Vincent Hahn just barely escaped, but Intel has noticed some suspicious activity in Hong Kong. According to reports, Hahn is dealing with artefacts related to the Silk Road. Your mission is to go there, find Hahn, and capture him before he can get away.
	No time limit
	1-4 players recommended
	Difficulty level not stated
	$10 per team
	Online (based in USA)
	theescapegame.com
	Played by Daiman, Paul, Bharath
	May 2020
	Completed in around 70 minutes

Theming

7/10Almost identical to volume one, the main hub was slick and well designed and was supported with some video interludes that kept up the immersion. I feel though that the second half let this down slightly in a few ways, some of it was clearly intentional but later game elements didn’t seem to gel with the rest of the story as well. Not a massively perceptible difference but the first game just pips it!

 Daiman

8/10The Silk Road carries on from where we left off in Vol 1. This time we’re virtually sent to Hong Kong in our continued search for the elusive art thief Vincent Hahn. Again, the game is centred around their slick online dashboard, from where we can download additional materials, listen to Skype-themed video calls from our agency contact, and work on puzzles. The tasks are themed well to the story and amongst other things had us travelling to far flung places with the help of Google Maps, researching trips with the aid of a specially created travel agent website, and investigating Hong Kong pawn shops and antique dealers.

Paul

7/10[score only]

 Bharath

Puzzles

6/10Compared to the last game, these were lacking. There was a puzzle very early on that had more than one way of divining the solution and, truth be told, this put me off on the wrong foot because a very tiny adjustment would’ve fixed this and the fact that there was another route to solving the puzzle seems like an oversight. Later on, there was a puzzle that wasn’t particularly well clued, the route to the answer felt a tiny bit unclear. All in all, there was a sense that this installment had been rushed.

 Daiman

7/10The puzzles are split into 5 sections and although in a similar vein, they differ from those in Chasing Hahn, especially with the audio based task. They’re good, but don’t quite match the level set by those in the first volume. It felt like there was less to do, but maybe they were just simpler. We completed the mission in 70ish minutes whereas Vol 1 took us 2 hours. The challenges were logical and flowed nicely, apart from 2 issues. The surveillance task seemed flawed as the answer was the most obvious one which meant you could bypass the intended solution. Plus the coordinates task had an ambiguous element to it which meant we took a wrong turn and had to double back on ourselves and repeat our work.

Paul

6/10[score only]

 Bharath

Enjoyment

7/10I still had fun playing this, I just couldn’t shake the feeling that was a demonstrably weaker experience than the first one. The main problem with this game is that it follows another one and therefore drawing direct comparisons. That said, my problems with the puzzles are agnostic of the previous game, they’re flawed regardless. Do I think it’s still worth playing? For sure, it’s well-presented and all the other puzzles were fine and fun to engage with!

 Daiman

7/10This was again very enjoyable to play, combining investigative and puzzle skills into one well designed and immersive online game. You can play it either alone or with others at home, or combine it with a video chat service to play with friends across the globe, which is how we played it. I did prefer their first edition though as that felt like it contained more.

Paul

7/10[score only]

 Bharath

Value

7/10With the same price as volume one, this is slightly less value for money. The package on a whole is comparable to the first part but the weaker puzzles knock this down a point. A good barometer here for deciding whether to play would be to ask yourself how much you enjoyed the previous game. If you enjoyed it, go ahead. It’s a similar, if a tiny bit diminished, experience. If you didn’t enjoy the last game, this won’t change your mind.

 Daiman

8/10$10 per team is a very reasonable price to pay for a quality experience that extends beyond their website, sending you trawling through various websites and items of evidence in the hunt for Vincent Hahn. It’s a fully digital game so no printer is necessary. If you enjoyed Volume 1, get your team together again and ensure you don’t let Vincent escape your clutches for a second time!

Paul

7/10[score only]

 Bharath

Overall scores