ThinkFun Escape The Room Stargazer's Manor - A Thrilling Escape Room Game in a Box for Ages 10 and Up | Enhances Logical Reasoning | Perfect for Family Game Night | Ideal Gift for Puzzle Lovers

My wife and I just played Mystery of the Stargazer's Manor. It was on the easy side--definitely a beginner level game--but it was actually one of the more fun ones that we've played too (IMO)... and that includes all the EXIT: The Game titles released to date, all the Unlocked! sets except Extraordinary Adventures, and dang near every Escape Room The Game title released, plus several others (Holiday Hijinks, Escape-The-Crate, etc). Stargazer's Manor ranks right up with the best of them. None of the puzzles had any "giant leaps of logic" in them. That doesn't mean there weren't any challenges, just that everything was straightforward and well organized. Really, my only complaint about this game was that the narrative--which was done really well, by the way--almost told you exactly what you needed to do on a few occasions; i.e. it held you by the hand a little too much. I'm sure beginners, especially first-timers to this genre of game, would find that helpful, though. In fact, I'll go so far as to say that this is probably the best escape room game available for a first-timer; but even advanced-level players can enjoy it, or at least appreciate it for its quality, flow, and logical progression. The box says the game is designed for 3-8 players, but honestly I wouldn't recommend more than four, and that's pushing it. Stargazer's Manor is a one-play game, but nothing is destroyed so it can be repacked (instructions available on the ThinkFun website) and passed on to other family members, friends, or a local thrift shop. The ThinkFun web site support for the game is great. I think Stargazer's Manor is much too easy to make an "event" out of it as they suggest, with period costumes, harpsichord music, and what not, but I appreciate that ThinkFun is thinking about providing an entire "experience" above and beyond just the game alone. My wife and I are playing The Secret of Dr. Gravely's Retreat next, and I for one am really looking forward to that with GREAT enthusiasm! ThinkFun has us hooked.

I gave this as a gift to my brother and we loved playing it as a family! It is such a well designed escape room game! I've played a few different brands of escape games and this one is the best. The instructions are super clear without giving anything away. There is a website with hints, but we only used it once. The variety of puzzles was excellent and everyone in our group (ages 10-55) was able to help with different parts. While you can't play the game again because you know how to solve all the puzzles, you can put everything back together and gift it to another group! If I ever decide to purchase another escape room game, it will be another ThinkFun one!

I adore the Escape Game phenomenon, and was excited to try out this board game attempt to capture the same type of feeling and fun. Here’s a SPOILER FREE look at ThinkFun’s home version. Basic Gameplay: There is a brief instruction manual that introduces the concept of the game and sets the stage, but really everything the players need to know is explained on the various pieces that will be part of the game. At the beginning the players are presented with five sealed envelopes depicting various areas of the Manor and the first Scene Card. The card sets up the story context for the game and walks the players through how the solution wheel works in a nice little intro. It then points players to the first envelope to begin the game proper. The solution wheel is particularly well done. Solutions to each puzzle / envelope are indicated by paired colors and symbols, and if correctly entered into the wheel a symbol matching the current puzzle will be shown in two places on the wheel, indicating that envelope should then be opened. General Thoughts: Stargazer’s Manor is well designed and produced, and reasonably thematic. The puzzles make sense and are pretty well held together with the story framing. The quality of components is high, particularly at the price point. A good job was done overall evoking a location and providing some hands on puzzling without getting crazy in the cost department, but there is of course a visceral feeling to the exploration of an Escape Room that can’t be captured in a primarily 2d game. The box says it accommodates 3-8 players, and given this type of game can only be played with a given group once we went with the maximum to get as many people involved as possible. It may have been because all but one of us have previously played an actual Escape Room and were experienced puzzlers, but we didn’t need nearly that many people and it was tough keeping everyone involved since it’s mostly a “one puzzle at a time” experience. Four of us would have been plenty, and that’s the number my intuition recommends trying this with. We found the puzzles on the easy side, but still had fun and again it might have been because of our experience level. The game tends to point you rather directly at the next thing to solve, which is a bit of unnecessary handholding given how few things there are to choose between. Outside of possible tape damage to some paper pieces if you aren’t careful when opening things, none of the components are permanently marked while playing. Combined with instructions on the website on how to put everything back in the proper envelopes when finished, the game can be packed back up afterwards and given to a new group to try. Nice touch by ThinkFun. Summary So in conclusion while Escape the Room: Mystery at The Stargazer’s Manor is not quite equal to its inspirational namesake and tends to the easy side, it’s still a fun experience well worth trying out. ThinkFun has another out already (Secret of Dr. Gravely’s Retreat) which I’ll definitely try sometime.

