Review: Alone Together | Enchambered: Sacramento Escape Room

OFFICIAL INFO FROM COMPANY...

🕹️ Alone Together

🌐 Enchambered ▪ Puzzles & Games

🗺️ Based In United States

⏲️ About 45 Minutes ▪ 💪 N/A ▪ 🔢 2 Teams

THE PREMISE

📚 Play with a friend! Can you decipher enigmatic puzzles that require constant communication between you and your teammate to solve? Your escape is dependent on how well you work together to find your way through gadgets and clues to solve the puzzle. Using two separate devices, play with a friend on the couch or even all the way across the globe on the phone or video chat!

THE GUIDE

THIS IS CLASSIFIED AS...

▪ Play At Home » Purely Online Digital Game

▪ Cooperative (Co-op) Communication Puzzle Game

MY BODY IS READY! NOW WHAT?

🛒 TO PLAY, CLICK HERE!

▪ For this: Per company, the game works best on larger screens. Laptops and tablets work best. Phones may be harder to play on due to smaller text but you can zoom in. If using a pen tablet, put the device into laptop mode.

THE REVIEW

Alone Together ▪ Enchambered: Sacramento Escape Room

I HERD U LIEK CO-OP GAMES

Back in May, California was under a stay-at-home order, and most escape room companies were not operational in an effort to keep coronavirus from further spreading. Even to date, a section of the escape room audience may still not be comfortable with going out just yet.

For those who cherish a good team effort "split team" escape game, but can't go out, behold! An online alternative has long existed! "Alone Together" is an online puzzle game designed to test (and/or torture) one's ability (or lack thereof) to communicate effectively with another.

Two teams are given different game interfaces with various but contrasting clues scattered across the screen. What Team 1 sees on its panel is completely distinct from Team 2's, and verbal exchange back and forth is key to helping each other "escape", or reach the ending.

EYE-PLEASING GRAPHICS

I am not familiar with this company since it's based on NorCal, but I imagine its art department reigns supreme since this puzzle game is legitimately one of the best you would encounter during your stay-at-home stint (hopefully not for too long).

This is absolutely not something the art team has just slapped together on a Saturday morning to provide temporary boredom relief for its followers. This is a highly thought out, meticulously drawn, and then artistically animated piece of puzzle gem. Just. Wow.

The art style is a little "aged" and carries a 1960s or 70s nostalgia, if I'm dating the era correctly. Sounds effects are also present. The overall format is easy to learn, just pick up & go.

Alone Together ▪ Enchambered: Sacramento Escape Room

MIND-BOGGLING PUZZLES

The challenges do not seem to have any common theme, and rather random and eclectic. There's really no explanation why there are playing cards and alien language symbols just laying around, thus making the communication hurdle aspect that much more interesting.

Overall, this is a pattern recognition game relayed over a conversation without face to face contact, though some of the brainteasers really do remind me of the exact types one would commonly confront in an actual physical escape room!

ALAS... EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

My own experience with this puzzle game, however, was a far cry from what most people have reflected upon. While there seems to be a consensus that this game was both entertaining and genius, my almost 45-minute long struggle was nothing but frustrating.

(For reference, some of my friends finished within 15 minutes.)

But, don't worry--I have a good idea of what went wrong, and I am just an outlier.

The central problem lied in that I only had a team of exactly 2 players. My partner and I each received our own respective set of clues, and if either of us was weak at clearly explaining what's in front of us, or not observant enough to catch more elusive clues, we're done for.

And that's exactly what happened.

Player One (that'd be me!) has done nearly 100 escape games, and my beloved Player Two has only completed maybe 20 something rooms, 25 tops. And the divergence in experience and communication skills negatively affected our road to success.

Somehow, I was able to guess and solve all my puzzles, most likely by luck, all the way to the end, while my partner was still stuck about halfway through his overall progress. Imagine that!

With that said, you'll probably do just fine.

For best results: Gather at least 4 people for this game, especially for beginners. Put at least 2 players on each side. Try to distribute participants of different experience level equally between the two teams. With players backing up each other, the game would run a lot more smoothly.

Alone Together ▪ Enchambered: Sacramento Escape Room

THE FUN DOESN'T END

Don't let my transient frustration deter you from playing this game. After all, it's FREE! And it really doesn't get better than that. It's a short, sweet, and very well done online puzzle package, and I can totally see why it's received much acclaim within the community.

If you enjoyed what "Alone Together", don't forget to also check out its sequel "Alone Together 2: Together Apart"! Puzzles format is similar, and it's sure to bring you another hour or so of head-scratching fun.

If you need further challenges still, Enchambered has even more riddles and brainteasers available, all executed with the same high quality graphics that have come to become a signature for all the online games from this venerable Sacramento company.

Signing off,

ESCAPE MATTSTER

Instagram @EscapeMattster ▪ Facebook.com/EscapeMattster

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