This game was played July 2020.
Inspectors' Review:
Boxes are excellent!
Elastics bands are fun!
Human needed are assistance so we supervised....intently
Paper was nice but boxes were better :P
Boss' Review
During the height of the pandemic when people are scrambling to find games to play, I came
across DarkPark Games through a Facebook group. They games wasn't a kickstarter and both were ready to ship so I ended up ordering both at home experiences by DarkPark. I highly recommend playing them in order and I did. This review is for their first at home game, Conspiracy-19.
The premise of Conspiracy -19 is that you are helping to uncover the secrets behind the release of a virus that seems to be connected to a group of rather unlikely individuals. The website says you are connecting dots, through puzzles, to discover who are the people involved and why they are involved. This is a puzzle oriented game, rather than story driven. The story isn't super strong but the theming is well done and there was a good cohesion as I moved from puzzle to puzzle. Some of the items were quite random but they made it work. In this case, the small set up and theme are used to accommodate the puzzles.
Now, the puzzles were a mix of deduction, physical manipulations, optics, and more. Despite my tendency to prefer story over puzzles, the unique puzzles really help to keep the players engaged with their variety as well as the unique angles to which the solutions arise from. Puzzles are divided into sections where each one asked you to identify two things – these solutions don’t necessarily give you clues to the story but, rather, give you the tools to move the story forward and unlock the conclusion. Overall, I enjoyed the puzzles and found they tied well with the game. While the solutions to the puzzles were straightforward (as in they don't provide any narrative development), the journey to find them was fun.
I also purchased a refill kit with the game and I highly recommend you do this if A) you plan to pass on this game or B) want to keep your game in pristine condition. I felt having the refill kit was a nice safety net for me to be able to check whether or not I am meant to write on/manipulate something.
The game also comes with a hint system and while I would have wished for more clues (rather than simply just telling me what to do) I did really enjoy having access to these guides. I am the kind of person that likes to check my answers throughout so after each section I was able to check to see did I complete the right thing before moving on.
Customer service is excellent. They are quick to respond to messages and they shipped out my package in a timely manner. I was actually surprised how quickly it arrived (I live in Canada) as the pandemic has slowed down the movement of parcels quite a bit.
Overall, Conspiracy 19 is an enjoyable game with engaging puzzles. The theme is well developed and the mix of physical, paper, and online puzzles breaks up the experience so not to create repetition and monotony. The quality is also excellent and feels nice to engage with. The price of the game is fair but be aware of shipping because this is sent from Europe (I recommend buying both games and the kits at once to save on shipping if you want to buy). If you have extra funds and are looking for something fun to do in the evening, Conspiracy – 19 is a great choice.
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This game was purchased by me.