My husband and I tried Mystery at the Stargazer's Manor with our 13-year-old daughter. My husband and I do in-person escape rooms and he & my daughter do online escape rooms. With that experience we were able to put the clues together pretty quickly. We solved it in about one hour. Each envelope that we "unlocked" had an interesting challenge inside. This was a fun way to spend an evening! And I think it's really cool that the website offers instructions on how to reassemble the box, so you can pack it all up and pass the box on to a friend so they can solve it, too. My daughter is really excited to share it with her best friend. We also have a 10-year-old and a 7-year-old. For whatever reason, they didn't feel like playing with us. I think my 10-year-old would have liked it, had he participated. We would have had to slow our process down a little and explain the puzzles to draw him in and keep him included. But I think my 7-year-old would have struggled to understand the challenges and would probably have gotten bored. So, I agree with the manufacturers' 10+ age recommendation. Highly recommend for ages 10+. Good value for the price. The kit was well made and the instructions were clear. We really enjoyed it!

We bought this for our 9-year-old's birthday. We played with two adults and a 6-, 9-, and 10-year-old. Our kids had done many digital escape rooms (Escape Room Simulator on Steam). The adults helped solve the problems, but mostly tried to encourage the kids to come up with solutions. The recommended age of 10 plus seemed just about right, but The 9-year-old was able to meaningfully contribute and the two adults enjoyed themselves. We finished in about 90 minutes (they recommend 2 hrs for groups of 3-5). I don't think I would play with more than 5. It's mostly linear, so there's not a ton for others to do. It was reasonably intuitive figuring out how to solve the puzzles. The few times we ran into issues was because we tried to take shortcuts. A couple of the puzzles were challenging enough that we started to question whether we were approaching it the right way. But I believe we ultimately solved each puzzle in the intended fashion and the puzzles seemed well-designed and manufactured. Unlike other escape room games we have played, you don't destroy any materials while playing. We were able to fully box it up afterwards and plan to pass it on to other friends. Highly recommend!

Stargazer's Manor is a really fun idea. Real life escape rooms are really enjoyable but the time limit is always a problem for me. I understand why a business needs to have them but it's always a disappointment when you can't follow the story through to the end and you're unlikely to want to spend that amount a money to go through the same room a second time, especially since you now know the answers to some of the puzzles. So putting the idea in a box is fantastic. And the production value is really well done. The envelopes are a lot of fun to open, and the components are beautiful. Even the story is rather satisfying. However the puzzles are all of the same kind, with little variety, and they're just too simple. Solving them is also all very linear which doesn't reflect the fun of an actual room escape when you don't know where to look next. I played this with my sister and excepted we would have to ignore the time limit as there were just the two of us and there weren't as many brains working together, but in fact we solved in under the time given. For kids I can imagine this being more enjoyable, but for adults, the puzzles are just too easy. It doesn't feel entirely satisfying to have solved them. It's a fantastic idea, but at the end of the day, the product itself is only so-so.

