EXIT Advent Calendar: The Missing Hollywood Star

£34.99

I’ve long been a fan of the EXIT games developed by Inka and Markus Brand which deliver an escape room-style experience all from the comfort of your own home. The games require you to think outside of the box and make sense of riddles, clues and puzzles to work out the mysterious circumstances of each game. Having completed many of the stand-alone EXIT games, I was super excited to get to test out one of their Advent Calendars to celebrate the festive season.

The new 2024 advent calendar sees you adopt the role of a pizza delivery guy, taking a pizza to the set of the new Christmas blockbuster film. However, on arrival at your delivery location, the entire set is dark and deserted, and only a large hole in the set wall is left. The advent calendar begins as you step through the hole in the studio wall with the hopes of discovering what mystery has occurred.

Without spoiling too much of its contents, each day you open up a small door where you are presented with a riddle, clue, or random object that must be solved to move on to the next room. Only once you have solved all 24 puzzles will you uncover the mystery of the film set and save the Christmas blockbuster.

If you are used to the types of puzzles that EXIT create, you will know that each one often takes a little creative thinking, from viewing each riddle from a different perspective, reading between the lines and even sometimes looking for clues on the game box itself. However, even if you are not, the Advent Calendar is beginner-friendly and helps you to get into the escape room mindset. I would say if you’re used to the more intense EXIT games this isn’t as difficult as you might want, but it still makes a fun Christmas advent calendar that is a little bit different from the traditional sweet treats that everyone gets! However, if you do get stuck on a puzzle, the advent calendar does include a help book, so you know you are on track if you’re getting a little stuck on what is going on.

My only slight complaint comes from an object or two slipping into a different compartment, as this did leave me a bit confused for a while thinking I was missing some obvious clue – little did I know part of the puzzle was missing and had slid into a different compartment! Thankfully, the website does offer a refill guide which allowed my friend to look at what should be behind the door without me spoiling it all for myself whilst hunting for the missing piece. Once I’d found the right bit, it made a bit more sense, but I'd definitely recommend getting a friend or family member to check you have everything you need if you’re particularly stuck one day!

Overall, whether you’re a seasoned veteran in the EXIT game world, or this is your first step into their brilliant at-home escape room-style games, the Advent Calendar is an excellent entry to EXIT’s mechanics. It would make an excellent choice for any EXIT enthusiasts like myself to make the festive period a long-running escape room, and even provide a lot of family fun as everyone works together to uncover the truth.

Pros:

• Escape roomstyle advent calendar that turns each day into a fun puzzle to solve
• Good alternative to sweet advent calendars
• Range of puzzles and riddles with each day different

Cons:

• Some of the pieces can fall into the wrong compartments so may need help from a friend or family member if a puzzle isn’t making sense to check the right pieces are in the correct door