Unlock! (2017) [+]
Nov 25 2024
Unlock! Is a series of puzzle-solving board games. Each comes with three puzzles and each puzzle is based on a set of custom cards.
You begin with a start card which has a drawing and maybe some numbers. Numbers correspond to other cards which you then display and they might have numbers. A card can also tell you what old cards to remove as the story progresses and this also helps so you don't have to consider useless cards.
Some cards have a blue number and some cards have a red number. Sometimes the solution is to combine appropriate blue and red cards (e.g. a blue key with a red door) — add their numbers and that gives you a new card to flip.
These games feature a mobile app. The app keeps track of the timer (an hour timer seems typical), there is a button to subtract 1m penalty (some cards are traps to discourage random guessing), and in the end it rates you one to five stars. Some cards have a machine symbol which then the app shows you the machinery to manipulate. The app can also give you three clues for each card (affects your score).
The "add two cards to find third card" was very familiar and when I looked at Space Cowboys they also did T.I.M.E. Stories which are also cool mystery stories though they don't use an app but instead have tokens and resources which Unlock! Does not have.
We played an adventure in a circus. This one had cards you lay and overlap to reveal new numbers (edge of one card is the tens-digit and overlap shows the one-digit). You also built a circus tent in the end with certain cards and if you look at it just right a number was revealed. Also there is a sheet where you slot in circus act cards and when you turn it over there is a simple math formula to reveal another card.
The second adventure you used a ray gun that transfers your mind into various animals. This one had a recording that you play and then hover the phone over the right card to reveal the clue (the app uses the camera and can somehow identify cards). You also used the app to view cards and see hidden things. And use the app to simulate shooting an animal with your ray gun to switch minds (and in one puzzle the animal kept moving around the card so you had to figure out that you had to shoot where it would appear next).
These are fun detective solving sort of games. Too bad this format you can pretty much only play each adventure once. Still, quite enjoyable experiences.
You begin with a start card which has a drawing and maybe some numbers. Numbers correspond to other cards which you then display and they might have numbers. A card can also tell you what old cards to remove as the story progresses and this also helps so you don't have to consider useless cards.
Some cards have a blue number and some cards have a red number. Sometimes the solution is to combine appropriate blue and red cards (e.g. a blue key with a red door) — add their numbers and that gives you a new card to flip.
These games feature a mobile app. The app keeps track of the timer (an hour timer seems typical), there is a button to subtract 1m penalty (some cards are traps to discourage random guessing), and in the end it rates you one to five stars. Some cards have a machine symbol which then the app shows you the machinery to manipulate. The app can also give you three clues for each card (affects your score).
The "add two cards to find third card" was very familiar and when I looked at Space Cowboys they also did T.I.M.E. Stories which are also cool mystery stories though they don't use an app but instead have tokens and resources which Unlock! Does not have.
We played an adventure in a circus. This one had cards you lay and overlap to reveal new numbers (edge of one card is the tens-digit and overlap shows the one-digit). You also built a circus tent in the end with certain cards and if you look at it just right a number was revealed. Also there is a sheet where you slot in circus act cards and when you turn it over there is a simple math formula to reveal another card.
The second adventure you used a ray gun that transfers your mind into various animals. This one had a recording that you play and then hover the phone over the right card to reveal the clue (the app uses the camera and can somehow identify cards). You also used the app to view cards and see hidden things. And use the app to simulate shooting an animal with your ray gun to switch minds (and in one puzzle the animal kept moving around the card so you had to figure out that you had to shoot where it would appear next).
These are fun detective solving sort of games. Too bad this format you can pretty much only play each adventure once. Still, quite enjoyable experiences.