Exit - the game

Exit - The game is the name of a game series by the Kosmos Spiele publishing house by the game designers Inka and Markus Brand based on the concept of Ralph Querfurth and Sandra D Jungsmann. The games build on the trend of escape games , in which the other players escape from a situation or a room as quickly as possible and have to solve various tasks or puzzles. The first games in the series appeared in 2016, and continued in 2017. In May 2017, the first three games in the series were nominated for the Kennerspiel des Jahres game award and were able to prevail against the games Räuber der Nordsee and Terraforming Mars .

The games in the Exit series are designed to be played only once, as the players then know the solutions and parts of the game material have been changed or destroyed. This makes very special and varied puzzles possible.

Theme and equipment

As with other escape games, the exit games are about escaping a situation as quickly as possible and solving various tasks and puzzles. The games are designed for one to six players and have a playing time of 45 to 90 minutes.

The equipment varies depending on the game. It includes brief instructions that outline the concept of the games and introduce the players to the specific game. In addition, there are cards tailored to the game with puzzles, solutions and help, as well as other materials such as a decoder disc and a book with puzzles and clues. You will also need pens and paper to write down notes and a clock to determine the time it took to solve the problem. The graphic design comes from Franz Vohwinkel .

Style of play

The specific way of playing also depends on the game in question. When preparing for the game, the game materials and cards are sorted into three stacks with puzzle cards, solution cards and help cards and laid out face down. After that, players can start to solve the puzzles at hand and gradually find all the solutions to win the game. In the game instructions, it is explicitly stated for all games that the game material can and should also be labeled, folded, torn or cut up for a creative solution to the puzzles.

The different puzzles of the games are solved with the help of the enclosed decoder disk and the instructions in the book and on the puzzle cards. Depending on the game, the solution can consist of symbols or numbers. If the other players have found a solution, this is checked using the solution cards and can either be wrong or “possibly correct”, whereby in the latter case another solution card is used for confirmation. Correct solutions usually refer to additional puzzle cards that need to be solved. If the other players have the feeling that they are stuck, they can use the help cards provided. There are three cards for each puzzle that start with “1. Tip "," 2. Tip ”and“ Resolution ”are labeled.

Depending on the length of the game and the number of help cards used, the players receive a score for their game at the end of the game, which can be between zero and ten stars.

expenditure

In the series Exit - Das Spiel , four editions were published in 2016, one of which was distributed as a promotional game. The three main games were also published in 2017 as an English version.

The games appear in 3 levels of difficulty (beginner / advanced / professional):

• EXIT - The Game: The Secret of the Premiere (Promotion Game , SPIEL Essen 2016)
• Exit - The Game: The Secret Laboratory (2016; Advanced)
• Exit - The Game: The Abandoned Hut (2016; advanced)
• Exit - The Game: The Pharaoh's Burial Chamber (2016; Professional)
• Exit - The Game: The Forbidden Castle (May 2017; Professional)
• Exit - The Game: The Station in the Eternal Ice (May 2017; Advanced)
• Exit - The Game: The Forgotten Island (May 2017; Advanced)
• Exit - The Game: The Dead on the Orient Express (October 2017; Professional)
• Exit - The Game: The House of Riddles (October 2017; as three ??? riddles; beginners)
• Exit - The Game: The Sunken Treasure (October 2017; Beginners)
• Exit - Das Spiel: Die eheimliche Villa (March 2018; co-author Ralph Querfurth; advanced)
• Exit - The Game: The Mysterious Museum (May 2018; co-author Ralph Querfurth; beginners)
• Exit - The Game: The Catacombs of Horror (November 2018; Co-Author Ralph Querfurth; Advanced - Doppelspiel)
• Exit - The Game: The Haunted Horror Train (April 2019; Beginners)
• Exit - The Game: The Kangaroo Escapades (May 2019; Advanced)
• Exit - The Game: The Flight into the Unknown (October 2019; Beginners)
• Exit - The Game: The Robbery on the Mississippi (October 2019; co-author Ralph Querfurth; advanced)
• Exit - The Game + Puzzle: The Lost Temple (May 2020; Beginners)
• Exit - The Game + Puzzle: The Lonely Lighthouse (May 2020; Advanced)
• Exit - The Game: The Enchanted Forest (May 2020; Beginners)
• Exit - The Game: The Cemetery of Darkness (May 2020; Advanced)
• Exit - The Game: The Gate Between Worlds (October 2020; Advanced)
• Exit - The Game: The Cursed Labyrinth (January 2021; Beginners)

