Inspectors' Review:
Oh cool glasses!
The gaming cartridge must do something! Can I use my teeth?
More envelopes?!?!
Box is comfy! Just gotta move some things over.
The calling card 10/10 bitable.
Oh, this wristband is awesome---ly relevant to the case on not a toy I want to play with...
There is evidence under my paws...but do you deserve it?
Boss' Review:
Calling Card is the third escape tabletop game by the company Key Enigma, a Spanish owned puzzle company that has brought us games like Wizard Academy, The Butterfly Curse, and Hack Forward which I thoroughly enjoyed. After enjoying Hack Forward, I was eager to support their next Kickstarter which was a detective murder mystery. As I live in Canada, I received the game a little earlier than my USA counterpart so I thought I’d share my review just as it begins making its rounds across North America. It is available for purchase after the kickstarter so let’s dive in.
Story:
The story of the game should come with a potentially trigger warning as suicide is addressed in this game. You start off with becoming involved with a missing person’s case and, alongside a journalist and the father of the missing individual, uncover a series strange circumstances leading up to the uncovering of a serial killer being at the center of this case. As you progress through the EIGHT chapters, you are trying to identify find this killer, uncover what is going on, why it is going on, and stop the next victim from being harmed. I will add, there is a unique choice at the end of the game that intrigued me.
The story itself is well done. It isn’t anything new overall but there are some good twists to keep you engaged. I would say if you enjoy solving crimes and catching killers in your escape games this game provided a well drawn out story that hits the spot. You get to uncover back story, make connections between crimes, and feel like you really put together everything yourself. The added function of a calling element to the game also added to the medium of storytelling as you got messages between characters, phone calls with characters, and the components of investigation.
Puzzles:
As for puzzles, this game really tried to provide a lot of variety in their puzzling from logic, manipulation, observation, ciphers, deduction, pattern identification, and more. This game definitely has something for everyone. Using a text box feature, the characters in the game guide you to each puzzle through association to a particular object in the game. I appreciated this as there is quite a bit of content and some pieces are used throughout overarching game. I recommend not packing things away completely once you finished an envelope. There were a couple times where I struggled to know what exactly to give the character during phone call interaction. I had to speak/text a character while my journalist friend wanted me to relay what I learned. This was a minor thing but be patient as the AI is looking specific words. I also found one of the more visual puzzles was a struggle to interpret so if you struggle with visuals, try playing with a friend or use the hint system to guide you.
This puzzling experience is a longer game which each chapter taking about an hour each. The division of chapters means you can easily divide up the game but be prepared to invest a series of days OR (like me) go through it all in one day. The puzzling I would say is mid-level in terms of challenge mainly because there is quite a different type of puzzling in each chapter. I particular enjoyed the video game puzzles and how how each puzzle has some kind of physical element to it which meant I felt like I was always doing something, even with how heavy this game is in online content. There also some fun tools and tricks that will wow new players while also amuse more experienced players who look at them and know what exactly it is. I was happy overall BUT I will note I found the final puzzle not as strong as the ones before it. Given the amount of puzzling though…I was still not disappointed.
Customer Service:
In terms of customer service, the Kickstarter ended May 2021 and I received my game December 2021. It was initially meant to arrive sooner, but the pandemic has delayed all tabletop games. As I live in Canada (and I guess there are not as many Canadian buying), my game was sent directly from Spain so there wasn’t a huge delay in shipping. The game took 2-3 weeks to arrive and was in good condition. I haven’t communicated with the creator regarding this game, but I did last game and they were really pleasant via IG. The hint system is good as it is directly embedded into the chat, so you don’t need to bounce between sites. I did find one thing which was if you have played the demo, it will be automatically done when you start the game again. In this case, I was immediately directed to the ending of chapter one as a result. Just an FYI for players!
Also, I purchased the Deluxe Edition of this game. I would say if you like tangible components it is cool (the coin was a nice touch). It adds more tangibility but the game is not modified much from the original experience.
Conclusion:
Overall, I found Calling Card to be a packed puzzling experience with a good detective experience, well designed puzzles, and good tangibility. The game was able to stand out as a detective game for me because of its engaging use of both online and physical mediums, but also the sheer amount of content for a great cost. I would say for 8+ hours of content, this is an excellent option for those who enjoy true crime! Also, if you played their previous game you may notice a cross over with Hack Forward! At the end of this, I am definitely interested in checking out the next game when it launches!
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