It may be very difficult to entertain a tween or a teen with indoor activities. Occasionally they will agree to watch a movie but most often it is highly difficult to find something that’d both them and you will enjoy.
Even though board games, to be precise, tabletop escape games can solve this problem for you however can result to be repetitive but this article wishes to review one amazing escape room board game subscription called the “Escape the Crate” that is not monotonous and can be played by teens, tweens and adults.
Escape the Crate is a subscription package that provides an escape room adventure in the comfort of your house. Escape rooms have gained popularity as a fun way for a group of individuals to work together to solve puzzles and escape from a locked room.
This box works in a similar way! Every other month, it offers you a new adventure in which you must uncover clues and solve puzzles in challenging circumstances such as escaping from a pirate ship, solving a murder mystery, defusing a bomb.
Because these activities demand teamwork, there is far less sibling rivalry than we see in playing other competitive games.
To find out what to expect in your escape the crate subscription box and why it is worth buying, keep reading our detailed review.
Highlighted Features
- Subscription starts at $29.99 for 1 Crate every 2 months at the lowest
- Worldwide shipment from the United States except for Australia and New Zealand
- Ships between 1st and 8th of every month
- Auto-renewal between 14th and 15th of each month
- No refund policies are entertained
- Perfect for ages 10+
How does Escape the Crate work?
We had never played an Escape the Crate game before, so we reviewed and thoroughly went through all of the materials and instructions that came in the box to know our way around how to play these specific escape room games.
In general, Escape the Crate games are based on the premise that time travel is possible and that there is a hidden organization tasked with restoring order to the timeline. This provides up a lot of game possibilities while also providing continuity so that each one doesn't feel like it's beginning from the start.
What Do They Offer?
Every subscription box comes with at least 12 to 15 puzzles that you need to solve as a group.
The Escape the Crate team gives you the luxury to choose from their 4 different subscription payment method so that you can choose whichever deems fit.
2 months payment is at $29.99 every 2 months for 1 crate
4 month prepay is at $57.98 every 4 months for 2 crates
6 month prepay is at $83.98 every 6 months for 3 crates
12 month prepay is at $159.00 every 12 months for 6 crates
Even though each subscription payment option may have its own upsides and bonuses and most importantly, it is for you to note that, if you go for plans which cover longer months, you will be getting a better budget deal.
Review Of Escape: Secret Agent: The Unboxing!
This is what my box looked like when it was delivered. In my honest opinion, I really liked the box! Usually, subscription boxes are shipped in typical brown boxes with just a sticker of the company attached somewhere but this gives a very customized feel to it.
The box had the name of the game of the month and featured a dark exterior that kept the mystery locked in. If I had to rate the box I would give it a 9/10.
This is what the inside of the box looked like. The box was filled with interesting items but more importantly, your eyes fluttered over the details inside the box. There are pictures of a building and clocks showing different time zones.
These are not for decoration purposes only and are part of the game. Everything inside the box could be hidden hints and clues needed to solve the puzzles and unlock the room.
This is the first thing you will find inside the box. This is a welcome letter from the company along with the instructions on how to play the game. I would say it is of utter importance that you go through these details because without this, it will be difficult to find your way around the game.
As per the instructions, you will need to log onto a website and as you do that, the website will give you hints and clues to solve the puzzles. The multimedia will give you the storyline and help you out in the overall adventure. So, you need to be engaged both physically and virtually to complete the game.
On the other side of this leaflet, you will find the bits and pieces of the story and the puzzles. Again, these are components that bring you closer to completion.
Even though I mentioned that the leaflet will be the first thing that you will find inside the box, the first thing that caught my interest was these two!
Now you may ask why do you need sunglasses? Well, which shady, astute, and husky secret agent does not wear a pair of sunglasses? I mean it is a part of their uniform! Loved the attention to detail.
Secondly, you also get a badge of the council you (the secret agent) belong to. To be very honest, I was already in love with the game seeing the detailed arrangement to give you a real-life feeling.
However, I think these two props have designated purposes of their own selves in the game other than just ensuring a real-life touch.
Likewise the former two props, this ruler is another item that is included in the box. This I am sure has certain functionality that will be required to complete the game.
These are two unique and attractive things I found in the box. The top-secret envelope is one that is included in every box but designed differently as per the theme of each box.
This is the most crucial component in the bag as it contains all the puzzles and important clues inside. However, it cannot be unlocked until you solve other introductory puzzles.
The pouch on the other hand is another prop that could come in handy in solving the Chapter 1 puzzles which will lead you to solve Chapter 3, the puzzles inside the top-secret envelope.
Let us just take a moment and appreciate the quality of these two items. They give such a fun feel to you and all the write-ups, texts and presentation truly puts your head in the game.
These are the puzzles and hints that you will need to solve in order to solve the case. These are everything that was included in the box for making your experience fun and adventurous.
Final Verdict
My final verdict about the Escape the Crate subscription box is overall, I enjoyed it just fine. The fact that each Escape the Crate may only be played once is a downside for me. You can't restart the game after the mystery is solved; you'll have to wait for the next mystery to arrive in the mail.
Escape the Crate is a bit more methodical than some of the other escape room games that my family has tried in the sense that the Escape the Crate game we played explicitly specified that some cards must be placed with one side up since the opposing side contained spoilers which could be annoying to some people, but my family and I enjoyed the suspense.
Overall, I think Escape the Crate is a lot of fun and well worth the price. Most other escape room games don't include videos or as many clues, and I prefer the idea of receiving fresh riddles in the mail rather than having to go out and buy new games on a regular basis.