Thames & Kosmos EXIT: The Abandoned Cabin

Daughter got this for Xmas and we played it last night. Two adults and two kids (15 and 12) and it took us two and half hours to solve. We did use a few hint cards but only the first (occasionally the second) hint card was actually needed and we found it was a case of almost being there but just missing a tiny bit. Once we got the hang of it (realising we could look through the book rather than the clue just being on page one) we found it quite easy to understand and was quite pleased with ourselves when we finally got a tricky one. Be prepared to cut things up and fold things so it is only a once only game but we enjoyed it and will be buying more in the series. Highly recommend for an evening of fun.

My 13 year old daughter loves puzzles. She would happily plough through the Puzzler in one sitting and when she prepared for the 11+ exams a few years ago, she whizzed through the non-verbal reasoning questions. So I thought as a treat she could invite one of her good friends to come over and have a 'play-date' (although teens don't call it that - it's only reserved for primary school kids and toddlers). Anyway, the two of them cooped themselves up in her bedroom and emerged two or three hours later having solved the thing. I could hear them laughing away and having a good time - so if they hadn't been gossiping away, perhaps they might have completed it sooner. Anyway, she said she enjoyed the concept very much although wants something a little more challenging but from the same series of puzzles. So I would say it's a winner and a good one to start on, if you are interested in this series of puzzles.

A little tricky to get started but fine once we got going. The riddles do come in order and you pretty much solve each one before you move on. They are challenging and we did use a few hints to point us in the right direction. Very satisfying when you work them out though. We had 2 players (1 x adult, 1 x 15 year old) and I don't think we would have wanted more because you really need to be handling and peering at the cards so additional people would have just sat around getting bored. One thing that could be improved is making the cards bigger because I really struggled to read / count / find things on the cards.

Really good game but can only play once I would only buy it on sale

Excellent game. Me and my partner enjoyed doing this game. Well worth the money would recommend. Wasn't to difficult but wasn't easy either.

These games are excellent. Once you solve a couple you start to think in the way to get to the answers highly reccomend. Not fone any really difficult ones yet. The advent calendars are brilliant. Little hint don't alter anything or throw anything away they are so well thought out you can use any of the parts included in the game box and all

We really enjoyed this game and it proved a great activity for 2.5(!) hours on a rainy Saturday afternoon. The puzzles and riddles were good and the hint system worked well. The quality of the materials were good too, although the ‘mysterious objects’ were basically three more cards, which felt a bit cheap considering the price point. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want it filled with horrible plastic, but maybe some nice slot assembly card objects would have been fun. I have a minor and a major gripe though. Minor one first is that we hit a dead end a third of the way through and I’m not sure where we went wrong, but there was no way out and now I can see all the game materials in full, I’m not sure what we missed. Without giving any spoilers, there isn’t a picture of two key items and what shapes relate to them and it felt like this was missing rather than us just not seeing it. Had to guess an answer which luckily was correct, but didn’t feel in the spirit of the game. Maybe this was just us though! My major gripe is with the one-use feature. I hate waste, but embraced the firm instructions to cut, fold and write on the materials as the promise of “more diverse puzzles” written on the box seemed legit. However, you only need to cut a few cards and one page of the booklet up, and fold one page, so for two-ish puzzles the whole game is rendered useless at the end. This is EASILY solvable by having the bits that need cutting out supplied alternately as punched cards in the same style as the ‘mysterious objects’ and/or in a simple envelope with the riddle number on it. That would mean you can gift the game to others afterwards. I’ve concluded it simply isn’t enough to say the game is fully recyclable afterwards; the game is too nicely put together to toss in the green bin at the end! Kosmos need to do better here. The price point should allow for the materials presented in this way; they are not cheap and yes, a cinema ticket is around the same price for a few hours entertainment, but this doesn’t negate the waste. I’ve assuaged my guilt by painstakingly reconstructing everything so I can pass it on to charity or another player, but it would be so easy to make it reusable. My recommendation is add a few sheets of tracing or baking paper to your stack of materials before playing, and you can quickly reproduce the ‘destructible’ elements and allow you to regift to someone else.

There can’t be many (if any) board games you can play where you cut up a booklet, some of the playing cards and even draw on them! Probably wrong to call this a ‘board game’ as there is no board. Someone reads out the scenario and you are given your first clue. Then off you go! We downloaded the app so we could keep an eye on the time. There is no limit on how long you can take but your final score is partly based on it. There are clue cards if you get stuck and the number read is also used to determine your final score. We played with four adults and found it great fun. It actually took us an hour and a half to finally escape! It is a one off...you can’t play it again. But then, what would be the point as you would know all the answers? We will certainly try one of the others in the series.

Played it with friends. It was really exciting and challenging. Highly recommend it if you like exit games.

This was a fun game to play with the family. The puzzles were challenging but not impossible, and it kept everyone involved. A great choice for a game night.

