Inspectors' Review:
ohhh fancy bottles!
RIBBON!
These envelopes small spooky...
I found a lock, boss! Open it!
Does this ribbon make a head look big?
Okay, I'm supervising so begin your investigation, boss!
Boss' Review:
Café Nordo, originating in Seattle, is a dinner theatre company that opened their doors back in 2009. Prior to the pandemic they had created 7 original shows of the eleven years. With the pandemic forcing them to close their doors, Café Nordo branched out into an at home box experience to give people the same thrill and their first box launched in October 2020 – Do Not Disturb.
Do Not Disturb begins with your arrival at the beautiful Hotel Nordo. After entering your room with a beautiful ornate key, you discover a package has been left for you in your room and inside it are a series of documents and a locked box that reveal this beautiful hotel has an eerie history spanning since 1927. With a cocktail ready to make in the box and a dessert to award yourself at the end of the road, it is up to you to unravel why this hotel has its haunted past.
This experience is primarily an immersive one. There is a digital portal you use facilitate your unravelling the mystery which uses simple puzzles, videos, and exploration of the screen to move through the three packages in the box. Each package carries letters, news articles, and files that help you jump back and forth between 1927, the ill-fated year for the hotel, and the years following. I felt the writing was well done and the mix of physical documents really helped draw the reader it. I really enjoyed the author in the video, though some moments didn't always hit the way I thought they would. There were afew “aha” moments when you access them and made connections with the physical documents. One gripe is that I felt one character should have gotten more karma in the end. I felt based on the set up there should have been some consequence and the injustice irks me! As a result, the ending hit me wrong because of this character.
As for puzzles, these are extremely easy from logic to anagrams to pattern identification, and even good old fashion clue hunting. This experience isn’t meant to be a challenge per se but rather a way to encourage the participant to be fully involved. I especially loved how one puzzle actually tied in the cocktail into the puzzles so make sure to make your drink before you begin! I thought the puzzles were light and enjoyable. They forced you to pause in the narrative which opened for you to think about what you learned and that helped merge them with the video.
Customer service I will note will be a little different for me. While this game was bought by me, the company does not ship to Canada and therefore I had it delivered to a friend who then sent it to me. The dessert arrived quite bedraggled and while the chocolate was rich I did feel it was quite dry. Also, I found a folded note with the dessert that ended up being a spoiler for them game so make sure to open the dessert last or not to read that note until you play. This dessert does need to be consumed within a few days of arrival so be advised.
Overall, I found Do Not Disturb to have a fascinating story to share that worked well with the mix of online components and physical papers. I didn’t enjoy the dessert all the much, I was irked by one character who really impacted my enjoyment of the ending but I felt the majority of the story was well done and the beverage was a nice touch to add to the game. This experience is a little expensive so I would advise that people be aware this is immersive storytelling rather than an at home puzzle experience. If you are looking for immersive at home experience this is an option but it’s puzzle light.
Check out Cafe Nordo here.