Scooby-Doo: Escape from the Haunted Mansion

I enjoyed this game a lot. It is a shame that the next game (“The Shining”) seems to have basically killed off the Coded Chronicles line as I thought that this style of game had a lot of potential. I would describe it as a cross between a tabletop escape room and a paragraph adventure board game (like “Tales of the Arabian Nights”). You combine a numeric prefix for an action type with a numeric value for the thing you want to interact with (thing on the map, object, character, etc.) and this tells you what to look up in the paragraph books. I felt they captured the art style and general nature of the Scooby-Doo characters well, the writing was good, the puzzles were better than I expected, and the story was about what you would expect from any episode of the cartoon. Recommended, but only this specific game: “The Shining” unfortunately has so many errors that it is unplayable. Play the Scooby-Doo game and pretend like the other one doesn’t exist.

➕Well-written story. The game boasts a well-written story, undoubtedly its standout feature. The writing is superb, and there are even moments of humor when experimenting with quirky character-object combinations. ➕Components are serviceable and resettable. While they may not be top-of-the-line quality, they get the job done. The game also excels in how effortlessly you can reset everything to its original condition. ➖Puzzles were easy and simplistic. Given that the game targets kids, the puzzles are intentionally simple. We quickly deciphered solutions without needing hints. ➖Too many components. The game requires a lot of table space, which can become cumbersome as it progresses. "Scooby-Doo: Escape from the Haunted Mansion" offers a nostalgic and enjoyable experience that captures the essence of a Scooby-Doo episode. While the puzzles may be on the easier side, the well-crafted story and engaging components make it a worthwhile adventure for fans of all ages.