As described. Complete, sealed. Nice game to play with friends or family. Handy size, easy to take along in your luggage for travels/sleep-overs.

We have done a few actual escape rooms and this is the first exit game we have played. We all enjoyed the experience alot as the puzzles were challenging and the hints very helpful. Love the way the game works! Would recommend this and in particular the abandoned cabin, some lovely twists / reveals that we won't forget! We ended up cutting up and tearing out bits and pieces of the game so be prepared to use this game as a one off play, but definitely worth the money We have also done the Pharaoh one, which is definitely a lot harder. One of the puzzles even with the solution was super hard to understand. Apart from that puzzle it was a very enjoyable way to pass the time, challenging the grey matter. The puzzles were completely different from the abandoned cabin ones and ranged from easy to super hard throughout the game.

Background of the reviewer: Middle-aged mom with years of experience in the Pokemon TCG competitive community. I am a casual gamer who mostly plays with my family (Catan, Ticket to Ride, Fluxx, Pandemic) or Solo Marvel Legendary. Always looking for new gaming opportunities. Experience with Escape Room Games: This is my first purchase of and experience with a table-top escape room game. I purchased this after reading multiple BGG reviews of all of the currently available escape room games. I have not done any live escape room experiences. Out of the box: The instructions are super explicit about not examining the included materials. The box contains a plastic wrapped set of cards, a cardboard decoder, three “strange” items, a book and a rule book. The instructions are very clear in guiding players through setting up the game without accidentally revealing any information that would ruin the experience. Everything is very well-constructed and a good value for the price. It was very easy to get the game started. The other suggested materials were pencils with erasers, a pair of scissors and some paper. How hard is this to play? The directions are very clear and easy to understand, and we quickly got the hang of trying different things, talking things over, and thinking outside of the box as much as we could. The game is very well constructed and all of the components work well together. My wife and I found the puzzles extraordinarily challenging. The suggested playing time is 60-90 minutes and after two hours we were not even halfway done. We got the first riddle, but then had to use one clue on the second riddle, 2 clues on the third and could not solve the fourth. Despite how hard this was for us, it was still fun as we had some “ah-ha we got it” moments, only to realize we did not. The clues we did reveal showed us that were on the right track multiple times, but just couldn’t quite bring it home. Interestingly, each time the clue showed us how close we had come, we eagerly moved to the next riddle thinking that it would be the turning point for us. (it never was) We are clearly not of the ilk that finds success at games like this, and in hindsight, neither one of us is into puzzle-solving. We don’t do Suduku, anagrams, or other logic puzzles. I think if we had more brain-stretching experiences like this we would have fared better. We boxed it back up, but fully intend to pull it out again when are refreshed, and maybe have a third person to join in. Even though we have decided this game probably isn’t for us, we will be buying the next one in the series for our 14-year-old son who definitely loves puzzles and challenges like this. What, exactly, are you doing when you play? You are using the provided materials to solve riddles. All of the information you need to solve the puzzles is there, you just need to figure it out. Each riddle you solve “unlocks” the next set of riddles. At first you are solving one riddle, but then move on and have multiple riddles involved. You and the other player(s) are working together to brainstorm ideas of what might work. Each time you think you have it solved, you use the cardboard decoder to check your answer. If you are wrong, you go back to the drawing board. The decoder is very well made and a clever way of guiding you without revealing anything. Recommended number of players: The box says 1-4 players but I think 4 is on the high end. There is not, in my opinion, enough to keep 4 people occupied. I think this would be a great date night activity (if the couple are a lot more logical than my wife and are), or maybe for three people. I think this could also be played by six people if you used two copies (or photocopied a second set of the book) and agreed to not work ahead of the other players but worked side by side. The book that you are referring to is hard to share with two people, let alone 4, and it’s a crucial part of figuring things out. I also question the 12+ age rating. I am not sure a group of 12-year-olds could figure this out without an adult involved, but others may disagree. Once my 14 year old plays the next one in the series (after Christmas) I can update my thoughts. Replayability: This is a consumable game -- components of the game are marked or destroyed as part of the play. Also, once you solve the riddles there is no point in re-playing it. When my wife realized it was not re-playable she was at first confused. Why did I buy a game that we would just throw away when we were done with it. Once I explained that it cost less than a movie ticket (I got it on sale for $10), and this was our date night activity, it made more sense to her. Final thoughts: Although this ended up not being the type of game I think we would play again (we’ll stick to Pandemic and Marvel), I do not regret the purchase in the least. I would highly recommend this to those who: enjoy logic puzzles; are creative problem solvers; have a fairly high frustration tolerance; are interested in stretching their mental muscles. It is extremely well-made, clever (at least as far as we were able to proceed), and a great experience for a good price-point. If you are considering purchasing an escape room table top game (or dropping the big bucks for a live experience), I would suggest this as a good entry game. If you enjoy it, you can consider the more expensive options out there. If, like us, it’s not your cup of tea you are out less than $15.