Mattel Games Escape Room in a Box The Werewolf Experiment, Room Escape Group Game for Teens and Adults, with 19 2D and 3D Puzzles, Connects to Amazon Alexa, Makes a Great Gift for 13 Year Olds and Up

As escape room enthusiasts, my husband and I are always looking for fun at home versions. We have done all of the available Unlock and Exit games, which are great, but this one has a different quality too it, mostly being there is a lot more "stuff". We enjoy having more physical puzzles and trinkets to play with, so that was a great feature in our eyes. The puzzles were clever, fun, and for the most part well designed with a few minor exceptions. We found the wording occasionally odd, and there was one puzzle that was almost irrelevant, however overall it was money well spent and well worth the $22. It was really nice to have physical locks to undo, but, of course at such a low price point, they weren't high quality. With all that said, this is still a 5-star product and well worth the money spent. We played with 2 adults which was so fun because we got to be involved in almost every puzzle. It took us 49 minutes to escape and we used just one hint.

My husband and I had never participated in an escape room before. Our sons, in their 20s, had been to some escape rooms. We played this game last night, and all four of us had a great time. The puzzles had a nice mix: lots of variety, some easy, some very challenging. Most of the puzzles truly required collaboration to solve. We did have a few frustrating moments, where it seemed like we were not making any progress, but then there would finally be that "a-ha" moment, followed by actual cheering and clapping, when we solved a puzzle or cracked open a lock. It took us 1.5 hours to solve the puzzle and "escape" (and that was without using any of the hints - I really wanted to look at some hints, but my sons wouldn't have it!) My sons gave me credit for purchasing a great game, how cool is that? Our only quibble is that a couple of the puzzles could use some tweaking, in that the clues were really a bit too vague. But despite that, this made for a wonderful evening of family fun for the day after Thanksgiving. Highly recommended.

This was our very first escape the room experience so I can only review this box, not a comparison review, just our experience... First and foremost I will say that over all we all had a wonderful time! I purchased this “Werewolf Experiment” Escape the Room in a Box for myself and my 2 children for a Halloween family night ‘stay-cation’. I was not sure if it would be too difficult as my oldest is only 14 years old and my younger child is only 10 but it looked like fun and the price is less than a haunted hayride (we did that 2 weeks ago) or even dinner at a goodChinese restaurant! It was NOT TOO DIFFICULT FOR THE THREE OF US ( ages= adult, 14years old & 10 years old ) HOWEVER IT DID TAKE US MORE THAN 1 HOUR! This is due in part to the fact that the box was missing a piece that was a vital part of the final combination! I know this sounds bad but it really isn’t a reason not to purchase the box or to miss out on the experience.... it means that for one puzzle you may have to use the answers (not the hint which was only good for confirming our suspicion that we were missing a piece of that particular puzzle) to ‘escape’! So some of the reasons I still think this is a great box are as follows: The items in the box and puzzles are quite cool! Trying not to spoil it for anyone I will say that the box is all you need, you do not need to add any props or objects if you don’t want to! The puzzles were fun and there is a good variety of different types of puzzles! Part of the fun was figuring out how to do each puzzle and there are puzzles for all different skill (or age) levels! My 10 year old was just as important to our groups success as my 14 year old and had a blast solving some of the puzzles! If you want the background music it is available online at escaperoominabox.com and ready to play (there are also repack instructions but we chose to enjoy it fully and write the answers right on the materials...) the music was a lovely addition at the beginning (it even suggests a bathroom break if you aren’t worried about the timer which was nice for a family event, Lol!) however it plays in 15 minute increments and we forgot to continue playing the music pieces after the first 30 minutes... I was also delightfully surprised with the 3D puzzles! For the price it was a really great experience! A few things I did not like were that the piece was missing so we basically missed the opportunity to work one of the main puzzles! It felt a little like cheating to have to look up the answer ( the hint did not help except that we stopped wasting time to look for the missing piece ) and that was very disappointing when you are working so hard not to take any clues! I thought the music would have been more enjoyable if it simply played for the full amount of time without having to manually go back to the page and cue up the next track to play but it isn’t essential and apparently can be played somehow with Alexa?!? The final lock must not have been closed tightly from the manufacturer or was somehow defective (it was quite hard to lock again?) because my son picked it up to move it out of his way and it popped open! The jar didn’t open up however (if it was one of the square boxes it probably would have opened ruining a part of the experience) so we just locked it back up and kept playing! Even though a couple things were a bit ‘wrong’ the experience as a whole was definitely worth it and one that I would wholeheartedly recommend to others! A great evening at a great price!!!

Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! Seeing as Im the geeky one in the family. I have always tried to get my family to do boardgames. Most of it ended up being disbanded or ended in a argument. Or not enough interested in the board game. I know this boardgame says 2-6 players we ended up being 11 adults and 2 kids(YES I KNOW!) Everybody came out of the woodwork! Everbody was inticed by the puzzles and the story,we switched off lights to view puzzles ,went back and forth between puzzles. It was so different and such an amazing experience! Everybody kept on and on about it.MEGA FUN!!!! Would recommend this escape room box without a doubt!!! I would rate the puzzles out of 5 perhaps a 3.5.Not to hard,yet kept you thinking until those "AHA!" moments which was very rewarding. Also,although this is once off(if you didnt tear or burn,yes we burnt one of the puzzles and realised after we needed it LOL!) But in the end the reward was much more than what the boxed costed. Mos def would go back to this in a year or so when everybody has forgotten about it. Would highly recommend it.

I have mixed feelings about this one, the Werewolf Experiment. Having played two Exit games, which were both terrific, I found this one merely okay. But there's a difference in structure of the games between the brands. Exit games are very linear. They follow a particular order. The storylines are strong and the puzzles are clever and well connected to story. With the Exit games, everyone puts their head together to solve one puzzle at a time. The play and ending are satisfying. With the Escape Room In A Box, it feels more like a traditional escape room. Clues and puzzles seem more random, and the puzzles can be solved independently. Working on the same puzzle with two people actually gets in the way a bit. I think this game works better with each person or team taking on different puzzles at a time. But for me, I like the ability with the Exit games to work in tandem. But the problem with the puzzles with the Werewolf Experiment game is that they seem sort of random. They don't have the depth or cleverness of the Exit games. Some of the puzzles are too easy, as well. For example, one puzzle to solve was a crossward puzzle, one that was really easy. Given the scenario, there's no rhyme or reason for the authors to throw in a crossword puzzle. It's just there. Few puzzles left me saying, "Hm.. that was really clever". Some did, many didn't. One left us saying, "Is that all there is??" And unlike the Exit games, which virtually place you in an environment with a story, the WE gives you a simple scenario. You've become a werewolf. Find the antidote. With real escape rooms, there's the real ability of exploring a real space, and it can be exhilarating. But with this likely to be played on a table, there's going to be less of a rush to the experience. It's all the more important, then, that the story is well written and the puzzles challenging and well designed. So The Werewolf Experiment isn't a bad way to spend your time. I do think it's better game for a larger group, whereas Exit games can easily and satisfyingly be played by two. The lock boxes in WE are cool. It's just arriving at the solutions isn't as neat for the most part (There are exceptions), and the storyline isn't as well written as others I have played.

I used this game as part of an RPG session with some friends, and we had a great time. The use of three dimensional objects and locks helps keep things interesting and immersive, especially as it ties to the backstory. It isn't too difficult, but all the same, our group of gamers in our 20s still needed hints to finish on time. A lack of red herrings and meaningless objects streamlines things a bit. Hints are completely optional, which is nice. The puzzles run the gamut but are organized well; with one or two exceptions, things are pretty clearly labeled, and there are some really clever ideas involved. This feels like a true escape room experience on the cheap, and I highly recommend it. The only real problem is that once it's done, you can't really play it again with the same people. But that's true for any escape room, and it's nice to have an easy and affordable option. I hope the people who designed this one eventually make more.

