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misterdaniel ([personal profile] misterdaniel) wrote2025-01-30 04:22 pm

Games Demos: Unlock!

So the last weekend of January saw the return of "To Boldly Game" at the National Space Centre in Leicester. This was the second time the Space Centre has teamed up with the forces behind the UK Games Expo to bring sci-fi and STEM-based games to the centre. And I was there to demo games.

I have already mentioned MLEM and I don't really need to mention Dobble, but let's talk about Unlock!
by space Cowboys.

Unlock! is, in a nutshell, an "Escape Room In A Box". You get a deck of specially made card and download an app and then you are presented with a scenario, a series of puzzles and a ticking countdown.

If that sounds like fun, it is. If it doesn't, then its not for you. Its that simple.

For demo purposes, the Star Wars Unlock! includes a 10 minute tutorial that I helped run for people repeatedly. Not only have I enjoyed solving the puzzles but I have enjoyed watching others put the clues together - and 90% of them making the same mistake that the game pretty much expects them to. Its a good time.

The Big Box versions contain 3x 60-minute adventures plus a 10-min tutorial. Its a great small group (or solo) piece of fun that you can do in the comfort of your own home, or someone else's.

The downside? Well, once you know the puzzles, you know the puzzles. Its one and done in that regard, i.e. very little in the way of re-playability. That might lead one to question the value for money aspect. However, at £24-30 per Big Box then that is £8-£10 per adventure. You would spend that on a cinema ticket and more on an actual Escape Room.

Plus, once completed, you can share the box with friends - or use a reselling site to recoup some of that.

The other option is that an Unlock! game would be a great way to spend time at a Board Game cafe which likely have one or more on the shelves.

So yes, Unlock! games are recommended for those who like that sort of thing. Like me. So, with that in mind, would anyone like to join a group for exchanging Unlock! games with one another?