A Cryptic Legacy by Society of Curiosities

Inspectors' Review:

• Oh! Pretty paper!!

• An official letter...mum! Come read this to us!

• I think opposable thumbs are required from some of this...so we'll just supervise.

• Yes...my eyes may be closed but I am VIGILANT! Keep working!

• Have you contacted Pippa yet? I think the code word is here...somewhere??

• Oh...it is underneath me...I'll move eventually!

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I completed a review of the fourth part of Society of Curiosities back in March 2021 and I honestly thought the season was done…but I was wrong! For those who don’t know Society of Curiosities is a subscription service mystery puzzle game by creators Michelle and Yacine in Hawaii. You can opt in for a quarterly subscription, a monthly, or a yearly subscription. The way the series work is that there are 4 big overarching episodes in the year with the last only being my most recent review – the Last Masquerade. Along with each of these big episodes are a coffee break mini puzzle, and a postcard puzzle that come between the episodes. This review is for the Coffee Break Mystery that coincides with the final episode.

This particular episode gives attention to a name introduced two episodes ago – a famous inventor with a curious connection to the artifacts you are hunting down for the Society. In this case, a new document found in the possessions of this investor provides a mystery that may lead the society to something important, though what that is is uncertain…you are tasked with leading a ground team using a strange document to guide their way.

The narrative was pretty light. You are more playing this for an immersive puzzle fix than for a puzzle narrative adventure. You are mainly moving for task to task with Pip nudging you along but the structure was sound and with how short this adventure is meant to be, I had no complaints!

The puzzles were well developed and include googling, searching, riddles, paper manipulation, and ciphers. The online AI does an excellent job (as usual) in guiding you along to direct you to the puzzles you need to focus on. I also found it interesting how they like to tie the previous box with this game (make sure to have access to that game while you play this!). I will say the ARG element still catches me off guard with puzzling but I do enjoy that immersive component. There is often the case where a subscription service can become repetitive or the difficulty level diminishes and SoC does a great job guiding you in the beginning so you can develop the skills to push through these challenges by the end of the season. Also, there's a hint system if you need it. I enjoyed how well the puzzles unfolded as you progressed and Pip does an excellent job in giving you the satisfaction when you solve it.

Customer service is excellent as always! I’ve given plenty of praise for their dedication to their customers and the structure of their hint systems. They are always looking for feedback and are quick to help you if you need assistance. Hint system is cohesive and guides players without spoiling.

Overall, Society of Curiosities provided another pleasant coffee mystery that I thoroughly enjoyed! It was well paced and the puzzles fit well with the progression. I am very excited for the last postcard of the season to arrive and then…season 2! I

Check out Society of Curiosities here.