The Lost Tomb of the Queen

Created by: AveLIVEX
5 to 10 players

AveLIVEX has created several online escape games, which might explain why this jubensha includes escape-room-style puzzles alongside the central mystery.

It’s available in two modes: Murder Mystery, the traditional role-playing format where the culprit can lie in order to escape suspicion; and Crime Scene Investigation, a co-op format where players just read the testimonies of suspects.

The game is played at offline premises, but makes extensive use of an online interface. I liked that they had physical replicas of some items, which were more fun to work with than the digital versions.

The escape room puzzles were okay: a few questionable design decisions, but also a couple of fun ideas. I wouldn’t play this with the puzzles in mind, but they generally added to rather than detracted from the experience.

The central mystery itself is solid, spreading suspicion around while preserving clear paths towards the truth. We played the CSI version, but I think the Murder Mystery format might be more fun — there’s some room for the murderer to manoeuvre, especially as the digital format imposes artificial difficulty in keeping track of the evidence.

The game serves as a good introductory jubensha, with a forgiving three hour runtime, fun touches such as costumes, and a relatively straightforward plot. As a rare English game in Singapore, it’s certainly worth playing.

There might still be tickets left for this weekend’s run; I can imagine this working for corporate groups as well.