IQ Files: Escape Room Sins Review

Escape rooms and those kinds of things, up until quite recently, have never really been on my radar. However, after last year's EXIT: Advent Calendar and a few other experiences in the genre, I have a newfound love for all things escape room. IQ Files: Escape Room - Sins, is a minimal, card game-based escape room that I played recently with friends. With its small package, small price point and varying hint systems, we all rather enjoyed it. If you are not a fan of the genre though, I see it doing little to change your mind. Let’s escape!

Straight Into The Action

IQ Files: Escape Room - Sins, takes longer to say than the set-up. You have a deck of cards, a rulebook, a hint guide and a small pile of characters. You remove the deck of cards, arrange them into two piles (without looking at them), arrange your slightly shady bunch of characters nearby, flip over the first location and away you go.

Your goal, with this uncanny bunch of misfits, is to escape this myriad of terror in one piece. The characters have all woken up in this trial together, they all have their own quirks and issues but must work together to escape.

Letters And Numbers

Each room, on the whole, needs a three-digit code to escape. When you flip over the first location, it shows you a picture of the room you are escaping and you will need to flip cards from the other deck that match all the artefacts in this room. You must use these cards to solve various riddles and puzzles that will, hopefully, lead you to the code to escape your current room.

Whether it be numerical puzzles, environmental puzzles or even symbol-based puzzles, you must gather all the info you have to escape. Sometimes looking at the characters will help as will equipping them with objects and using said objects with interactive entities in the room. Most of the time this will lead you to a code that you can check on the included code card and hopefully, unlock more clues or hints to escape.

Sometimes though, this may lead to your characters getting injured. Too many injuries though and they can be killed. If everyone in your party dies, then it's game over. This also feeds into the game's hint system, which is very well done and gives you a myriad of options to help you on your way, no matter your escape room skill level.

A Nudge In The Right Direction

Most cards have QR codes that allow you to see hints or even the full solution. This is a double-edged sword though as checking too many QR codes can also injure your party. Included in the game is a full solution, should you require it. I think this little escape room does a good job of catering for all players, from people who need a little nudge, to newbies who may need a big shove now and again to get them back on track. Just watch out for those pesky injuries, you don't want too many of them too early.

Luckily, the first few rooms allow you to take injuries for free while you get used to the game and its systems. Another nice tip for first-time players or players who do not play too many games in this genre. All in all, I thought IQ Files: Escape Room - Sins did a great job of introducing you slowly to the game and giving you tools to succeed, if you want to use them, no matter how rubbish you may be at these games.