The Escape Puzzler

I discovered Cyanide Mysteries completely by accident when searching for a different game on Etsy but I was immediately intrigued by one of their Murder Mystery games in particular, The Curse of Little Witchell. Being eager to highlight and support more independent puzzle/mystery game creators around the world, especially in my home country (United Kingdom) I went ahead and purchased a copy.

“Can a place truly be evil? Terrible things happen every day, all over the world, but certain places attract the worst. Some towns or villages with sinister histories have a particular air to them, like a negative energy that never really goes away.

Little Witchell is one such village. Tucked away in the North Yorkshire Moors, it has a close history with violence and menace. Imagine if you moved there, expecting your new home to be quiet and peaceful, completely unaware of its past.”

You can play this game with between 1-6 players. I played with my partner on a lazy Sunday afternoon, and we completed it in around 1.5 hours, which fits within the official game estimates of 1.5-2 hours. Given some of the more adult themes, it is recommended for players aged 16+. Use of the internet is required.

First impressions

The very first thing you see when you open up the envelope and begin The Curse of Little Witchell is an information sheet. This gives an overview of the game and where you can find hints should you require them. The letter itself does a very successful job of setting the tone for the game, which ramps up the excitement to begin playing. Also included at the bottom of the letter is a QR code with a link to a Spotify playlist to help create ‘a killer atmosphere’ during gameplay. This is a great touch and is optional – you can, of course, create your own playlist if you prefer!

Alongside this is a selection of other documents for you to explore, as well as two A4 envelopes labelled Part One and Part Two. More on these later…

Story

We were impressed by the storytelling in this game. It is well-written and compelling and felt like a lot of work had gone into it. Combining creepy historical folklore with very current issues kept us second-guessing whether the mystery was supernatural or not, and it is clear from the start that there may be more than one mystery to unravel.

To say anything else about the story would mean potentially spoiling it, so we will leave it there!

Gameplay

The gameplay is standard for what you would expect from a Murder Mystery deduction game. The envelope you receive is packed full of documents including a map, poster, interview transcripts, printouts of news websites and lots more. The decision to contain some of the documents within a ‘Part One’ and ‘Part Two’ envelope was a good one – as the sheer volume of documents could feel overwhelming. We did find ourselves a little unsure of when we were supposed to open the envelopes, so even clearer signposting of this would be great.

Another minor niggle was a phone number included on one of the documents with a reference to texting. We assumed this meant that we would need to send a message at some point, but this turned out not to be the case (and caused a bit of confusion as to why it was included). Again, this is partly because of how other games we have played have worked in the past, as some of them use text messaging/WhatsApp as an immersive element.

Much of the gameplay for The Curse of Little Witchell is ‘offline’, however, there are several parts that require an internet connection. The web content mainly consists of password-protected pages that you need to solve puzzles to access. There is some video content as well, which was a welcome break from scouring physical documents, and these were executed well.

The game is pretty heavy on reading. This is both positive (lots of rich content) and for some who don’t like to read, maybe slightly negative. Had there been more than two of us playing then we could have spread out the reading more. We do feel that the information for the final reveal could be available in an audio format.

We found the puzzles to be more on the easy-medium side. Having played quite a few of these types of games before could explain this. For newcomers, we would say it is very accessible but may be slightly more challenging.

Having multiple options for the ending was a nice choice, although you are ultimately pushed towards one outcome. Perhaps a future game may go a step further and allow different outcomes that stick.

Lastly, the game is predominantly paper-based so is easily recyclable. This is great; however, we would like to have seen more variety in the types of paper that documents were printed on. For example, real photographs and an actual newspaper, we do appreciate that this would involve additional cost. On the plus side, it is perfectly possible to play the game without destroying/writing on any of the elements. This means it can be passed on to someone else or sold.

Final thoughts

The Curse of Little Witchell is a well-written and compelling game that keeps you engaged from start to finish. Whilst it is a little heavy on the reading for us, this does not detract from the overall experience of solving the various mysteries.

We felt this game was very good value for money, especially if bought as part of a bundle (see below) and are excited to play more Cyanide Mysteries. Given that the company was only launched in late 2022, we are really impressed by the quality of the game and are sure they will go from strength to strength in future.

If you are looking for a creepy murder mystery with twists and turns, then this is the game for you!

Did you know?

Where to buy

• Cyanide Mysteries (Webshop) [At the time of writing this review there is a 10% discount code if you sign up to receive the company newsletter]
• Cyanide Mysteries (Etsy)

Further information

• Official Website