Madok’s Lost Treasure is an immersive mystery-in-a-box from award-winning escape room designers, Yacine and Michelle of Society of Curiosities. If you’ve always wanted to try your hand at a good old-fashioned treasure hunt, now is your chance! Search for clues online and within physical ephemera as you attempt to discover the hidden location of Captain Madok’s pirate treasure.
Players: 1-4 // Age: 14+ // Playtime: 2-3 hours
What you need: A pencil/pen and paper. An internet-connected device.
Synopsis
“Explore the Caribbean Sea and track down a treasure lost since the Golden Age of Piracy!
You receive a mysterious envelope filled with clues and artifacts: ancient maps, wax-sealed cryptic notes, a golden coin, and more. Deep-dive into the ancient objects, articles, and expert resources to track down the location of the treasure! What will you find?”
First impressions
My puzzle game playlist seems endless, with additional games being added all the time. When interviewing game creators in recent months and asking them about their favourite experiences, one particular company was mentioned time and time again. Society of Curiosities has built up a stellar reputation for ambitious and original escape rooms and immersive play-at-home experiences. Their games are lauded by players and game creators as some of the most immersive in the business. Madok’s Lost Treasure is one of the most popular games in their ‘play at home’ range and I decided it was time to try it out for myself.
Arriving in a white cardboard box, this rather unassuming package holds within it the tools you’ll need to solve an age-old mystery. The strange Society of Curiosities logo is stamped on the top and is the only hint at the box’s puzzling contents. This is the first part of a quarterly subscription series that spans four games. Although this game does end with a small tease for the second, it can be played completely standalone.
Gameplay
Getting started
Inside the box, you’ll find a letter from Aldora Penniwig, Grandmaster of the Society of Curiosities. This gives a brief overview of your mission and provides an inventory of items included in the box. One piece of information I wasn’t expecting to find was a set of credit card details. These allow you to purchase any items you might need during the game. Sadly, you can’t use these card details to buy more puzzle games – I tried! I won’t talk about the specific use case/s for the credit card, but I will say that it adds another layer of interactivity (and authenticity) to gameplay.
To start, you’ll need to load up the Society’s website. If you bought the game yourself, you can use the login details from your purchase. If it was a gift, you’ll need to create a new account; this is very simple. Once logged in, game progress will be stored so you can easily pause at any point. You are also presented with the option to choose solo play, group play (in person) or group play (over Zoom). Clear instructions for gameplay are provided depending on which option you choose. An optional soundtrack is available to play, should you wish to use it.
A large portion of gameplay takes place online, so I would recommend using a laptop/tablet. You’ll be doing a fair amount of internet-based research, which I found to be a lot of fun. I felt so immersed in the world that the lines between reality and fiction truly began to blur. This is exactly what I want when I am playing a mystery game, so kudos to the creators.
Your Ground Team
Captain Steiner is introduced as the leader of a ground team that will be assisting you. He is the main point of contact for the mission and is contactable by text or an online messaging system. Being able to text from your mobile phone and receive messages back adds an extra level of immersion. I did appreciate the option to use the web-based messaging service instead, which may be more accessible for some.
You’ll need to work closely with the ground team, who act as your eyes and ears as you direct them to move between various locations. As you identify the correct sites for them to explore, you’ll unlock more clues to help unravel the main mystery. I found this setup effective, simulating the feeling that you are coordinating an actual search for treasure. As the player, you can’t physically travel around, but working with the remote team allows you to cover more ground.
Presentation
Michelle and Yacine have worked hard to ensure that everything in the game looks as authentic as possible. Magazine pages literally look as though they have been pulled out of real magazines. The restored antique coin has a weight to it that makes it satisfying to hold. Maps look aged and crumpled, with small water stains. These variations in weight, paper stock and texture add a wonderful tactile dimension to the experience.
The attention to detail isn’t limited to just the physical components. All online elements are so well put together that you may find yourself questioning if you are on a website for the game or an actual ‘real’ website. This is quite an achievement!
It is worth noting that some of the components do use cursive script. This makes them feel more believable but also renders them slightly more difficult to read. Helpfully, transcripts are included for these documents and can be found in the hints section. They are clearly labelled ‘Cursive Text’ so there is no risk of you accidentally spoiling anything.
Puzzles
One of the biggest joys of Madok’s Lost Treasure is that constant feeling of discovery. The sense that you are actually hunting for treasure and, through your online research, are moving slowly closer to finding it. I’m purposefully not going to talk about the puzzle elements in detail. A big part of the game is the mystery and to say too much might spoil that. I will say that you’ll be tackling some ciphers in the game, you’ll need to manipulate objects and you’ll need to do some internet sleuthing to find specific websites. There are a couple of fun multimedia/interactive online elements that I’d love to talk about but don’t want to spoil.
The puzzles are fun, varied and creative and are interwoven perfectly into the story, which feels steeped in history. When the box first arrived I wasn’t sure how much gameplay could come from the objects in the box, but they are just a part of the overall experience.
The game ends with a debriefing message from the Grandmaster who reviews each step of the mission. I always appreciate a debrief at the end of a game as I like to find out if there are key details I missed along the way.
Hints & Difficulty
As you might expect, hints are available to help you through any rough patches. They are tiered, so you have the choice to take a few smaller hints or go right through to the solution. On the occasions where I needed a bit of a nudge, I found the hints to be really helpful.
At the end of the game, you will be given your ‘mission score’. This ranks you against other players based on how many hints you have used and the number of questions you have answered incorrectly. It is a nice addition for more competitive players!
Bonus content
Once Madok’s Lost Treasure is over, there is another shorter mystery in the box to solve: A Strange Compass. It’s a “Coffee Break Mission” which serves as a bite-size follow-up to the main game. There are also Skill Builder missions that you can access online which help educate you about different forms of cipher or puzzle types that you may come across. These are short but extremely helpful if you are new to these types of games.
If you are intrigued by this game but want to dip your toe in first, I’d recommend trying out Mysterious Map Heist. This is an entirely web-based game that can be played straight after purchase. It lasts 45-90 minutes, depending on your experience level and is currently $12 (around £10). Society of Curiosities also offers this $12 back as credit towards their subscription, should you wish to continue playing the series.
Verdict
Madok’s Lost Treasure
Summary
Madok’s Lost Treasure is an incredibly immersive hunt for pirate treasure that blurs the lines between fiction and reality. Authentic-looking physical components and realistic websites ramp up the realism as you search for hidden clues and unravel the intriguing narrative.
The ability to text characters who can search remote locations and aid you in your quest is a thrilling addition to gameplay. Paired with some other clever interactive elements and a nail-biting conclusion, it is a lot of fun.
Needless to say, I immediately signed up for the rest of the subscription once I’d completed this game. I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of the next chapter, The Posey Ring & The Chapbook.
About Society of Curiosities
Society of Curiosities is an award-winning escape room and play-at-home mystery company created by Yacine and Michelle. They are based in Hawaii and have produced a range of in-person and tabletop experiences. These include their quarterly subscription game series, starting with Madok’s Lost Treasure, The Fairytale Files and the Winchester Mystery House games.
Disclaimer: Society of Curiosities kindly sent me a copy of this game in exchange for an honest review. This in no way influences the content of my review.
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