Exit: Dead Man on the Orient Express

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It’s not always easy to find time to visit an Escape Room, and even when one finds the time, sometimes it’s hard to find a group to accompany you on your daring escape. Luckily, the options for at-home escape games continue to grow, with more and more companies and games to choose from. The Exit The Game series offers an at-home escape room experience, providing eager participants multiple decks of cards, a decoder wheel, and some additional paper items that they must utilize to solve a variety of puzzles and, ultimately, escape.

The components of the Exit series are effective, and while some items may be thin and flimsy, one must remember that these games are only meant to be played once, ever. Luckily, this is the case for the minority of components, as the card thickness and finish are of good quality, and the decoder wheel will definitely last through the adventure. Additionally, the artwork of the Exit series is quite good, and draws you into the scenario in which you are being immersed. It’s a good idea when playing the Exit series to have a pen or pencil, some note paper, and a pair of scissors at the ready, as there can be a lot to keep track of, and you never know when you’ll be thrown a curveball.

If the title alone isn’t enough, Dead Man on the Orient Express does a fantastic job of bringing investigators into the familiar setting of a passenger train through its artwork and story. Being an investigation, this game forces you to be involved in the story, and while this may seem like a default requirement for any escape experience, you would be surprised at how many rooms I’ve done where I’ve totally forgotten what the story was while I was in it. Now, it could be that this story just happened to be one that grabbed me, but good luck to you if you choose to ignore the story on this one! There is also a timer app that you can download and use, and while it’s not necessary (as you probably have a timer function on your phone or watch), we definitely recommend it as it also adds a soundtrack for the adventure, which does a lot to further the feeling of being on the Orient Express. One last point on immersion: this is the first at-home escape game that actually made me lose track of time because of how much the story and puzzles drew me in.

Dead Man on the Orient Express offers a good amount of puzzles that will carry you through your investigation, and these puzzles are unique from each other, so you won’t get bored with them. Some are fairly challenging, and while there are hint cards to help you, we didn’t find any puzzles required leaps in logic to solve them. The puzzles were also thematic, relating directly to events, characters, or the setting, and while linear, there was no point at which I felt like there was nothing for me to do. The decoder wheel is essentially a lock that you have to unlock over and over, but it never felt like a room full of 3-digit locks. This is partially due to the solution process for the Exit puzzles, which can make the game tricky, but doesn’t penalize you for a wrong answer.

We really enjoyed this game! I have played a lot of at-home escape games, with player count varying from one to five. Personally, I like these games with one other person, but we recommend no more than a three person team play Dead Man on the Orient Express. Oh, what’s that? You have more than three people wanting to play? I would honestly recommend splitting your group, and having each group pick up a copy (and a prize to the team who finishes with a better score?). This is mainly due to the completely reasonable price point, made even more reasonable when you can pay double the price to go to what turns out to be a flop of a real escape room. Exit also includes a scorecard/certificate that will let your team record their score, favourite puzzle, most challenging puzzle, etc., which makes for a nice way to wrap up your experience.