We played this with 2 kids (age 10 & 14) and 3 adults including grandma. It’s very collaborative and lots of “trade me! I’m stuck, you work on this and I’ll work on that”. We only needed 2 clues to help us along and finished with only 1 minute to spare! There are two “leaders guides”, one at 15 minutes in has HINTS to help look at your clues in fresh light. You can only use 3 of these or you “lose.” The other at 30 minutes has ANSWERS to each clue you are only allowed to check once or you “lose.” We enjoy escape rooms and the “feel” of this was similar even though you are looking at papers and box pieces and manipulatives instead of walls and doors and objects. Please know this is a one time play. Once you’ve solved it, you can’t play it again. Even then, escape rooms around us charge around $20-30 per person, so this is a fraction of the cost for us for a fun addition to family game night.

First off, my wife and I have gone to several escape rooms and played most of the ones sold on Amazon. We win about 98% of them. On the good side, I think it is great that this is the first escape game on amazon that has locks you need to open and a black light. Wish more games incorporated them. The story line is ok. Now the bad. The instructions to start the game and how to proceed are lacking. The hints are worthless in many cases. In some cases even the solutions made no sense. In certain steps, you solve a puzzle that leads to nothing. It just seems very disorganized and the answers (when you can get them) leave you with a vague "ok, I solved it but what the heck do I do with the answer". When we were done, I looked through all the answers and even then I was sitting there thinking, how the heck did they get there or how would any logical person get that. Maybe it was just my wife and I. It isn't that the puzzles are hard it is just most are too vague to actually solve and know what to do next.

Das Positive: Sehr schöne Ausstattung mit Blacklightlampe, Petrischale, Boxen und Schlössern. Natürlich alles aus Plastik, aber funktionabel. Das Negative: Teilweise sehr einfallslose Rätsel wie Kreuzwort oder Worträtsel. Man merkt, dass dies eines der allerersten Escape Room Spiele für Zuhause war - es war ursprünglich ein Kickstarter-Projekt, das dann von Mattel übernommen wurde. Insgesamt aber dennoch spaßig. Auf der Website gibt es eine Anleitung zum wieder Einpacken, man kann es also mehrmals spielen und muss nichts kaputtmachen, wie bei den Spielen von Kosmos.

Todo correcto

This is an excellent game. It comes very close to a real-life escape game! Lots of puzzles, lots of stuff for the players to do. A good variety of puzzles, too. Some easy, some hard. NOTE: If you want to replay the game without having to reprint materials, tell the players to write in pencil -- and very lightly -- on the papers. With a good eraser, you'll be able to remove the marks completely, and then you can host the game with new players, or pass it along to friends and family.

Our family of seven (age range 21 to, er, 50-something) had a great time trying to solve the puzzles and escape with the werewolf antidote. We got out in around 40-45 minutes. Everything worked properly, the puzzles were challenging but not impossible (or, to be more precise, the younger elements within our party seemed to understand what they were supposed to do), and fun was had by all. For a single use game the price might seem steep, but compare it to the cost of going to an actual Escape Room and it suddenly seems quite reasonable. Recommended!

I think some of the reviews for this product are a little harsh, Especially on the quality of the puzzles. It is the case that a few are printed on paper but the theme of the whole escape room runs throughout in its design and most importantly the puzzles are logical. Its hard to give a full review without any spoilers but to us, the role the paper puzzles played in the whole experience made total logical sense. Combined with the hands on elements this makes a great place to start if you've tried actual escape rooms and wish to try one at home. We got this while it was on a lightning deal so came to less than £25. That seems about right price-wise and its RRP of over £30 seems a bit much. Overall, theres lots of elements here which made it a fun experience and if Mattel bought out a second one then we would definitely buy it.