Inspectors Review:
Something...suspicious is happening in this town...
Where is my Detective badge?!?!
These newspapers are strange - might want to check that out, boss?
In breaking into someone's email illegal? I'm a detective, though!
Boss' Review:
Over the last year, Ukiyo Melbourne, an Australian run escape room, has been launching Ukiyo At Home, a series of puzzle ARGs over the course of the last two years during the pandemic. I briefly reviewed the first experience, Stawk Pine Falls (A Twin Peaks Inspired experience), on Facebook here. I started their second experience Bird Cage (Slender Man style creepy pasta), and last week they announced their four day ARG sequel to Stawk Pine Falls, called Fire Stawk With Me. While these experience are not always replay-able (previous content of Stawk Pine Falls is gone but technically Bird Cage and Fire Stawk With Me can still be played but I don't believe they are selling tickets anymore) after the event, I wanted to take the time to provided a mini review to encourage people to keep an eye out for any new experience by this company.
The premise of this ARG is that Office Rupert Huntley from Stawk Pines Police Department has reached out to you to assist in helping solve the case surrounding the disappearance of five woman. One of the woman, Shelley Antoin, has suddenly returned after being gone for a year and with new information in the case, Huntley is asking you to do some digging. Previous knowledge of the last game is beneficial but not required to play. If you have played the previous game you will see there were a lot of easter eggs from the previous game, Stawk Pine Falls, but they are not essential to the storyline. For those interested in following the original series, here’s a youtube channel that chronicled the first series. Also, this game is Melbourne based time so USA/Canada players will likely miss live stream content BUT it is all recorded so don’t worry about missing out.
This game takes place across Facebook, Youtube, phone (or an online switchboard if you are an international player), a forum, and email (vial a website for Stawkmail). Each day you receive an email for Huntley nudging you to focus on a particular avenue but you’re off on your own for the most part, scouring "The Stawk Daily News" on Facebook, closely listening to "The Stawk Daily Access," and putting together the pieces of this case You must move through labyrinths, break into accounts, and solve puzzles to gain the clues. There is no hint system for these kind of games, but there is a Reddit group for assistance and as the days progress more obvious details will come to light that will make puzzle solutions more obvious.
What I loved most about this game is the element of exploration and theorizing that comes with it. These games don’t give you the answers in a neat box. You can “solve” the game but you leave it still processing all that happened and the connection you have made. For those who like to continue theorizing this is a fun game; if you prefer clear cut ending then this may not be for you. Yes, there is a clear finale to the game but by the end you have to really think back on everything you learned.
The puzzles themselves involved figuring out passwords, hunting for clues, and tracking patterns. They were not difficult but required paying attention to everything you read or hear. I found some of the clues to have really fun twists I never thought of that were refreshing to experience. This game has a lot of material to go through that isn’t puzzle focused so take into account storytelling is at the forefront. The puzzles help gate the progression but it makes sense to the experience.
Overall, I think Ukiyo At Home provided another marvellous experience that had the perfect amount of detective puzzling and mystery storytelling that was refreshing and well situated I did think the last day was a little short but, as a whole, I was fully engaged and really liked the outcome. This is the game I keep thinking about throughout the day and I now want to go back and play Bird Cage to get that same experience, since I never finished. Also, this game was only $15.00 and provided 5 hours of content over the course of four days! I recommend following Ukiyo to keep an eye out for upcoming games because if you like online interactive storytelling with puzzles and lore these are perfect!
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