Recently, my husband and I finally cracked open a game I had gotten a couple of months ago from a Kickstarter campaign. It was The Morrison Game Factory, a “puzzletale” from PostCurious, designed by Lauren Bello.1Apologies for the typo in her name on earlier drafts; I’ve been experimenting with writing blog posts longhand, and the character recognition still isn’t 100% accurate.
The format is essentially an escape room in a box, although it feels more hand-crafted and personalized than any of the mass market versions of those that I’ve tried. This doesn’t feel like a game that you’d find at Target (complimentary).
Which is too bad, since it feels like it’d actually be a good fit for Target. It’s engaging and accessible, and I’d rate the puzzles as being at “advanced beginner” difficulty. Nothing had us completely stumped, but we definitely didn’t breeze through everything, either.
A couple of the puzzle solutions led to really cool and satisfying “aha!” moments. I’ve gotten a little jaded about the puzzles in these types of experiences, but there was at least one here that had a payoff not quite like anything I’d seen before.
The game requires a desktop (or iPad, which we used) web browser with an internet connection. And it’s not just for verifying solutions; it’s a key part of how you play the game. I’d estimate that it took us about two hours to play.
The premise of The Morrison Game Factory is that you’ve received a package from an “urban explorer” who’s found something mysterious inside an abandoned board game factory. They’ve sent the material to you because they’re not so great at puzzles.
The story that follows is engaging and extremely charming. I have to say that I don’t love the branding of “puzzletale,” but I’ll begrudgingly admit that it fits perfectly here. The experience is extremely well-balanced, where the story and the puzzles complement each other instead of making the other feel superfluous
The only other experience I’ve tried from PostCurious is The Emerald Flame, an excellent collection of puzzles about alchemists and secret societies. That game also has a story running through it, but I believe it’s more puzzle-focused, and the puzzles are both more complex and more esoteric. To anyone who’s planning on playing both -and I strongly recommend both – then I’d start with The Morrison Game Factory.
I balked at getting the Emerald Flame with my combo backing of their new game Ministry of Lost Things: Lint Condition along with Morrison Game Factory, and now I’m feeling great FOMO at not getting itβbut I think I only missed out on a discount on shipping. Somewhere lost in my pile of games I have a copy of The Light in the Mist, their tarot-based puzzletale, which I haven’t tried yet; I’m told the story on that one is a little dour, especially compared to Morrison Game Factory. I’ll let you know when they arrive and/or if I ever find them.
Jason got me a copy of The Emerald Flame from our local game store (after a rave recommendation from an employee), so it might be possible to find a copy locally. The Morrison Game Factory is much lighter than that game, but still has an emotional core to it that works really well.
I played this game last year with Dave and Pat and had a good time. That’s high praise for me as I’m not a fan of puzzle or escape room games. We definitely had some “aha!” moments and I felt like I meaningfully helped with some of the puzzles. I didn’t expect that as Dave and Pat are way better at this kind of game than me. I also really enjoyed the story. If I recall, it took us more than two hours and we had to break the game up into two sessions.
Nice to see old game night attendees playing a game that I played! π
Yeah, it’s 100% about the puzzles and not at all about game mechanics or strategy, so I’m actually surprised you enjoyed it at all! π
For the record: the puzzle that got the best “a ha!” moment out of both of us was when you make the code out of the pack of playing cards.
I played this game last year with Dave and Pat and had a good time. That’s high praise for me as I’m not a fan of puzzle or escape room games. We definitely had some “aha!” moments and I felt like I meaningfully helped with some of the puzzles. I didn’t expect that as Dave and Pat are way better at this kind of game than me. I also really enjoyed the story. If I recall, it took us more than two hours and we had to break the game up into two sessions.
Nice to see old game night attendees playing a game that I played! π