Capsoole Island Part 1 by Lemme Escape

Inspectors' Review:

• String is TASTY.

• I think this symbol might be key! Have you inspected this newspaper yet?

• Does this triangle help you now that I've turned it?

• Diaries are a great place to start...even I know that, Boss!

• Wait a moment...you mean that's the answer!?!?

• Obviously you need me to solve this for you! XD

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Boss' Review:

I came across the murmurings of Capsoole Island thanks to the Puzzle People Facebook group. It was a game described by the creator as “deeply psychological” and, most importantly, a game that seeks to keep you stuck on the island. I was confused and curious and decided to join a good friend to see what is going on in this peculiar world of Capsoole.

Story:

The introduction follows with Henry Banks, a wealthy business man known for pretty eccentric ideas. His most curious one focused on creating a“life’s capsule” in Capsoole Island. Many of the locals still believed the sacred tales of Capsoole and Banks’ idea appeared to seek to change Capsoole forever, much to the upset of the people. Strangely, he died before his vision could come to life as a result of an unknown illness that his family questions the legitimacy of. Sergeant Wells has asked you to investigate the office of this deceased tycoon in order to unearth the secrets of what is going on.

Now, the way Capsoole Island is framed, there are a series of interconnected expansions that will continue the story and force you to return to previous packages. This first one was an introduction. You start with examining his office to find a series of locked file cabinets, diary, bank safe, in additional to notes, newspaper, and more. You are able to start wherever you want. The narrative elements starts with a letter from Sergeant Wells but you also find a news article, a locked diary, and the mystery they developed was fascinating and a thread I wanted to keep pulling. There is a lot of content layered with each item so I admit to staring in confusion for a bit before I was able to start. I will note, the narrative does get quite confusing at the halfway point of the game, especially when I came across the bank and filing cabinet. While the game says you can puzzle in any order, I felt there was an actual order to solve these puzzles that would help players better understand what was happening – and I did not solve in that order, so the story fell apart for me at the end.

Puzzles:

In terms of puzzles, there is a wide variety that requires flipping, adjusting, logic, and more. Some were quite simple while others I just couldn’t wrap my head around. I enjoyed the puzzles that requires making associations between objects. These associations would provide clue or answer – there was some really excellent clues that helped you make the connections that I appreciated. The more tricky puzzles I struggled usually involved multiple steps that I stumbled with because I didn't know how far to push. I was always so close but missed it by an inch, so to speak. We did end up using the email hints from the creator that gave us riddles to follow and also the order of puzzles which was really useful to know what to follow but the puzzles still were difficult. I would say I would have liked a better way to check my answers before opening envelopes because the only way to check your answer was to open it and see. For the average puzzler, a robust hint system with solution checking is needed for this game because of its nature. For those looking for a challenge this can keep you puzzling for days.

Customer Service:

In terms of customer service, the company is prompt with providing assistance and keeps you updated on upcoming information. My friend was the one to facilitate the order and she had no issues. There is no hint system for this game, as briefly mentioned above, but you can email the creator to get a series of nudges. They do not have answers but you can always follow up with the creator for more information.

Conclusion:

In the end, Capsoole Island provides some confounding puzzles in a small package. I would liken this to level of puzzling we saw in MPC’s Curios and Conundrum, which benefitted from an amazing forum where players could discuss and share information about the obscure and difficult puzzles. I could see this similar format of forum working for this game as well. There is a lot of potential in Capsoole Island with its unique premise, puzzling narrative, and layered puzzles, but a more comprehensive guide/hints would make this game more accessible to a wider audience. For now I would say this game targets more old school puzzlers looking for a challenge with no hints.