Woodlock University (Detective Box) // Review

Woodlock University is the debut game from Detective Box. It’s an interactive murder mystery that allows you to search locations, interview suspects and examine a variety of evidence. After a hugely successful launch in France, the game has now been translated into English for more players to enjoy. Read on for a spoiler-free review of the game.

Please note: Woodlock University is currently available at a discounted price of £69 (RRP: £89). It also comes with a money-back guarantee if you aren’t satisfied, so Detective Box must be pretty sure you’ll enjoy it!

Players: 1-5 // Age: 14+ // Playtime: 8-10 hours

What you need: An internet-connected device. I’d recommend a laptop, tablet or desktop computer. There is a fair amount of internet use.

Synopsis

“Promising student Henry Coleman has been found murdered on Woodlock University’s campus. The Detective Box Agency needs you to solve the case and bring the killer to justice. As a skiller investigator, you will be leading the investigation into the murder. This won’t be a simple case. You will have to analyse every piece of physical and digital evidence to rule out suspects one by one and catch the killer.”

First impressions

With the rising popularity of true crime documentaries, everyone wants to try their hand at solving a murder. There are many great options to choose from and these are increasingly evolving to be more complex and immersive. It’s easy to forget that, aside from English-speaking experiences, there is a whole range of other games being sold worldwide. The great news is that some of these are now being translated for English-speaking players to enjoy.

Woodlock University is one such offering from Detective Box. The French company, founded by Emilie Bernier O’Donnell, has been hugely successful in its home country. Now its first murder mystery has been translated into English and I couldn’t wait to try it out. I played this game with my partner over several evenings and it did not disappoint.

The packaging of the box set is simple but striking. Three individual episode boxes are held together by a sleeve that depicts an eerie silhouette of murdered student Henry Coleman. Where his face should be is an image of the exterior of the University. Paired with the monochrome palette, it screams detective mystery.

Gameplay

Getting started

Inside the first box is a map of the Woodlock University campus, an evidence bag with a UV pen and a shredded document and an assortment of other documents. A handy ‘Detective Kit’ is also included, which equips you with everything you’ll need to take notes and piece together an evidence board. ‘Detective Box’ branded items such as a ring-bound notebook, pen, post-it notes and an evidence board can be found inside the kit.

This is a meaty case, with the game’s three episodes making up around 8-10 hours of gameplay. As you progress through each episode, you’ll narrow down suspects, gain access to more evidence and get closer and closer to solving the case. The length of the investigation allows you to get invested in the characters and the world, combing over everything with a fine-toothed comb.

The Detective Box Agency Portal

A case assignment letter directs you to log in to the Agency’s online portal, where your investigation begins. You’ll be prompted to create an account when you first log on to the website. This allows the game to keep track of your progress, making it super easy to pick up where you left off if your browser crashes. The sign-up process is quick and straightforward and you’ll have the option to select the language you play in; currently English and French are available.

Once logged in the game begins with a briefing video from the US Head of the Detective Box Agency, Samantha Grayson. She sets the scene and introduces you to colleagues who will assist you on the case. Samantha can coordinate location searches, Lauren Fraser interviews suspects and Jack Ruppert has access to historical records in the police database.

I recommend interviewing as many people as possible. We were generally surprised at how many interviews were available, managing to miss some altogether. If appropriate, search a location to confirm a hunch before submitting your answer. The game will not let you progress unless you are methodical with your investigation. As you conduct interviews, search locations and scour the police database for clues, the evidence you find will be saved in a ‘Case log’ tab for easy access (pictured above).

At the end of each episode, you will be asked to input an updated suspect list. This is based on the information you have gathered so far and you won’t be able to progress to the next box until this list is correct.

Presentation

We were very impressed with the overall presentation and quality of components across the three boxes. The ‘Detective Kit’ felt like a great premium addition, meaning that all you need to get started is an internet-connected device. The inclusion of evidence bags is a nice touch that lends a certain authenticity to the experience. Paper components were well-designed, using a range of paper types and finishes.

The video content is well-shot on the whole. One tiny niggle, which I have fed back to the company, is that we would prefer it if characters looked directly at the camera. It felt like they were reading from a script with some choppy editing in places. The overall production value is great, if they can nail the performances then that would take it to the next level. Audio elements, such as the interviews, really brought the game to life. We appreciate that transcripts were available for each of these and are automatically saved to your Case Log.

Puzzles & Deduction

There is a blend of more traditional puzzles, such as ciphers and reassembling a shredded document, to more observational and deductive reasoning-based tasks. Seasoned puzzlers will find some familiar puzzle mechanics that, while still fun, won’t provide the same wow factor as they would for less experienced players. That being said, we were impressed with how integrated some of the physical components were into the puzzles and gameplay. A science-based puzzle left us running to Google after failing to recall a key Chemistry lesson from our school days.

Each episode contains several objectives that you need to complete, for example – ‘Where is the murder weapon?’. You’ll need to refer to all contents as you progress, clues can be hidden anywhere. There is plenty of detective work required to solve the case and you will be rewarded for thoroughly investigating everything. We were impressed by the variety of tasks across the boxes, which didn’t feel repetitive. There are great twists and turns in the story, including some red herrings, so it won’t be as easy to solve the case as you think. Remember that you may need to think outside the box at various points!

Hints & Difficulty

I would rate this as a standard/medium difficulty for most players. It isn’t ridiculously easy, but it felt like the solutions were all attainable if you put the work in. Nothing seemed particularly far-fetched or out of left field.

There are tiered hints available for each objective, which we didn’t use much. As you progress through these they will give you more detail. The granularity is enough to allow a small nudge in the right direction, but solutions are available if needed.

Room for Improvement

I wanted to touch on one area that I felt impeded our performance a little bit. Hopefully, if you read this it will save you some unnecessary confusion!

The web portal works well overall, but it isn’t perfect. We did experience some minor technical glitches during gameplay. One particular annoyance is that for some of the tasks we had the correct answer but the system wouldn’t accept it. This is because we hadn’t interviewed a specific person or searched a location first. We then assumed that we had the wrong answer and got stuck. I do think it is right that the system has been built in a way that prevents players from being able to randomly select answers to progress. I hope that in future iterations of the portal, the experience can somehow be improved. That being said, even with the technical issues, it genuinely didn’t sour our experience enough to ruin the game.

Verdict

About Detective Box

Disclaimer: Detective Box kindly sent me a copy of this game in exchange for an honest review. This in no way influences the content of my review.