The Mystery Agency – The Ghost in the Attic Game Review

Written by Alexandra Sonechkina

Escape room board games have tried every trick in the box to replicate the physical actions of players being stuck in the same space together and needing to solve puzzles to escape. From hi-tech solutions, like the use of AR technology in Batman-themed The Arkham Asylum Files: Panic in Gotham City to three-dimensional puzzles, like exploring a house with a flashlight for clues in Mystery House: Adventures in a Box, the escape room genre seemed to have utilised every gimmick. This is why it can be a palate cleanser to be presented with a simple game box that contains more conventional puzzles: a secret padlock number combination, a set of clues in a newspaper article, or a mystery hidden in a board game…

What is The Mystery Agency—The Ghost in the Attic?

This is the main hook for The Mystery Agency—The Ghost in the Attic: it contains an actual board game, which is also at the heart of its mystery. It is a simple roll-and-move game, but it is fully playable—although players should banish its ghost before playing!

Everything needed to banish the ghost is in the game box, occasionally locked behind a padlock combination or even hidden amongst its components. The Mystery Agency – The Ghost in the Attic is frugal with the number of components, which means it must utilise each piece to its fullest. Even something that you wouldn’t think is part of the game, is a critical clue, but we will reveal no more… While the majority of the game focuses on the physical and tactile elements, occasionally, players will have to venture online to submit the answer or ask for a clue.

Not that you will need to ask for clues too often. The game manages to strike a good balance between puzzles that are challenging enough but are also fun and not convoluted. In fact, if getting to a solution feels too cumbersome, you are probably missing a clue to solve it. After players figure out how to open the box itself, wrapped in a metal chain and locked, the game becomes a sandbox of possibilities. Players can work on the same puzzle together or pursue different clues, and come back together when their parts of the narratives converge again. The sandbox part of the game is, perhaps, where players will reach for the clues the most often. The game can be too open-ended, leaving players confused about where to go next. The clues, however, are nicely designed, initially giving only subtle information to nudge players in the right direction without immediately giving away the answer.

However, once the puzzles have been solved and the ghost banished, that’s it. The Mystery Agency – The Ghost in the Attic is a two-hour self-contained experience and, as players would know all the answers, there is no point in replaying it. Even the board game inside the game, while replayable, is not that exciting to keep players’ interest. But the games designer, Henry Lewis, and publisher, The Mystery Agency, know this. This is why they include a repacking guide so that after the players are done with the game, they can reassemble it and pass it along to someone else. Which feels lovely! So, despite all the murder, treachery and a vengeful ghost, The Mystery Agency – The Ghost in the Attic is a lovely, rewarding cooperative game that you want to share with others.

Should you play this game?

Yes.

As a two-hour escape-the-room experience, The Mystery Agency – The Ghost in the Attic offers interesting puzzles with the use of simple components, one of which is a fully playable board game. It is not a game you will need to keep, but one you will want to share.

You should try this game if you liked Exit: The Game –The Haunted Roller Coaster

If you enjoyed the small-box big-puzzles approach of the Exit series, then The Ghost in the Attic will be right up your alley, offering the same self-contained experience but in a slightly bigger box.

About Mystery Agency – The Ghost in the Attic

Designer: Henry Lewis

Publisher: The Mystery Agency Ltd.

Time: 60 minutes

Players: 1-6

Ages: 10+

Price: £45