Thames & Kosmos EXIT - The Disappearance of Sherlock Holmes, Escape Room Card Game, Board Games for Family Night, Ideal for Adults and Kids, For 1 to 4 Players, Age 12+

This was a really entertaining game. We discovered the Exit games a few years ago and they never disappoint. Some of the puzzles are really ingenious and you end up both impressed with yourself at having worked them out, and amazed that someone came up with them in the first place. This Fortune City game was one of our favourites so far. Great fun.

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.

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!

Never played an escape room before, we should have gone with an easier version before this one as this took us 4 hours ... Oops. But we were really intrigued and was so fun to play, especially for our date night. Only use the game once, but you'd pay a lot more for a live escape room. Even bought another game a week later, and easier level.

We loved completing this escape room, have completed others in the series in the past. Took us a bit longer as we like to spread it over a day to get moneys worth. Only downside is can’t be reused or passed on when completed. But still hours of fun.

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

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.

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.