Murder at the Magic Mirror Casino

My wife and I have completed our fair share of escape rooms over the years. We always said we would be good at murder mystery nights, but we hate other people. When the pandemic hit, the challenge became simply escaping from our own house. But this left us with a void in our puzzling and problem solving needs. It was around that time when I first started discovering 'online' escape rooms, and over the last few years they have really taken off. The premise is usually the same, you get a series of documents to review and gleam clues from to solve a murder. Sometimes in a predetermined time, sometimes at your leisure. I have purchased different iterations of these over the years, some come with a variety of physical clues to investigate such as dolls and other objects, some come with electronic timers you must enter correct combinations into, and some rely heavily on fictitious web sites made up solely for the purpose of the game. They can vary in price greatly but all start the same, with a large glass of wine, and end with a celebratory high five. This one by Cryptic Killers is exclusively document based, with a little internet usage to review mailboxes/photos. One thing I will say is that in every mystery box I have ever done there is always a 'lull', a period of time where you are simply stuck and pointlessly leafing through documents trying to find that one clue to progress. I can say with this pack that was not the case. From the outset you are given the overview of the story; someone has been murdered, and there are several potential suspects. It is then your job to sort through the evidence and find out who was responsible. Like any good detective, my best weapon is my notebook, and I always start with a blank page for each suspect detailing their relation to the victim and list any motives or alibis that we find during the investigation. Unlike other games I have tried, the pace here was excellent, no complex codes to decipher and slow you down, and we never felt truly stuck or in need of a hint. All of the documents were very authentic looking, and every one has at least one vital clue that may seem like nothing on its own but when combined with another piece of evidence helps to either provide an alibi to a suspect or substantiate their motive and we never felt like information was given just as a filler. One example of this is a small advert in a newspaper for a hotel opening that meant nothing on its own but when a latter piece of information was read I thumbed back through the pages to link the two together. It was extremely satisfying. Quite often these sets can just 'end' abruptly and you are left with little feeling of accomplishment, but here all the clues all worked together so seamlessly and the entire story intertwined with such forethought that I have to tip my hat to the developers of this. Whilst it didn't rely too heavily on the use of the internet, once you submit your suspect you are given a highly detailed explanation of not only how they did it but also why each of the other suspects could not of carried out the murder. It really seemed like everything had been thought of, and we even gasped at some of the obvious clues we missed that still managed to lead us to the correct killer. This game left us with a huge sense of achievement and in all honesty is one of the best murder mysteries we have ever done. It took us around 2 hours to complete and for the price the value is definitely there. We aren’t the smartest people alive but managed to correctly solve the murder first time. There are a number of other sets out there by Cryptic Killers and we will be sure to purchase each one!

Brilliant. 2 of us sat and did on a free day. 3.5 difficulty rating was nice, we had our suspicions but still had to piece together the evidence and though we had a few avenues to look like, it didnt cause any arguments or 'board game tension' some couples may get. Took about 4 hrs with breaks to start and tend to our fire and get nibbles in the middle. Would happily to another one, really enjoyable. Used a black and red pen and a spare paper pad to complete so we've been able to pack it up and will swap with my parents who got a different case 🙂 The online case files were a nice touch and we loved that when we went to the website to put in who had done it that it confirmed our theories on the other suspects albis.

I bought this case file for my wife and I to do one evening whilst on holiday. It provided us with around 2 to 2 1/2 hours of entertainment. The case file is very well put together and presented. The instructions are clear and simple - read through the material provided and identify the killer by eliminating those suspects that couldn't have done it. As you read through the material the story unfolds and the different sources of information, from newspapers and magazines to police reports, emails, phone records, makes the process a lot more interesting and fun. There is also content accessed via a website so internet access is essential, but again this adds another dimension to the source material. We didn't find it overly difficult but of a sufficient level to make us think without becoming frustrated or bored and giving up. There are hints on the website but we found we didn't need to use these. Once you submit your answer on the website you get a full case summary detailing how each suspect can be eliminated and the killer identified. It was very satisfying to see when you've spotted all the clues, but equally so when you realise that you missed some of the details. Would I get another one - Yes, definitely.

We had a very enjoyable evening playing this game. This one would really suit a beginner who hasn't played any of these police file games before. The evidence is really well put together and we found the killer quite easily by working out the suspects and deciphering their Alibi's, a real process of elimination leads you straight to the killer which is great. Although, I have to say this was the first police file game i've played by this maker. The previous police file game i played was by hidden cases and the evidence, websites and phone calls were far superior in the hidden cases one, also in the hidden cases file you also had to work out, not just the killer but the motive, and who sent certain pieces of information, which was much more fun and made the game a worthier win. The evidence in this game was quite mediocre, like photocopied pieces of paper, wheras hidden games you get a poster you can put up as your police board and a calender along with much higher quality evidence, and for the same price i paid for this one. All in all I would 100% reccomend this police file, especially to people who like true crime or anyone whoose secretly always wanted to be a detective. The best thing about this game is we didn't need to write on anything so the game can easily be passed on to family or friends for them to also play, which makes it better than the hidden cases as you can only play that one once. I'm looking forward to getting my next one from this maker, i'm going to try a harder one as this was 3.5 stars difficulty and we didn't need to take any hints at all, it all went together quite easiy and we came to the correct conclusion and found the killer, but i prefer a bit more of a challange...

1st time doing one of these games and we had a blast! Great content, lots to chew through and digest but enough threads to figure things out and narrow down the potential suspects. 3 of us did this and it was a great hit for us and good family entertainment. Would recommend.

Did this with my husband and friend tonight for a cosy night in pre Christmas. We had snacks and drinks and it took us about 2.5 hrs. It was a really fun way to spend a night in using our brains and solving the case by trying to find alibis for the suspects in order to find who the killer was. All of the clues and documents were really well done, detailed and well put together across all evidence in the file. We all really enjoyed it and would defo recommend giving this a go! Can’t wait to try the others in the range now.

the most fun ive had in a long time! got this for my boyfriend for valentines and we had a great time solving it together - took a good few hours AND WAS SO SATISYING TO COMPLETE! Definitely will be purchasing more of these

The entire storyline is dependent on how fast you come up with your perceptions of what happened or motives, but disregarding the timeline of when or how long it takes, the twists and the suspects' small backgrounds do make a change. I really liked this, so did my two friends who participated in being detectives for the evening. It wasn't too hard, although I can understand why people may check for hints on the URLs provided. The evidence, the functionality, the storyline, the value for money and the overall feel of this is so different from apps on your phone and significant from board games. And such a good time with friends, or even if you're playing on your own. Definitely recommending this case and buying another case soon!

Gave this as a Christmas gift and they loved the format, clues and the interactive nature of this mystery! It was a fun evening with lots of laughs! We will be buying this series again and try other mysteries as well!

Très bien

I absolutely LOVE each of the Cryptic Killer games I've done so far. Perfect for a rainy cozy day -- My husband and I have a great time nerding out and solving these together. 🤓 We've worked up to 4/5 difficulty level. Please keep making these!! 🙌🏼

This was our first one and we seem to have been slower than others, but we did it over 3 evenings and it took about 6 hours. It was well thought out, difficult enough, but not impossible to figure out. We missed 2 clues which was why it took us longer, but it was thoroughly enjoyable. We did it as a couple with our adult daughter helping occasionally. Would be a great thing to do as a group. We know to be more watchful for certain clues the next time. And there will be a next time.

fun as hell... can do it with 2 people or a bunch. keep it up