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Dispatch: On the Run 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.

First and foremost…if you DO NOT like Spoilers, I repeat, DO NOT like Spoilers. You may want to click out now. I am doing my best to not give away a lot of details but, there could be some within this review since it’s a bit unavoidable. 

Okay, let’s proceed!

The introduction box is pretty amazing, in that it completely sets up the story for you, and gives you a ton of hints with some being pretty obvious, while others being more subtle. The synopsis of this box is your best friend James Smith, is being accused of murdering his new wife, Victoria Van Kress. James and Victoria met after James began working for her family, the Van Kress Family, who are famous for having money and owning a mining company. On their honeymoon, Victoria was found strangled to death in their hotel room. James was apprehended but, has now escaped and is nowhere to be found. Now it’s up to you, as the best friend, to figure out where he is and help him prove his innocence.

Introduction Box 

 

Clue 1 – Magazine Articles

As you can see from the articles, not only is Victoria a well-known heir to a rich family but, the paparazzi is obsessed with her and James’ love life. They secretly photograph them and post them on the cover of magazines. It’s obvious they are close to celebrities because of the fascination others have in them.

 

Clue 2 – Wedding Invitation, Ceremony Program & R.S.V.P. Card

At first glance, nothing seemed ‘out of the ordinary’ from these cards. In fact, they are really cute, and would look lovely for a wedding! However, if you read the details within them, you’ll uncover some hints. I will give one that won’t give away too much: Visit their wedding website and use the R.S.V.P. code that is printed on the R.S.V.P. card.

 

Clue 3 – Journal & Detective Card

When I first saw the journal, I was thinking it was something for me to keep throughout the game, so I could keep track of my own thoughts. It’s so much better than that though! It really gives you a good insight into the backstory surrounding the mystery and goes into detail about how James met Victoria, and a timeline of their relationship. I went back and read it twice and I’m glad I did. There is a couple of things I overlooked, and I’m glad I saw them the second time. (P.S. Wonder what that ring of stain is on the business card…)

There is also a detective card that was tucked inside the journal when I first opened the box. You can use this card throughout the game and actually email them for hints or clues. You can ask for small, obvious, or big hints if you get lost along the way.  Keep reading if you want to see how that works.

 

Clue 4 – Wedding Toast

James asked you to write a toast for his wedding. Read this carefully as it gives a good backstory into your childhood with James, and how he was always the one wanting to figure things out, and solve them. Reading between the lines, I think it might be safe to say James is a pretty clever guy.

Clue 5 – Newspaper articles

I noticed right away the circled items on the newspaper clippings. Oh look, an Instagram account (Hint: go to it). Oh, a website as well! (Yes, another hint: go to this website as well).  On the website, you’ll discover some additional clues that include an accident that occurred.

 

Clue 6 – Napkin

This is a napkin from the hotel he and Victoria were at before she was murdered. Why is one of the lines underlined? “Don’t try to find me. Calm…” is this a subliminal message?

Overall, the Introduction Box immediately got me hooked. I love how interactive it is, and how you feel like you’re actually involved in this mystery. I could see using this for a game night – although this box may be difficult to play with a bunch of people because there is quite a bit of reading. Also, for myself personally, I need some quiet to read through things and make sure I’m not missing anything that could be glaringly obvious. I tried not to give away too much, but, my biggest advice is to read over everything more than once, and really use all the interactive clues. There’s more there than you think.

Also just to condense the review a bit, some of the clues I condensed together – you should have 8 pieces of information altogether. 

Now I am going to go on and discuss the next box in the series. Again, if you don’t like spoilers – don’t proceed. I try not to give away too much but, it’s obvious some information will have to be included.

 

Taken from the Overview you receive in the box “The mystery continues! The contents of this box pull you deeper into the strange disappearance of your closest childhood friend, who also happens to be the suspected killer of a well-known heiress. With the aid of physical clues and details embedded on the web, you’ll follow each thread to deduce what is fact and what is fiction…”

Needless to say,  the true-crime lover in me is here for it! The box was really cool that it came in, making it look you received a package straight from Chile.

Again, you receive all the information, and a list of the clues inside:

 

 

Clue 1 – Detective Letter

The detective letter from Bailey Detective Co. (Remember the business card above?) came in a sealed envelope with a stain that, I believe is some kind of…blood? Although odd because why would there be blood?

 

 

Inside you will receive 4 documents along with a letter from a Private Investigator: Simon Prentis. This includes an autopsy report, Police booking report with fingerprints, Detective notes from the Maui Police Department, and the homicide report from them.

Part of me is wondering if the stain IS blood, as Simon Prentis mentions he is sleeping with a gun under his pillow. What do you think?

Simon asks how do you want to proceed, so I think I will send him a message after I investigate the rest of the clues.

Clue 2 – Foreman’s Notebook Pages (x 2)

I felt like I was actually reading someone’s private journal when I picked this up. There’s a ton of details and clues. It was kind of eery in a way. Especially reading the part about the nightmare he had, which was that he saw a big, giant serpent slither down the mountain with fire and ash. That sounds terrifying.

 

Clue 3 – Copper Mine Safety Report

Well, this actually ended up just being shredded paper.  I realized after going through the box I was going to have to put this all together. I won’t spoil it, and allow you all enjoy placing each piece together. There’s a pretty big hint when you put it all together.

 

Clue 4 – Newspaper Articles

There are several articles that discuss the explosion and other incidents occurring in the mine. Make sure you read them well, you will need to remember some of these names. The cause is unknown surrounding why the explosion happened.

Clue 5 – James’ Note with Puzzle

I was stuck on this clue for a while. On the back of this document, there’s a puzzle to figure out. Once you figure out the puzzle, there’s a number that you text where James will confirm if you have the answers correct. You will also want to take advantage of the website on the back it tells you to go to.

It looks like this:

James will give you his login name but, you have to figure out the password. The clue is: “I set my password to the day you met Victoria”. This means you need to go back and scan through all the details in the Introduction Box. You will find it there.

Once you have figured out the puzzle, you want to make sure that you text your answer to the number provided (as mentioned above). This will lead you to the last clue.

Clue 6 – Copper Coin

At first glance, I wasn’t sure what I would use this for. Is there a meaning to it? Is it good luck?

Well, it’s to decipher a cryptic code you will receive back from James when you text message him! Pretty neat, to be honest! He’ll provide you with a link to click on and receive his message so you will need this to coin to figure out what he’s saying back to you.

 

 

Also, as I mentioned, I reached out to Simon, The Private Investigator:

I am waiting to hear back from him but, I’ll let you all know of course what his response is.

Overall Chapter 1 did not disappoint one bit! To be fair, I knew it wouldn’t, considering how awesome the Introduction Box was! I found myself completely involved in this the entire time, and I kept going back to make sure I did not miss any other clues. This would have been really fun to do with 1-3 other people since there was some legwork to it and discovering the clues with someone else would have been exciting. I can’t wait to continue reviewing these boxes with you each month, so stay tuned for the next one, coming in September.

Want to try Dispatch: On the Run? Use code DISPATCHCJ at checkout to get a $5 discount 

 

All views in this review are the opinion of the author. The Review Girls will never accept payment in exchange for a review, but will accept a box at no cost to provide honest opinions on the box. This post may contain affiliate/referral links. Read our complete disclosure.