Review – Wizcape Academy by Key Enigma
Website Link – https://keyenigma.com
Price – $21.00
Disclaimer: we purchased the game with our own money, this review is not sponsored. All thoughts are our own.
Product:
In Wizcape Academy players have been invited to attend a school of magic and wonder. However, to gain admittance they must first pass a series of tests to earn their enrollment.
This game will have players working with a mix of physical and digital components to solve puzzles. The puzzles are all themed around magical activities such as creating spells and potions. Often directions and clues will be given through the digital chat component of the game. Then, players will use the physical components to solve the puzzles, before returning to the online chat to enter their answers.
With enough smarts, wit, and magic, players may just earn their way into Wizcape Academy.
The game is designed for 1-6 players, ages 14+. It is advertised to take 2+ hours. As a duo, we took around 90 minutes to finish.
Our Thoughts:
Wizcape Academy has an obvious source of inspiration, but it should be fun for anyone who enjoys magic of any variety. The theming is fun and makes this an adventure that is appropriate for the whole family.
The online aspect acts as the narrative tissue and prompter for different puzzles, but players should enjoy doing the majority of the work with the physical components. There is a good balance between the physical and digital, with the digital piece acting as both a guide and place to enter answers. The experience is smooth and we never had any issue with the technology piece or knowing which physical pieces to use. Many of the components will see use multiple times and they are jam packed with information and function.
Overall, we enjoyed the story that the game had to tell.
We were happily surprised with the amount of gameplay contained in the envelope. Despite finishing more quickly than the advertised 2+ hours, there were quite a few puzzles to work through. The puzzles were at a medium difficulty level. None of them felt impossible, but some definitely took work to solve, with some requiring several steps of processing to get to the final answer.
Despite using the same components for several puzzles, the designers were able to implement them in varied ways that kept the puzzles feeling fresh and different.
*A few puzzles were a bit tough on the eyes with red lenses or needing to look into lights, but nothing major.
We ended up having a good amount of fun with our adventure to Wizcape Academy. This is an excellent puzzle game for magic lovers, families, and those who want a mix of digital and physical puzzle solving. Wizcape Academy is a great taste of what Key Enigma has to offer in its larger adventures.
Official C&C Rating:
Narrative: 4/5
Puzzles: 4/5
Overall Fun: 4/5
Total Averaged Score: 4/5
Chaos & Confetti 