In addition to these games, there are also:

• EXIT - the book :
  • EXIT - The Book - The Cellar of Secrets (October 2017; Beginners)
  • EXIT - The Book - Diary 29 (March 2018; Professional)
  • EXIT - The Book - Logbook 1907 (November 2018; Professional)
  • EXIT - The Book - The Fear Fair (March 2019, advanced)
  • EXIT - The Book - Diary of Time (April 2019, professional)
  • EXIT - The Book - The Hidden City (November 2019; Advanced)
  • EXIT - The Book - The Secret Treasure (November 2019; Kids)
  • EXIT - The Book - The Secret of the Pirates (April 2020; Kids)
  • EXIT - The Book - The Clinic of Shadows (October 2020; Beginners)

• EXIT - Kids:
  • EXIT - Kids CODE BREAKER (October 2018)

• Advent Calendar:
  • Exit - The Game: Advent Calendar - The Mysterious Ice Cave (September 2020; Beginners)
  • Exit - The Book: Advent Calendar - The Dark Christmas (September 2020; Beginners)

Development and reception

The Exit game series was developed by Inka and Markus Brand on behalf of the Kosmos editorial team under the direction of Ralph Querfurth and Sandra D Jungsmann. The games build on the concept of Escape Games and use the basic rules according to which people trapped in a room have to find a way out together. This concept is used in both computer games and live games and was developed for board games by the publisher noris Spiele for the game Escape Room - The Game by Andrea Hofbeck . Other comparable games are the Escape the Room games by Nicholas Cravotta and Rebecca Bleau ( The Secret of the Observatory and The Secret of the Refuge of Dr. Gravely , published by Thinkfun ) and Unlock, published by Space Cowboys in early 2017 ! .

In the case of Exit - Das Spiel , the game authors Inka and Markus Brand were approached directly by the publisher and asked to implement the concept that had already been developed internally by Ralph Querfurth and Sandra D Jungsmann as a game, individual puzzles were also contributed by the editorial team. In reviews, the destruction of the game material and the associated unique usability is often addressed. In an interview, Ralph Querfurth explains that, above all, "the possibilities that 'destroying' the game material entail [...] are enormous: these puzzles are the highlights of the games." This is also confirmed in reviews, for example on spielama.de.

In May 2017, the first three games in the series were nominated for the Kennerspiel des Jahres game award and were able to prevail against the games Robbers of the North Sea and Terraforming Mars at the award ceremony in July .

supporting documents

1. ↑ ^{a b c} ( page no longer available , search in web archives: game instructions Exit - The game: The secret laboratory at Kosmos Spiele )
2. ↑ EXIT: The game - The secret of the premiere in the board game database BoardGameGeek (English), EXIT: The game - The secret of the premiere in the Luding game database ; accessed on February 9, 2017.
3. ↑ Escape Room - The Game. The big test and solutions | Escape maniac . In: Escape Maniac . August 22, 2016 ( escape-maniac.com [accessed October 10, 2017]).
4. ^ [Test] Escape the Room by Thinkfun . In: Escape Maniac . January 30, 2017 ( escape-maniac.com [accessed October 10, 2017]).
5. ↑ Unlock! - The Escape Game card game put to the test | Escape maniac . In: Escape Maniac . October 7, 2017 ( escape-maniac.com [accessed October 10, 2017]).
6. ↑ ^{a b} Editor Ralph Querfurth on the game series EXIT Das Spiel; Cosmically good escape games for panic puzzlers. Interview on reich-der-spiele.de, September 13, 2016; accessed on February 9, 2017.
7. ↑ Exit - The game. The great Escape Maniac Test. In: Escape Maniac. October 29, 2016. Retrieved June 28, 2017 . 
8. ↑ Presentation and review on spielama.de; accessed on February 9, 2017.
9. ↑ Kennerspiel des Jahres , accessed on May 23, 2017.

Web links

• Exit - The game, official homepage for the game series
• Presentation and review on spielama.de