The Morrison Game Factory

Recently, my husband and I finally cracked open a game I had gotten a couple of months ago from a Kickstarter campaign. It was The Morrison Game Factory, a “puzzletale” from PostCurious, designed by Lauren Bello.1Apologies for the typo in her name on earlier drafts; I’ve been experimenting with writing blog posts longhand, and the character recognition still isn’t 100% accurate.

The format is essentially an escape room in a box, although it feels more hand-crafted and personalized than any of the mass market versions of those that I’ve tried. This doesn’t feel like a game that you’d find at Target (complimentary).

Which is too bad, since it feels like it’d actually be a good fit for Target. It’s engaging and accessible, and I’d rate the puzzles as being at “advanced beginner” difficulty. Nothing had us completely stumped, but we definitely didn’t breeze through everything, either.

A couple of the puzzle solutions led to really cool and satisfying “aha!” moments. I’ve gotten a little jaded about the puzzles in these types of experiences, but there was at least one here that had a payoff not quite like anything I’d seen before.

The game requires a desktop (or iPad, which we used) web browser with an internet connection. And it’s not just for verifying solutions; it’s a key part of how you play the game. I’d estimate that it took us about two hours to play.

The premise of The Morrison Game Factory is that you’ve received a package from an “urban explorer” who’s found something mysterious inside an abandoned board game factory. They’ve sent the material to you because they’re not so great at puzzles.

The story that follows is engaging and extremely charming. I have to say that I don’t love the branding of “puzzletale,” but I’ll begrudgingly admit that it fits perfectly here. The experience is extremely well-balanced, where the story and the puzzles complement each other instead of making the other feel superfluous

The only other experience I’ve tried from PostCurious is The Emerald Flame, an excellent collection of puzzles about alchemists and secret societies. That game also has a story running through it, but I believe it’s more puzzle-focused, and the puzzles are both more complex and more esoteric. To anyone who’s planning on playing both -and I strongly recommend both – then I’d start with The Morrison Game Factory.

1
Apologies for the typo in her name on earlier drafts; I’ve been experimenting with writing blog posts longhand, and the character recognition still isn’t 100% accurate.

1 Apologies for the typo in her name on earlier drafts; I’ve been experimenting with writing blog posts longhand, and the character recognition still isn’t 100% accurate.