It was Lady Helena in the library with the candlestick! Escape Hunt Murder At The Mansion is like the perfect blend between the board game Clue and escape rooms. It is a play at home game, where you need to unravel who killed Sir Charles Blackwood.
To do so, you’ll need to figure out who did it, where and with what weapon. But the only way you’ll get the information you need is by solving puzzles and casefiles.
Escape Hunt
Escape Hunt has multiple locations across Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and the UK. They offer outdoor, classic escape room and print and play games.
Currently, they offer 5 print at home games, that have a fun variety of themes. I’m most intrigued about Level Up their video game one, and The School Of Magic, which is about wizards.
All the play at home games are just £14.99 (approx. $25.34 CAD) per team. That means you are paying around $4 CAD per person for roughly an hour of entertainment. The value is incredible!
What You Need To Play Murder At The Mansion
Murder At The Mansion is designed to be printed and played with friends or family over at your house. As such, the requirements are basic; you need a printer, computer with access to the internet, mirror, scissors, and a pencil.
There is no need for any voice chat or streaming programming.
How It Works
To sort out who the murder is, you’ll need to fill out the logic grid provided. There are 5 possible locations, 5 suspects, and 5 motives for the death of Sir Charles Blackwood.
The game is for 2 to 6 platers and should take 1 hour, but it easily could be played solo (or with a few extra people).
Escape Hunt Murder At The Mansion Review (Spoiler Free)
Murder At The Mansion takes place in the present. You receive a letter telling you that you are the sole beneficiary of the estate of Sir Charles Blackwood. But to inherit your fortune, you need to bring justice by convicting who murdered your great-great-grandfather.
Inclosed in the letter of the executor of the Blackwood Estate are the casefiles of the murder.
There are a total of 13 pieces of evidence you will need to examine to fill out the logic grid. There is everything from testimonies, fingerprints, telegrams, prescriptions, and even astral maps.
The first step is determining out of 10 people, who the possible five suspects are. After, it is a matter of carefully reading the documents and solving some simple and fun puzzles to figure out what happened.
The story is engaging, and if you enjoy mysteries, you’ll like this one. One small detail we wondered about, is at one point it sounds like an autopsy was done on the 106-year-old body to convict someone already dead. It didn’t take away from our enjoyment, but we did question it.
The puzzles and clues are very straightforward, and I would classify this at-home escape room as easy. There was never anything inside that we felt stumped or challenged over.
But even with my pro team, we highly enjoyed our time sorting everything out. It took us roughly 40 minutes, but how fast you go depends on your experience and the number of people helping out.
When playing, there is no time limit, so you don’t have the pressure to race against the clock.
If you ever get stuck, there is a website with clues to help you out. I loved this feature (even if we didn’t use it), as it means you aren’t stuck waiting for the company to email you back with a hint.
How To Modify The Game To Play Remotely
The game is indented to play in person. You could easily play solo or with whoever is in your household. But my team of friends live in multiple houses, so we made some quick modifications to allow us to do so.
The easiest way to do so would have everyone print the 16-page document and solve it over voice chat. Everyone could fill out the logic grid, but I recreated the file in Google Spreadsheets. This way, we could fill it out collaboratively.
If you can’t print the document, it is still possible to play. For us, it just required a bit of extra use of Photoshop and Adobe Acrobat, but we made it work.
Final Thoughts
It is a fun experience, without the stress of racing against the clock that gives so many people anxiety. Compared to virtual escape rooms, this one only needs basic supplies.
Our biggest problem was minor. There is no way to check you got the answer right (even though it is undeniable). As such, we felt we didn’t get that victory moment we craved. It would have been nice to require to email the answer in or check a website to verify and get a “you did it” message.
For just £14.99 (approx. $25.34 CAD) per team, the game is a steal. I often pay that much per person escape rooms, so it provides excellent value.
If you are looking for something to do with your household or plan a game night with friends at your home, this would be a fantastic choice. I know I’m intrigued to try more of their games, including the brand new online The Pegasus Project.
Purchase Murder At The Mansion now.