The easy tag line for this room is that it's CSI meets the Muppets. But part of its delight is that it understands that both of these shows are often misunderstood.
The Muppets are built on the adult premise that though the system may be broken, the show must go on. In many ways, it's an example of how to live inside the disarray of the adult world without falling into despair.
CSI is built on a child's need for simplicity and resolution. A body appears. Experts assemble. Evidence comes into focus. And within the hour, the world is made legible again.
The game leans into these formulas and gently parodies both. In Election Day, the CSI side of the game relies on stock characters, attention to procedure, and heightened melodrama. The Muppets, meanwhile, are political, earnest, crass, and sometimes ruthless.
It's a room fluent in its own parody.
NOTES
+ This game is partially a murder mystery as well as an escape room. It asks you to keep your feet in both game styles, just as the game asks you to straddle the human/puppet divide.
+The onboarding into the puppet world is fun and on theme.
+/- I'm not always a fan of screens in escape rooms (not a detractor, either), but this made good use of them. Future games on Appleseed Avenue might find even more opportunities for evidence made of felt rather than pixels.
+The game features a split start as you decide whether to be on the medical or detective side. You can choose whether to directly or indirectly collaborate, and the game has a few options for communication.
+The split start also has a brief moment during the beginning for competition between the two sides. In some ways, this mirrors the inter-department competition of the real world. There is a minor consequence for who wins and who loses that is very funny.
+Yes, these are puppets, but you get to know their story and their personalities. The game has a fun time playing with the familiar tropes, using both exaggeration and puns to great effect.
+There is a clear beginning, middle, and end to the story. There are heightened moments of tension and suspense, but it's a kind of cartoon criminality. I don't think the ending is ever in doubt, but I didn't think to ask if they have a fail ending (which could be fun).
+/- We were a team of four and finished with 20 minutes to spare. We weren’t rushing, but wish we had taken longer to enjoy the world they had built on Appleseed Avenue.
+/- Most of the puppet interactions are on video. The video work is done extremely well, but I would love to see even more live puppetry in future games. (not sure how feasible this would be)