This game is a rare breed in many ways, which is what makes it so interesting to play. It's not quite like a board game because the experience is a highly crafted and narrative-dependent. It's not like a movie or play because it's interactive. It's not like a video game because the pieces are physical, fun to look and pass around, and examine for clues. It's not like D&D or Murder Mystery Party because there's no game master - everyone gets to play the story. The closest analog really is a real-life Escape the Room game. And those cost about $30 per player! On a per-person basis, the game is significantly cheaper than that, or a movie, play, concert, carnival, or museum, especially if you consider the cost of parking, snacks, etc. So don't compare it to other board games; think of it as a one-of-a-kind social event. And when it's over, you can pack it up and lend it to a friend. It's even watching someone else work through it. It was indeed a bit easy for our group (all adults), and the story was a little weak, but that's OK because it's just such a unique experience. There's an ongoing sense of discovery and variety from start to finish. Opening each envelope is exciting, and solving every puzzle (especially the last one) is satisfying. I look forward to more games like this; it's such a fun concept.

Update: I purchased this game 3.5 years ago (see my original review below). I found reassembly instructions online, put the game back together, and played it again with my now 15-year-old. We didn’t remember any of the clues so it was as if we played for the first time. We enjoyed the second time around very much. I would highly recommend this game. We just reassembled it again, but this time we’ll be giving it to friends. Lots of fun if you like puzzles. Original review: This was our first Escape the Room game and I think we enjoyed it enough to try another. My husband and 7-year-old got a little bored with it so my 12-year-old and I finished it. We both love puzzles and riddles so this game was perfect for us, and playing with only two players worked just fine. The puzzles may be a bit too easy for adults but they were suitable for my 12-year-old: challenging enough to make him think but not so hard that he couldn't solve them. I thought the price was a bit steep for a game that can only be played by the same participants once; however, the quality of the game's construction will ensure that it can be passed along to numerous friends/family. So, it's not as though the game is worthless after it's played once. If you have tweens/teens that love puzzles, then I would recommend this game.

Love, love, loved ThinkFun's Escape Game! We were pleasantly surprised at how well this game was organized and put together. The flow of the game, the quality of the pieces and the thought put into each puzzle were above expectation. The story line was interesting and the instructions were well presented and easily understood. All puzzles and game pieces related well to the theme helping players to invest further into the overall mission. Puzzles were challenging but solvable. We really did feel as though we were trapped in a room and solving our way out. It was nice to have the additional option of clues easily accessible on line, which added to the real life "feel" of a traditional escape room. We also appreciated the additional instructions for repacking the game for future play. The 2 hour timeline recommended for 3 people was perfect. We solved well before the deadline. We found it helpful to assign roles to each player before beginning play. With three people we had a storyteller/host, lock/wheel master and store man responsible for game piece manipulation. We felt this game was perfect for 3-5 people. A traditional escape game averages $25/person. Although this game is one time play, at $29 it offered great bang for the buck providing an opportunity to explore the world of escape games without breaking the bank. Extremely happy with our purchase and highly recommend.

Purchased this product to play with my husband and 10 year old son. We have done physical escape rooms in the past and enjoyed them immensely although we are by no means experts. This was a very good at home version, it took the 3 of us about 1 hour and 20 minutes to complete, the puzzles may be a little easy for our level but we really enjoyed playing. We carefully put all of the items back in the envelopes (there are instructions for this) so we can pass onto another family to play. We have now purchased another ThinkFun escape room a level up and are really looking forward to trying this one.

I have bought this game after I have been in a live escape room and I was not sure whether it could provide a similar experience, but actually it did. Let's start from the companion website which is incredible. You can find the invites to send to you friend, some suggestions for setting the mood (including dress code and streaming music), hints and the reassemble instructions. Hints are made in a way that you just get what you want without spoilers. There's a generic one; a more detailed one and, finally, the solution. The game contains some closed envelopes and each one contains some enigmas that you have to solve in order to escape the room. There are some objects or instructions that can facilitate your escape. The story was incredible fine and we enjoyed it. I didn't believe that I could be so involved in the game that I felt part of the game. I have played it with my partner and, despite the box suggest 3-11 players, we loved it. It took about one and half hour to solve it using 3 hints from the website.

Lo que es la traducción y meterse en el papel me es complicado llevarlo a cabo por el nivel de inglés de mis niños, pero las pruebas son excelentes!!

Muy entretenido y muy buenos accesorios