Played April 2021.
Inspectors' Review:
THE STRING IS DELICIOUS
More fake hay!
Duotangs are fun to roll on.
Box smells boxy - wasn't able to sit in it yet.
Paper smells good and is comfy.
Boss doesn't like me eating plastic sleeves
Also cardboard....
Boss' Review:
As I have been burning through much of the MPC’s puzzle collection, I was excited to see them revamp older games to re-release. The Sleeping Werejaguar is a revamp of the original Under the Ceiba Tree. I believe they added an additional puzzle in the revamp and, most significantly, they updated an artifact component. Now, let’s dig in!
The narrative of this experience follows a young girl, Terry, who has travelled with her parents to a Mayan archeological dig site. She has sent you her notes, research, and a mysterious artifact that she says she was told to give to you for safekeeping. She mentions she has hidden something for you that will provide proof of what she claims. The narrative for this experience is well done. I enjoyed reading Terry’s experience on the dig site and how things evolved to her sending this package to me. Narrative progression is predominantly shown through letter writing to you, the reader, and a journal log with two additional articles but there are also worksheets and notes from Terry that seek to immerse you in the setting and I can see them tailored more for children but I enjoyed perusing them nevertheless. The story doesn’t dig as deep as I would have preferred but the premise was interesting.
In terms of puzzles, it consists of a math puzzle and a scavenger hunt. This game is meant for younger audience but that math puzzle was HARD! My puzzle partner and I had to do additional googling to get more help but the game also references a URL link that can provide nudges. A student who has continued to study math might have a better chance with seeing this as easier but as someone who hasn’t studied math in 10+ years, it definitely took some time. Not as much as some puzzles from MPC (I’m looking at you Carcosa) but there was a head banging and eyes burning as all the numbers blurred. The scavenger hunt was fun and I had to double check my numbers a few times as some components are really well hidden and really utilized all parts of the experience components. The solution to the scavenger hunt will unlock secret content.
Customer service, as I have repeated in my previous reviews, was great for me. Game arrived within a week of ordering, was well packaged, and had nothing missing. As a reminder, there is no hint site for MPC.
In reference to theme and components, I will say this game is on the lower spectrum for MPC. It doesn’t have the aged quality you see in John Augur or Filigree. The documents are all from the 21st century and only the main artifact is meant to be old. I would have loved to see some more aging (I think Chapter 2 Legend: A Game of Maps does an excellent job of creating aged Mayan components). I would have also loved more history unpacked. This isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy the game, but in comparison to other MPC games I can see why this was put in the Vault for a bit. This game is definitely meant for children in its simplicity but I still appreciate it.
Overall, I think for a children’s experience it was well done with a challenging puzzle and a fun scavenger hunt. As an adult I wish for a bit more complexity but that didn’t take way from me enjoying the story. I think if you have younger kids (12 and up) it would be a fun experience to do together or if you are a child at heart. This is more fun to do with others (especially with the math puzzle). Keep in mind, this, as like many MPCs, is more narrative than puzzle so if you was a lighter narrative experience with fun and challenging activities, try this out.
Check out MPC here.
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