Online Escape Room Review– Black Noir Murder Escape
Black Noir Murder Escape is an online mystery puzzle game. It’s billed as a teambuilding exercise with a hardboiled private detective setting. The players buy the game, receive an access code, and then play the game through Zoom. Though the website suggests teams of 3 to 5, as few as 1 or 2 can play the game.
It’s not like an online escape room where a real-life person works as an avatar and responds to commands. If anything, it’s closer to a truncated version of a 90’s puzzle game like Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Serrated Scalpel. You search about five settings, you click on items that lead you to clues or puzzles, and the more puzzles you solve, the further you move forward in the game.
You play a P.I., whose partner is murdered in an alley. You must search and discover who’s behind the crime, delving into the seedy underbelly of the city as you find clues that could lead to the most powerful levels of society. There are references to The Maltese Falcon, Chinatown, Veronica Mars, and other classic private investigator tales. Some of the puzzles are simple codes, others require a little bit of observation.
It’s a pleasant diversion, but depending on your skills, gameplay can be very short. A total novice might need an hour and a half to complete the game. An expert player might finish in twenty-five minutes. Due to the relative simplicity of the game, the $49 price tag is a bit steep, especially since the game doesn’t have much replay value. For a single person looking for a brief diversion, $10 would be more than enough. Still, if you play this game in a group, it’s cheaper than most one-hour online escape rooms, but it’s also much simpler, especially when you figure out the logic behind the puzzles. Once you wrap your head around how to interpret the clues, it’s smooth sailing, and as said, it’s very reminiscent of a miniature version of a 90’s computer game. I had fun with it, but it’s not especially challenging, and the price is a bit steep for the length and complexity.
Chris Chan’s sequel to Sherlock’s Secretary, Nessie’s Nemesis, will be published on September 3rd by MX Publishing. His novel Ghosting My Friend was released by Level Best Books on March 28th. His first novel, Sherlock’s Secretary, was released by MX Publishing, as was his anthology Of Course He Pushed Him and Other Sherlock Holmes Stories Volumes 1 & 2. His Agatha-nominated book Murder Most Grotesque: The Comedic Crime Fiction of Joyce Porter was published by Level Best Books. His first non-fiction book, Sherlock & Irene: The Secret Truth Behind “A Scandal in Bohemia” is available for sale at Amazon.com and the MX Publishing website, as well as at Book Depository (with free worldwide shipping there). It is also available in a Kindle edition.
