Boxaroo: The Storyteller’s Secret

We only had a chance to play one game in Boston, and it was an easy choice; The Storyteller’s Secret had been on my radar for some time due to its multiple TERPECA wins. The premise is that you’re entering the cabin of a famous writer in order to discover their secret – which in another game might have a grim twist, but here is the basis for a sweet and wholesome game, full of heart and charm.

The tone is set from the outset with whimsical and beautiful set dressing, further enhanced with atmospheric lighting and music. It’s quite a narrow space, and while the game does open out to some extent, it remained cozy throughout for our team of four, and I certainly wouldn’t recommend playing it with any more than that.

More than most escape rooms, The Storyteller’s Secret has a clear and distinctive structure. Each part of the game has its own identity, and the design then brings these together in a way that’s satisfying and quite unusual, almost like a computer game that establishes its themes and then adds difficulty and complexity.

A particular nod goes to the hint system, which was exquisitely well matched to the game’s theme as well as beautiful in its own right. It also gave players a lot of control over when and whether they wanted a hint – though that’s more suitable for experienced players than for beginners who may resort to hints too often or too little for their own good.

There’s also a post-game follow-up where you receive a breakdown of how fast you solved each section, as well as overall time, and how that compares to other players. It’s a nice idea, though particularly for a beautiful room like this one, I’m not sure companies should be measuring players by how quickly they leave anymore; rushing through this game would be a waste.

Nothing gave us cause to regret choosing this room for our visit to Boston; it offers solid puzzles throughout, and presents them in a way that’s thematic and engaging, charming and beautiful, leading up to a suitably clever finish – even if it took us ages to work out that final puzzle.