot of credit for this aspect. I'm the type of person that will specifically ask where Christmas presents are hidden so I WON'T accidentally come across them, so I most certainly don't want my board games spoiled either! I really appreciate the time and planning that has been put into keeping the materials secret.

A lot of time went into the artwork for this game, and it shows. I've mentioned in previous reviews that I'm the type of gamer that needs my games to be visually appealing for me to stay engaged and this game definitely satisfied my eyes. There was so much to look at in every single item and location card that you couldn't help but be pulled into the story. The kind of gritty, shadowed art style reminded me very much of Elder Sign, driving home the spooky undertones of the stories and characters.

Like in the Exit games, the game is played through a numbered, face down deck of cards along with a deck of alphabetized location cards, mission cards, and ending cards. Cards are drawn and revealed as the game dictates, done by reading numbered entries in the Adventure Book. These games really felt like a hybrid between Dungeons & Dragons, an escape room game and a choose your own adventure novel. Once you've read the short introduction to the story, you're free to explore the locations to uncover items, people and further the story. Players work together to solve puzzles, trade or combine items and reveal more locations. I honestly can't say enough about the writing in these games. There are literally THOUSANDS of possibilities for the players to explore and for almost every possibility there was an entry in the book, even if it was just to informed you that nothing happened. The writers really thought of everything in this game...even a little sass, which my sarcastic nature thoroughly enjoyed!

I enjoyed the writing not only for the sass, but for its genuinely gripping nature. You found yourself wanting to keep playing and explore further just to watch the story unravel. Each of the games consist of 3 chapters, which can be played individually (taking note of collected items and revealed cards) to pick up the next chapter at a later date. Alternatively, you can marathon each of the chapters in one night. The game suggests each chapter will take 90 minutes to complete, and I found the estimate to be fairly accurate, give or take 10-20 minutes. I ended up playing each of the games in one sitting with my three companions. I can't remember the last time I played a board game for nearly 5 hours and was still so engaged to the last second. The story took unexpected turns and had challenging puzzles which makes it beneficial to play these games with a group of people that all think a little differently. In my opinion, the story of The Dungeon was better than Monochrome Inc., especially in the final chapter. I also enjoyed the medieval fantasy theme more than the futuristic biotech setting of Monochrome Inc. That being said, both stories were fantastic and I enjoyed them from start to finish. I was also lucky enough to have a group of gamers playing with me who really got into the role playing aspects by speaking in different voices while reading from the book, rationalizing how their character would rationalize and really getting emotionally involved in the tense situations. These games by no means require that level of role-play, but if you're a fan of RPGs like D&D, it makes the experience all the better.

If we compare these Adventure Games to the Exit games (because they are very similar), I feel like they have definitely improved the physical mechanics in the time since the Exit games released. One of the frustrating aspects of the Exit games was sharing the small book between 4 players. There was also no turn order so players could basically just plow through all the problem solving they wanted and leave out other players from exploring what they were interested in. In the Adventure Games, there is a specific turn order so each player has an opportunity to explore what they find interesting or important. This also means the Adventure Book is passed from player to player, resolving the grabbing/squinting to see the book as in the Exit games. I also really appreciated that there isn't a timer in the Adventure Games like there is in the Exit games. Timers have never been my favourite and I find it stresses me out more and makes me unable to focus on the task at hand. Although we recorded our times for each chapter and the games suggests a play time, the time you take does not affect your score in any way.

The differences between the two games are actually pretty minimal. Each game plays with the same mechanic of investigating numbered clues and looking those numbers up in the Adventure Book. The main differences are the general flavour and penalty system. In The Dungeon, each player has health that will deplete if mistakes are made whereas in Monochrome Inc. there is an “alarm level” that raises when certain events are triggered.

Okay, let's talk about replay. I mentioned earlier that once a player has finished one of these games, they can't play the same game again. That is mostly true. Although the player will know how to solve a lot of the puzzles and know what entries in the Adventure Book will be read after exploring certain locations, each of the games come with a number of different endings. A player could breeze through the game again to try for an alternate ending. I also found when we were playing, there were a number of items we never received or puzzles we didn't quite solve based on our prior choices or order in which we investigated clues. Although these missed aspects didn't prevent the completion of the story, they may have altered the ending and final scoring. So for individual player replay, I would say....sort of possible. However, unlike the Exit board games, these games are NOT consumed during play – meaning you don't cut, fold, punch out or write on any of the pieces. This means that if you and your friends run through the whole game, you can then easily re-gift it to other friends and that cycle can continue forever. In that aspect, I would say this game has immense replay value.

I honestly can not praise these games enough. So much time, dedication and care was put into the games by developers and artists that truly cared about their product. For $30, this game has so much value. Absolutely give these games a try with your favourite group of people, or solo....if you're feeling adventurous enough!

Find the Adventure Games with the Exit games in the party section at Scenic City Game Emporium!

See if you can beat our scores and times!

The Dungeon:

Chapter 1 – 80 minutes

Chapter 2 – 70 minutes

Chapter 3 – 85 minutes

FINAL SCORE – 44 (5 Stars out of possible 6)

Monochrome Inc.

Chapter 1 – 110 minutes

Chapter 2 – 110 minutes

Chapter 3 – 75 minutes

FINAL SCORE – 44 (5 Stars out of possible 6) FINAL SCORE – 110 (second best score possible)