Thames & Kosmos EXIT: The Secret Lab, Escape Room Card Game, Family Games for Game Night, Board Games for Adults and Kids, Kennerspiel des Jahres Winner-2017, For 1 to 4 Players, Ages 12+

Loved it

Colleagues were talking about 'exit games' in the staff room - saying they were like an escape room type thing you can play at home. i thought cool - as i liked board games, and the price is really good so i gave it a go and we bought one as a family to play at xmas. It was soooooooo good, the puzzles are hard! but there are clues! so the puzzles are suitable for all abilities in your group, also the puzzle styles are different - a mix of image based ones or numerical ones, word ones... it really kept us thinking! And yes... we had to use a lot of the clues, but we won the game! We liked it so much we bought one as a gift for someone else. Remember though this game is once and done.... you can't relay it. But totally worth it.

I love these exit games and have done a few, but this was very challenging. Good fun but not easy

Spoiler Free review: This was the first Exit the Game that I tried as it was recommended and a moderate difficulty (3.5/5). I played it two player.Overview: It was fun, and did make me want to try other (harder)titles, but it could have done more with some of the puzzles. If you have escape room experience, you will have no trouble with this, but it was still entertaining and took about an hour. This was great with two people, and would likely be great for one person or a family. There's maybe not enough to do for a larger amount of players (6).Pros: There's a great variety of puzzles in here! The designers have thought of many ways to use card and paper for some unexpected solutions. The system of checking answers is also very smart. This was great played with two people and did take about an hour. Nice, small box full of goodies to explore. It does a pretty good job of emulating the different types of puzzles that are found in escape rooms and the puzzles generally related well to the theme of the lab. Everything in the box is of a high quality card and print.Cons: my main criticism is that some of the later puzzles were easier and felt a little lazy. At the start, there were some real head scratchers that took a couple of steps to solve, but at the end some clues were solved with just one card or step. This lead towards a somewhat quick and anticlimatic finish.The game is not expensive but can only be played properly once. Some cutting up is involved. However, you could still give this to somebody else afterwards and it would not lose too much value in the experience.We did not use any of the hint cards, and so felt like we didn't touch half the things in the box. That and our relatively quick solving meant the value for money was so so for me.The artwork could have been used more. Many of the cards have only text or basic diagrams for riddles. It would have been nice if more things were hidden in artwork/the room. Further, the flavour text on the cards added nothing to the game. More could have been done with this, too. The theme overall could have been a bit stronger to be more immersive.Conclusion: a great way for two of us to spend an evening. It was fun and had some satisfying puzzles, but also some puzzles that felt more lazy. It made me want to try one of the harder boxes which also seem to be the highest rated. I would recommended trying out these games, select a difficulty that will work well for you!

Just a few things I wished I'd realised that others might find helpful:- The Exit Games have difficulty ratings and as a first timers playing this type of game, should have probably opted for a level 2! But that said, we certainly got our money's worth trying to solve the riddles.- There appears to be an order for this particular series, so possibly getting part one before part two would have made more sense. However, it didnt actually detract from the game play. Just feel like Ive skipped a book!- that the other interactive games that use social media or other apps isn't necessarily better, and the fact this one was a small box, with cardboard pieces actually is all you need (I also bought another game from another company but you needed to install telegram to play the game and that didn't work out very well because the servers had a glitch). So personally I'll be sticking to this brand!Overall we really enjoyed playing this game, so much so I've ordered another one to play over Christmas.Clever riddles, neat twists and turns, and the three tier help cards means you can inch along if you get stuck rather than go straight for the answer.Read the instructions together as a team, didn't take long to work things out, used about 6 help cards (there re three per riddle) so it's definitely doable for the less experienced game players.

My partner and I absolutely love these Exit Games, we’ve played a good few now.The first we played together was the original The Abandoned Cabin which was brilliant so we were looking forward to trying this one. Thankfully it did not disappoint in the slightest! I think this is the best Exit Game so far! I’m enjoying the continuation of the story and look forward to the next instalment.With this one, I loved the element of the physical model of the room and extra bits that you put together, it really brought the game to life. We honestly had a lot much fun stretching our brains to this one. It was quite challenging as usual, and we almost gave up and were tempted to reach for the clues once or twice, but somehow managed to figure all the puzzles out eventually. First time we haven’t needed to use any clues which was a pleasant surprise! Still pretty difficult though.Highly recommend. Start with The Abandoned Cabin then try the Return.

Very clever, enjoyable and good value for money.

We have done two exit games previously and enjoyed them. 5 adults attempted this NYE after a couple of drinks and we gave up. Two of us played it tonight, with a cuppa but I have to say it was so hard. There were some really tricky puzzles. I don't think the game flowed like the others and we didn't enjoy the game at all. I'd say give this one a miss.

Fun games, liked the interactive parts

We have done The Exit Game advent calendars before and just stumbled upon the game version. WOW! This one was very challenging. I think you need to be a little older for this game, upper teens and very clever. This one took myself and one other person around a total of 6 hours and lots of help from the hint cards. It was trickier than we thought but still fun! I went back to buy more.

We have done The Exit Game advent calendars before and just stumbled upon the game version. WOW! This one wasn’t as challenging as the others I’ve done with a lower difficulty rating. I do think you need to be a little older for this game, upper teens and very clever. This one took myself and one other person around a total of 2.5 hours. Definitely worth the money!

This was one of the best EXIT games we’ve done so far. Playtime was a little over two hours for four 24 year olds. Best bang for your buck when it comes to entertainment. Captivating quality. No missing pieces, a ton of cool different clues. Very easy to understand how to play. We always have them in our camper, great travel size, we can fit like twelve in a tiny box!

This was our favorite so far. Some of the riddles were very creative and challenging. Very good value for your money. It took me and my boyfriend a little over two hours.