The Curious Elevator of Mr. Hincks

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There are few contraptions as well known and as convenient as the elevator – but what if we added the element of whimsy and imagination to them? Keeping this premise in mind, Bluefish Games brings us an at-home escape game entitled The Curious Elevator of Mr. Hincks. “What makes this elevator so curious?”, I hear you ask. An excellent question! Stephen P. Hincks, to whom this elevator belongs, has actually been working diligently on a series of puzzles and has chosen your team and this very elevator to test them out! In fact, the elevator itself acts as the destination of your journey, with each floor containing access to new and intriguing puzzles that lead to the next. Having completed this curious experience, we at Escape Room Addict are happy to announce that we are now ready to jump into its review (and aren’t currently writing this from within the elevator)!

Your journey through The Curious Elevator of Mr. Hincks begins by first accessing a website the game provides for you and is accompanied by a folder filled with a large variety of puzzles, documents, and items that you and your team will use along the way to find the password required to access your next, digital elevator level. We were all genuinely impressed by the quality of some of these items, including props with excellent graphic design and material quality. Though the quality of material could’ve been a bit more consistent amongst the pieces, we still found the website to in-person-puzzle relationship to be accessible and aesthetically pleasing, which made for an overall smooth and enjoyable experience.

Immersion-wise, we found that though we were willingly on this elevator – we were frequently asking ourselves, “why?”. Why did Mr. Hincks gather us here? What were we getting out of this journey? That being said, each floor still brought with it a new sense of whimsy and curiosity, all while helping us learn more about the world the elevator belongs to as we explored each level. Though the story was strongest during the beginning and end of the game, something all the ERA member’s playing genuinely enjoyed was the voice acting that accompanied it. Bluefish Games did a wonderful job of bringing any bits of narration to life through the quality of voice acting present, which did (if even briefly) help bring Mr. Hincks and his elevator to life.

In order to progress through this game, you rely heavily on the in-person puzzles required to find each level’s passcode, and let me start by saying, Mr. Hincks did not come empty handed! There are a wide variety of puzzles and levels to get through, and each of the props included helped bridge the gap between the game’s digital reality and ours. Though we did find that the majority of the puzzles were centred on word scrambles, each puzzle still managed to bring something unique and fun to work through. Among these puzzles were also some memorable ones whose solutions genuinely surprised our members and became key reasons for giving the game’s puzzles a higher rating. The game’s hint system was also a fan favourite, with it’s easy to use interface and step-by-step reveals helping us exactly when we needed it without giving away too much at first. The game’s focus on accessibility by including closed captions for any spoken instructions or bits of narration in puzzles was also a feature we all valued. With all this in mind, we thought that for the difficulty and range of puzzles, The Curious Elevator of Mr. Hincks would be a perfect game for smaller groups to play so that all players could remain engaged and involved the whole time.

Overall, The Curious Elevator of Mr. Hincks has a creative, fantastical premise and the promise of an enjoyable experience for those playing. We also highly recommend playing with groups of 2-3 people and to also include younger players, as though the recommended ages are 14+, anyone 9 and up would likely find this game super fun (family game night, anyone?) We hope to see you and your team listed in Mr. Hincks’s hall of fame, and till then, happy escaping!