Dispatch: I, Spy series by Breakout Games
Price: $24.99
Website Description of Box: “Imagine a new kind of escape, one you can experience in the comfort of your own home – introducing Dispatch by Breakout. It’s a step apart from everyday entertainment—better than a book, more engaging than television—think of it as an immersive mystery where you wear the detective hat.
The story begins with the first delivery, or dispatch, if you will. In it, you’ll find physical clues that lead you to the web and back to the real world to unravel a mysterious crime. Grab a friend, the whole family and your thinking cap, and get ready to put your heads together for one mindbending ride as additional details are revealed with every package.”
Shipping: Free
Ships to: U.S.
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Want to read or catch up on our previous reviews for this series? Chapter 1, Chapter 2 & Chapter 3 are posted on our blog!
As a quick reminder, this post may contain spoilers.
It’s another month, so it’s time for one of my favorite reviews to complete! Chapter 4 of the I, Spy series brings us to Hlewlai.
As always, this box contained the normal intro card to let us know what we can expect from our box.
The box also had another stamp to add to our passport, so I immediately had to put that in my passport for safe keeping!
The first clue that piqued my interest was this Chinese restaurant menu. I saw what appeared to be a phone number but, it was disconnected. It’s also a bit difficult to see from the picture, but the 4 in the phone number has a different border. Is this a clue?
Upon opening the menu, I noticed a series of numbers with random letters underlined. I knew that had to be some kind of code, so I immediately wrote it all down in a notebook so I could refer back to it without having to flip through the menu.
I noticed this came in handy almost immediately because the next thing I grabbed was the napkin from the restaurant. It had a message on it and at the bottom a series of numbers that I knew I needed to use the code for!
“Remember not to”…ahh yes, another time in this series I will need to remain patient for until the hidden message means something to me. I won’t tell you what the phrase is because I don’t want to spoil it.
There was also a nice treat in the box…a fortune cookie! Yum!
One side of the cookie said, “Avoid the lair at all costs”. Now, I’m not one that I would consider “lucky” but, maybe these numbers will prove me wrong. And what kind of lair should I be wary of?
This postcard was the next clue I picked up. It took me a minute to put two and two together, but after some time, I noticed that the flag was in the Code Systems book that was included in the Chapter 1 box. The message of the flag is a bit alarming.
On the flip side of the postcard, is a note. I recognize that code from last month’s box! I grabbed the Code Systems booklet again and turned to the familiar code I knew I would need to use. Last month this took me some time to decipher but, this time I flew right through it. I felt proud of myself for that one.
It was another warning for me to avoid something but, I can’t really figure out what it all means so I moved on to some more clues.
The next clues I picked up was this notecard. It contained another note with a code that I need to figure out. This one was also pretty easy for me to figure out. The P.S. note on the back of it sounds awfully familiar, doesn’t it? Once I figured out what the sentence was, I figured it must be a phrase that I will need to remember to unlock something. Maybe a webpage? I’ll find out soon enough.
The news articles contained some rather important information for me. It looks like a body was found of an unidentified woman. From reading the description, this is one of the women who was mentioned in a previous box. This is quite eery and based off the black feather, I can only make the assumption that The Raven paid her a visit.
There was also this article pictured above about a billionaire. I knew I had to keep this information in the back of my mind.
This was the last clue that the box provided me. I used this clear, plastic slide to decode the next message (see below).
From what I can also tell, it looks like there’s some braille at the bottom. Luckily I have my Code System book to help me! After cracking the code for both of these, I was taken to a website.
This website was the lair I was previously warned not to go to! However, I decided to go through with it anyway, and I was prompted to enter a password. I had a pretty difficult time figuring this out which was frustrating because I was only given so many attempts. I eventually got locked out and decided to take a break until I could figure it out.*
Eventually (and I may have even cheated the system) I got into the lair. However, I was disheartened after figuring out, I had yet another code to solve. This time it was a lot easier for me though!
*There is also another part in the box that I want to mention, that helped me solve the puzzle above. I almost missed it but, luckily I went to the Breakout Dispatch Facebook group on got a small hint. The one clue I will give you is you need to go back to a specific area in the first box and look for a website to go through. Hint: Think emails. You will then run into some ASL clues, which you can use your Code Systems book to figure out. There are some other steps you will have to take but, I don’t want to spoil anything. Once I got the hang of it, I was smooth sailing.
Overall Thoughts
At first, I thought this box was going to be pretty simple to solve. I thought to myself, “Wow, I’m becoming such an expert at these decoding exercises, maybe I will figure everything out really fast!” Ha, I was wrong! Dispatch kept me on my toes and definitely threw me off with some of the clues. I only have one more box left in the series, and I can’t wait to see what is in store. I took a peek last night after I finished this box, and I think you guys will really like it. Who else out there is currently working on this series? What do you think the last box will be like?
Want to try Dispatch: I, Spy?
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