The Laundering (Killer Trails) // Review

The Laundering is a tabletop puzzle and trivia game from Killer Trails, which also produces murder mystery trail guides. It features 12 unique puzzles to solve, each bringing you one step closer to uncovering the location of a secret meeting of a criminal syndicate. Can you discover the location in time and stop the criminals?

Players: 1-4 // Age: 14+ // Playtime: 90-150 mins

What you need: A pencil/pen and paper. An internet-connected device to verify answers (not required for gameplay).

Synopsis

“You’ve received a package full of suspicious marketing materials… but could it all be part of a giant ruse? As you study each piece, elements feel off. A curious logo. An odd pattern. A peculiar phrase that doesn’t quite fit. Pull on that thread! These anomalies could be the key to unlocking your next secret message… and the entire case!

The Laundering is an escape room game in an envelope, which contains a host of cunningly-crafted materials, hand-finished items, and references to real London locations, all woven together with a high-stakes story for a thrilling, immersive experience.”

First impressions

When The Laundering popped up on my Instagram feed, my eyes were drawn to the unusual detergent box theming. It’s marketed as a game for fans of escape rooms, brainteasers, and wordplay, so definitely within my sphere of interest. I tend to be a little apprehensive when ordering from a company I’ve not heard of before. It’s hard to judge what the quality will be like without a proven track record, reviews or recommendations. Although The Laundering is Tom Kelly’s first foray into the tabletop puzzle space, he does have a wealth of experience creating puzzles for his city-based experiences. Killer Trails, founded by Tom, offers puzzle trails across many cities in the UK, including London, York and Bristol.

I do actively want to support emerging creators in the space, so I took a gamble on ordering a copy. It’s reasonably priced at £15.99 for 90-150 mins of gameplay, but you can currently get 10% off if you use the discount code FRESH10. The game arrived very quickly, and I got straight down to playing it so I could feed back to my readers.

Presentation

Styling the game envelope as a laundry detergent box is inspired, with its bold and bright eye-catching title front and centre. Playful twists on the standard messaging you’d find on a detergent box hint at the tongue-in-cheek humour you’ll find throughout. I particularly enjoyed the claim that the game “Kills 99.99% of boredom”… a verified fact!

Inside the envelope is an assortment of well-designed leaflets, cards and other ephemera. I particularly enjoyed the vibrant ‘Belly Busta’ doughnut menu and the small ‘Cover-Up’ burlesque show cards. There are enough items to share across a small group of players.

Gameplay

Getting started

A ‘How To Play’ card and introductory letter clearly lay out your objectives. In short, you play as a police clerk who is investigating a series of incidents linked to a criminal syndicate. A colleague has contacted you with an ominous warning: ‘Leave the station now’. They are conducting an operation of their own, but suspect corruption at the highest level in your station. So they need your help as a trusted ally to take the syndicate down.

With the next syndicate meeting taking place tonight, you must race to work out the location before it’s too late. To do this, you’ll search through the marketing materials in the envelope, which are used by the group to hide drop-off locations for cash. If you can uncover all of the locations, you may be able to pinpoint where the meeting will take place.

There are 12 puzzles to solve, each corresponding to a month of the year. Helpfully, all of the items include the first three letters of the month printed at the bottom, along with a number in brackets. This indicates how many characters are needed for the correct answer. I found that the clueing in general was really clear, meaning that, provided you read all of the materials and pay close attention, the solution is never too far away.

The blend of wordplay, escape room-style puzzles, and trivia keeps gameplay interesting. Its non-linear structure means that you can tackle the puzzles in any order. If you get stuck on one, simply try a different one and come back to it. A couple of my favourites included a doughnut-themed puzzle and one that involved train lines. The game ends with a final meta-puzzle that was really satisfying. Overall, I had a lot of fun with the varied and creative challenges.

Hints & Difficulty

The puzzles were of mixed difficulty, with some being very quick solves and others taking more time to decipher. I tackled the game by myself and struggled a little in a couple of places, but this was less about puzzle design and more about my own weaknesses. I’d say generally that it is good to have at least a couple of people playing, to help bring different perspectives.

There are tiered hints available, which were very extensive and also included visual aids at certain points to explain more complex puzzle solutions. You can verify your answers as you go.

Verdict