I’ll be honest. The first time I heard about board games that attempted to simulate escape room games, I was skeptical. How could they possibly re-create the pressure and fun of solving those puzzles? Well I fully admit that I was just wrong. While it’s not quite the same experience, it’s pretty darn close. And so much cheaper! But let’s get into the details. Fear not: This review is utterly SPOILER FREE. Let’s go!

The Setup

Well, this one’s easy. Each box gives you a deck of cards, a few other odds and ends, and a decoder wheel. And that’s it. You can read the instructions if it’s your first Exit game, but there’s basically a backstory, along with some problem you’re presented with, and then you’re off.

In The Stormy Flight you’re all crew on an airplane that’s experiencing serious mechanical trouble. You’ve got to race the clock to put the various systems back online and land the plane before you meet a fiery death.

On Theft on the Mississippi, you’re a group of investigators who have set sail on a riverboat—on your way to your first case. But while en route, someone steals valuable documents from a businessman, and the captain asks you to take on the case and find the thief.

The Gameplay

Each game will go about this slightly differently but overall you’ll work together to achieve that game’s goal as quickly as possible. You have three decks of cards: a red Riddle deck, blue Answer deck, and a green Help deck.

Riddle: You’ll start the game with one or more Riddle cards that will get the ball rolling. You’ll be tasked with figuring out a puzzle that’s on the Riddle cards, or perhaps in a booklet or on a picture, that will lead you to a number. You’ll enter that number into the Decoder, which will give you another number and you’ll check the blue Answer deck for the card with that number on it. If you’re wrong, you’ll see a big X on the card and it’ll tell you that you’ve figured something incorrectly. So it’s back to figuring things out. Eventually you’ll turn over an Answer card that will either…

1) Outright tell you that you’re correct and then give you new Riddle cards, pages in the booklet, and/or pieces from the box.

2) Tell you you’re possibly correct, and have you do some more sleuthing to find out if you’re on the right track.

It’s important to note that you should be able to find the answers to these riddles using logic—you’d never want to just spam solutions until you get the correct one.

For every code in the game there are three matching Help cards of increasing helpfulness. The first Help card gives you an initial clue and tells you what you’ll need to solve the Riddle. The second Help card helps you hone in on a answer a bit more. And the third Help card will be even more explicit while not directly telling you the answer.

When the game ends will depend on which EXIT game you’re playing, but basically you’ll make your way through the Riddles and codes. The '“proper” way to play is to try and do it in an hour, and using Help cards will add time to your attempt, but we loosely try to do it in an hour but don’t sweat it when we don't.

Do note that EXIT games can only be played once. You’ll be bending, cutting, and manipulating cards, items, and booklets such that another playthrough, even from a completely different group, would be impossible.

The Verdict

My family has played four or five different types of escape room games, and the EXIT ones are our favorites. It’s a great way to pass a few hours—especially when you factor in the cost. For the same price as one adult movie ticket, you’ve got an evening of fun for the whole family.

That’s not so say it’s not frustrating sometimes. There’s been more than one occasion where we spent a LONG time on one Riddle and just couldn’t get it. The progressive Help cards are terrific; you can ease your way toward the solution.

We also learned after our second escape room game that we’re not much into the timer. We strive to complete them in an hour but we’ve never really come close to that, and we stopped stressing about it and just enjoy the journey.

As far as gaming with kids, we do work to spread the love around. We’ll have one person in charge of the Decoder, and another in charge of cards. And we’re intentional with asking the kids to noodle on a particular Riddle. This is because it’s easy for quiet and contemplative people to fade into the background during the stress of trying to solve the mysteries quickly, so to me it’s worth the extra time to keep them engaged. I’d rather the game takes an extra 30 or 45 minutes if everyone is participating.

There’s a free EXIT app that provides a timer, and ambient sounds specific to that adventure, which is a wonderful touch.

The Stormy Flight is a Level 2 on the 5-point difficulty scale, and it felt like the easiest we’ve played so far. That might be because we now know what sort of things to be looking for, but I still think this would be a great choice for beginners to this genre, or families with younger kids. There was only one puzzle that didn’t quite work for me, but it was a small thing and didn’t detract from the experience.

Theft on the Mississippi is a Level 3, and felt like it was solidly challenging, but not so challenging that you felt like an idiot. Still, I wouldn’t recommend this if it’s your first EXIT game. I liked that this one also added the mystery aspect, as you’re trying to figure out which suspect is telling the truth and which is lying; it was a fun extra layer. It also had a more fun theme for me—which I fully admit is subjective—so I enjoyed my play of this one more.

The Final Verdict

I’ve had a ton of fun with the EXIT games, and these two are just as much fun as previous games—especially the Mississippi one! The amount of entertainment packed into these inexpensive boxes boggles the mind. I’m particularly impressed that the designers never feel like they rehashing old puzzles. If you’re looking for a way to spend a couple of hours with friends and family, this is just the ticket. Just beware: You’ll get hooked!

Theology of Games would like to thank KOSMOS for providing review copies of these two EXIT Games. This in no way affected my opinion of these games.

Thanks for reading! Let us know down in the comments what your experience is with escape room games.