My only issue with the writing, along with my issue with the puzzles, is that at one point it got a little ‘meta’. At one point in the story, other Exit games are mentioned. This took me out of the story a little as I saw it as a plug for other products. This of course would not phase younger players though. The Components All the individual components in the doors are fine. They only serve (mostly) as a onetime use, and sometimes this includes cutting and folding so the quality is really irrelevant. We have been really impressed by the variety of puzzles and difficulty levels across the Hunt for the Golden Book and there’s no comparison with the cheap choccy offerings of old. Thanks to Exit this has been the best first Board Gamesmas ever and we can’t wait for 1 December when we get to start the other Exit Advent Calendar – The Mystery of the Ice Cave! Straight off the bat I will say that I absolutely adored the concept behind this product. Getting a tiny little chocolate each morning leading up to Christmas is all good with standard advent calendars if you are a kid (or big kid). But when you get older the chocolate just doesn’t give you the same buzz of excitement that it once did. Exit’s Advent Calendar is an incredibly interesting activity for yourself, or to do with the family. Note I was relatively new to the Exit games last year and took a gamble on the advent calendar as it combined two of my favourite things; Games and Christmas. I was not disappointed. It was an absolute joy to start a new puzzle everyday and, combined with the well written story, it became one of the highlights of my gaming year. I still consider it to be one of the best Exit games I have played and I rate it as a 9 out of 10.

EXIT: The Game is a popular series of escape room games that deliver a huge variety of puzzles, bringing the escape room experience to your home in a small box. And we couldn’t resist trying to help save the real Christmas in Exit: The Game – The Hunt for the Golden Book! So we launched ourselves head first into the 24 part adventure and I can now absolutely NOT tell you how we got on! Haha Seasonal SpoilersStraight off the bat I will say that I absolutely adored the concept behind this product. Getting a tiny little chocolate each morning leading up to Christmas is all good with standard advent calendars if you are a kid (or big kid). But when you get older the chocolate just doesn’t give you the same buzz of excitement that it once did. Exit's Advent Calendar is an incredibly interesting activity for yourself, or to do with the family. Note It’s cold. Very cold. The avalanche rushed you unexpectantly and now you are trapped within an icy cave. A cave that will inevitably become your wintery tomb if you cannot find a way out. You are alone and it will be days before anybody can find you, and of course, your phone can’t grab a signal down here. Ahead of you lays 24 riddles and puzzles to overcome before the chilling grasp of death embodies you. Will you overcome this challenge and find your way out? or succumb to your fate? Come and find out. A new challenge awaits you every morning on the run up to Christmas with Exit The Game: Advent Calendar. Is this an advent calendar you will only need for Christmas? No. Why not use it in a random March and surprise yourself for the first 3/4 of the month and test yourself to solve the riddles! Well, it is particularly AIMED for opening on the leadup to Christmas... but it's okay, we're not going to tell anyone if you don't! The only issue I had with the puzzles were that at one point, one puzzle got a little ‘meta’. And the solution was in relation to the shapes depicted on the doors and the decoder. I needed to look at the solution for this one, as up until that point, the solutions were in relation to the story and to the rooms themselves. It was a little frustrating that this one puzzle was actually referencing something outside of the game itself. The Writing

So, I am sure this is the real reason you are here. You need to know what the puzzles are like correct? You need to know how difficult they are, if they are suitable for children, and whether or not you need to eat your Weetabix first. Well, let us explore this in a little depth. As the very nature of this game is that of solving puzzles, I will be trying hard to not give any spoilers or solutions. Any pictures I include for this review will be general pics and pics from the first few puzzles only. How Does it Work? The EXIT: Advent Calendar, designed by Inka and Markus Brand and published by KOSMOS, allows you to bring all the excitement and fun of escape rooms to your home this Christmas. With 24 puzzles to solve and a playtime of 24 days – that’s right! – this advent calendar brings the gift of adventure for the whole of December.Personally, I went into this game with a bit of an ignorant expectation. I have not played any Exit games prior to this, (although this will now be changing very soon) and was expecting the effort to have only been placed on the puzzles and gameplay aspects. I was very pleasantly wrong. Tis the season to be………PUZZLED! Haha Nope, we at Zatu aren’t inventing a new holiday (although how cool would Board Gamesmas be?!). We are risking the naughty list and taking a sneaky peek at the Hunt for the Golden Book Advent Calendar devised by KOSMOS who shall henceforth be known as Father Enigmas! Haha Okay, so probably only in my mind, but still……… Is It Time Yet Although we are still a little way off Christmas yet, it is never too soon to plan. And after the pumpkins of Halloween have been turfed on to the compost heap, and the fireworks have finished, it’s a straight run to the most wonderful time of the year! And (think of this as a Christmas gift rather than a spoiler) the box is an essential part of the puzzle! So don’t be thinking you can solve this special hunt with only what is inside each window! If you do, you’ll be waiting forever to find out where the Golden Book has gone! And nobody wants that because whose book is it? That’s right! It belongs to Santa Claus. And you don’t want to be the agent of Christmas disappointment for all the children, now do you??! Father Enigmas’ Little Helper

Is this an advent calendar you will only need for Christmas? No. Why not use it in a random March and surprise yourself for the first 3/4 of the month and test yourself to solve the riddles! Well, it is particularly AIMED for opening on the leadup to Christmas… but it’s okay, we’re not going to tell anyone if you don’t!

As is evident, I love writing, and inherently with that, I love reading. This Exit Calendar had plenty of story for me to sink my teeth into. It is clear that a lot of effort was placed on this side of the game, as the story goes hand in hand with gameplay incredibly well. The writing also has the perfect tone that will allow younger players to understand what is happening, whilst also providing an interesting story for older readers to get into. The intro chapter is a little long compared to all the others for obvious reasons. The main chapters are all the perfect length to provide you with a setting and scenario for the puzzle to follow and is wrote in a way that would be easy to read out for the family if they are also involved. Thankfully, for us at least, the box also comes with a book of hints (and solutions!). Cleverly, as with the Exit games, you can sneak a look at one or two clues to help you along without revealing the entire solution. And I am woman enough to admit that we did have to get Father Enigmas’s little helper to see us on our way to one or two (ok 5 but who’s counting?!). Final Thoughts If you haven’t played an Exit game before it is essentially an escape room game in a small box. Normally there are 10 missions to achieve and it involves ripping up cards, drawing on the box, and various other activities that mean once you have finished it is unusable again, however the cost of each game is very low and almost all of the materials used are recyclable.