Eleven Puzzles: Unboxing the Mind of a Cryptic Killer review

The team had gone above and beyond with the overall presentation of this game – one nice touch that we, bizarrely, see little of in the online space was the presence of a countdown. Regardless of how you personally feel about a perpetually draining clock, it’s something that I’m used to in the physical world that hasn’t quite jumped the gulf into the virtual space. So just seeing that alone added, to me, a great deal to the experience. Every deliberation came with extra weight when punctuated by those dwindling seconds! There’s also voice acting and a well-applied use of sound in moments of tension! This game best approximated the (fun) pressure you feel when entering a live game when you know that everything you do needs to propel you forward.

We need to help detectives Ally and Old Dog stop a puzzle-mad killer from striking again. We split up into two teams, one working with each agent. You will need at least one laptop or tablet per team. I chose to help Ally, a determined Scottish lady with a strong accent. From here on we don’t know what the other team sees. Gameplay is synchronised so teams can immediately tell when something has been done. For each stage, teams see a selection of similar but different items. We need to cooperate to piece together the two sides and solve the stage.

In between levels is a brief audio story update. You can also optionally listen to audio clips from your chosen detective for each puzzle. But generally the story takes a back seat and lets the puzzles take centre stage. The website and interface is very well made, both graphically and functionally – it’s modern, artistic, clean and easy to use.

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These were your usual suspects but with a neat twist – the game asks you to split into two teams with each team only seeing half of each puzzle. You truly must work together in order to progress here and it’s a format that’s super successful in my eyes. Not only did it force proper teamwork, but it solved a problem we’ve encountered many times in the past – keeping everyone on the same page. It is impossible for anyone to storm ahead or, likewise, anyone to be left behind because both teams are forced to co-operate. I especially liked one part that had both teams coordinating button presses!

Each stage contains a bitesize selection of varied non-linear puzzles that together reveal a 4-digit number to unlock the next level. They are all web-based and there’s a welcome facility to draw on the screen, although you may still find pen and paper handy for notetaking. There’s a Hints button next to each puzzle if you get stuck, but we didn’t use these as they aren’t too difficult. The cooperative element that only shows us half of the picture is what makes this a challenge. You need great teamwork as both teams have to work simultaneously for every puzzle. The overall difficultly level was perfectly pitched as the game flowed nicely but still remained a challenge.

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Yeah, this was a fun time. The concept of both teams seeing different things is something we very rarely come across and this was certainly the first game that relied on that design throughout the entire experience.

I really enjoyed this one. The puzzles were fun to solve and they’re packaged up in one easy-to-use website, meaning no printing or flicking between multiple browser tabs. It ends on an exciting crescendo when you’re suddenly given a short deadline to complete your mission and the panic sets in as any mistakes lose you precious time. Although in reality if you run out of time, the game still continues so you won’t miss anything. We went seconds over the 90 minutes after making a mistake at the end. I liked that the countdown timer paused itself during story updates. There will likely be moments when you’re sat waiting for the other team to do what they need to do, but thankfully this game has been designed to keep that to a minimum.

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This is one of the better value games I’ve played for the simple fact that it is a truly cooperative game. Don’t get me wrong here, playing the usual online game, you still get that, but it just doesn’t land the same way when you have a responsibility to relay what the others can’t see in order to progress. I know I seem fixated on this feature but it’s definitely the unique selling point of this game. That would mean nothing however if the rest of the game was lacking but, luckily, ‘Unboxing the Mind of a Cryptic Killer’ is firing on all cylinders!

£15 may not be the cheapest price for a play at home game, but when it’s as well crafted as Unboxing the Mind of a Cryptic Killer, it’s justified. Eleven Puzzles have smashed it out of the park with this one – it’s professional, slick and well produced. You wouldn’t guess it was their first game! It’s very accessible and so is perfect for casual puzzlers. It sets itself apart with its collaborative gameplay style and is perfect for people who aren’t physically together. This is a thoroughly enjoyable digital puzzle game.

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