Game Review: EXIT The Game – The Cemetery of the Knight

Thames & Kosmos EXIT: The Game is a series of escape room games for the home. Players must solve riddles and puzzles and crack codes to escape from an imaginary room or environment. But the clock is ticking! Can you escape?

According to an old legend, a priceless red ruby is said to be hidden in the tomb of Sir Reginald Wreston and it can only be found when the moon is at just the right angle in the night’s sky. The problem is, the moon is only ever at the right angle at midnight on a specific night once every 87 years! But guess what? Tonight is that night! Up until now the crypt has remained sealed, and over the course of centuries, no one has ever succeeded in opening it. “Who knows what might happen tonight ” you think to yourself as you make your way into the darkness. Will you and your group of curious treasure hunters have what it takes to finally solve the mystery and uncover the coveted gem?

Instead of Team ETR giving you our perspective on the game, this review is from you.  Using approximately 70 reviews that players posted on Amazon,  a word cloud was generated (see article image above). A word cloud is a novelty visual representation of text data, typically used to depict keyword metadata (tags) on websites, or to visualize free form text. Tags are usually single words, and the importance of each tag is shown with font size or color. This format is useful for quickly perceiving the most prominent terms to determine its relative prominence. Bigger term means greater weight.

So what top words appear in this word cloud?  The remainder of this review focuses on these words and their context (e.g., positive, negative, etc.).

FUN.  Most players found the theme to be fun and entertaining. One player noted that it was a good way to bring the family together for some fun without the need for phones, tablets, etc. 

A few players said the game was not fun and that some of the clues were frustrating.  One noted that the game was too difficult, though this game’s difficultly level is 3 out of 5.  Another player did note that this game is not for beginners.

PUZZLES.  Players’ opinions of the puzzles were mixed.  Most felt the puzzles to be clever and logical.  Others felt there was no rhyme or reason for all the puzzles.  One player felt that one of the puzzles was completely missing a clue.

TIME.  Unfortunately, there was only one reference to the time is took to finish the game.  The recommended playtime listed in the Game Description on Amazon is 60 – 120 minutes.  One player noted that is took him and his wife a long time to finish, possibly implying that it took them more than 120 minutes.  Though Team ETR tries to solve the EXIT games in 120 minutes, we honestly have not been concerned about the time.  Obviously, that is up to every player and how “true” to the escape game genre they want to be.

CLUES.  While most players said they had fun, the reference to clues in the players’ reviews was more negative.  Several noted that some of the clues didn’t make sense, that some were obscure or convoluted.  Some disagreed and stated that there are some neat clues in this game.

PLAYED.  Most reviewers noted that they have played several of the games from the EXIT series.  So has Team ETR as we really love the EXIT games. 

For those who have not played an EXIT game, one player noted that they can only be played once – scissors are often involved. 

GOOD/GREAT.  Most players said they had a good or great time playing this game and that it was a good quality game.  A couple of players noted that this is a great family game.

Conclusion.  Reviews seem a bit mixed but the majority were positive.  At the time of this article, Amazon’s rating is 4.5 out of 5 stars, with 89% of the reviews at four or five stars.

For those who like to look for hidden/subliminal messages, there just may be one in this word cloud image.  Look above the word “stars” on the left and right side.  You got it – just play!

Where to buy: Amazon.com Amazon.ca Amazon.co.uk