This is really more of a 4 1/2. I've got some minor quibbles, but it's just about perfect.
Completed all cases yesterday, the epilogue today, only used hints on the last case. I did get hung up on a clue I missed in the penultimate case, but that was a me problem.
The last case maybe relies a little too much on an unexplained leap of logic, but I get what they were going for. They wanted the revelation to happen while working through clues that made no sense, and it totally did, but I was left a little frustrated by that.
But just a little! The story it ends up telling is delicious, especially in how the seemingly unconnected cases you're solving do end up tying together (and how they don't tie together), but never with a little bow. People disappear between cases, years pass, people show up once and never again. It's a lovely little bit of writing.
The puzzles themselves are essentially glorified logic puzzles, the ones where you have names on the top and professions on the side and you eliminate the impossible by reading sentences like "Sarah plays volleyball with the boy with the red shirt". It's so SATISFYING to complete a page and see it flip green, to see those words fade away.
Just an overall great few hours, worth every penny, and I'm thrilled to see what this team does next.
Completed all cases yesterday, the epilogue today, only used hints on the last case. I did get hung up on a clue I missed in the penultimate case, but that was a me problem.
The last case maybe relies a little too much on an unexplained leap of logic, but I get what they were going for. They wanted the revelation to happen while working through clues that made no sense, and it totally did, but I was left a little frustrated by that.
But just a little! The story it ends up telling is delicious, especially in how the seemingly unconnected cases you're solving do end up tying together (and how they don't tie together), but never with a little bow. People disappear between cases, years pass, people show up once and never again. It's a lovely little bit of writing.
The puzzles themselves are essentially glorified logic puzzles, the ones where you have names on the top and professions on the side and you eliminate the impossible by reading sentences like "Sarah plays volleyball with the boy with the red shirt". It's so SATISFYING to complete a page and see it flip green, to see those words fade away.
Just an overall great few hours, worth every penny, and I'm thrilled to see what this team does next.