Inheritance (Morgan’s Escapes) // Review

Inheritance is a play-at-home puzzle adventure from Morgan’s Escapes. They produce a range of escape games, murder mysteries and escape room kits in Wales. Whether you are looking for a puzzle adventure for yourself, or an escape kit to lock up your gift for someone else – Morgan’s Escapes has you covered!

Players: 1-6 // Age: 14+ // Playtime: 60-90mins

What you need: A pencil and paper. Internet is required to verify and submit your answers and for any hints you might need.

Story

“Dafydd and Ffion Parry, owners of The Dragon Hotel, died in a freak canoeing accident. Their son, Aled, is set to receive their whole estate, which includes the hotel. Dafydd has an unknown second child, and heir, who deserves their fair share of the estate.

Solve all nine puzzles to reveal the access code to the online safe which holds DNA evidence of this second heir.”

First impressions

The game is packaged in a white A4 envelope. An anonymous letter inside explains that you were sent the contents by an employee who has worked for The Dragon Hotel for many years. They need your help to gain access to the hotel safe and expose the secret of the mystery heir. To ensure their plan isn’t discovered they have hidden the safe access code within a hotel welcome pack. I love the idea of using a welcome pack to hide the puzzles – it fits with the story and allows for a mix of gameplay materials that make sense in the context of the game.

The welcome pack includes a restaurant menu, exhibition flyer, business cards, a set of postcards and more. All of the items have been altered by the mysterious sender to ensure that only you can extract the access code. I found the components to be well-designed and believable as items you would find in the ‘real world’. This helps with immersing the player in the world of the game.

Gameplay

A total of nine different puzzles must be solved to open the safe. One item serves as a handy guide for the order in which the answers should be assembled. Helpfully the puzzles can be completed in any order; I often prefer this to linear gameplay where getting stuck can leave you feeling frustrated. If you do get stuck, it is easy to attempt a different puzzle and come back to the original one later.

There are a mix of puzzle types that are well-constructed and rewarding to solve. Solutions are signposted if you know where to look, although for more experienced players these will likely not be needed. I particularly enjoyed a puzzle that involved combining multiple items and another involving a flyer for a Wine and Cheese event. I’m keeping references vague so as not to spoil the experience for anyone!

Once you crack the access code and unlock the safe, you must face a moral dilemma by choosing one of two different paths. This will determine how the game ends and adds an interesting element to the gameplay.

Overall it took me around 45 minutes to complete Inheritance. I did have to use a hint for one of the puzzles (and felt fairly stupid afterwards!). The hints are tiered so you can get a little nudge if you need it or more help if you are really stuck. I found the difficulty to be on the easier side, likely because of my experience level. This makes it very accessible to beginners, however didn’t ruin my experience as the puzzles were still enjoyable.

Verdict

About Morgan’s Escapes

Disclaimer: Morgan’s Escapes kindly provided me with a review copy of this game in exchange for an honest review. This in no way influences the content of my review.