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Post by Todd on Apr 10, 2018 13:43:57 GMT -5
....The season also sort of devolved from each box having interesting artifacts to basically being pieces of paper, so even though the puzzles got tougher, the value of the boxes went way down..... Maybe next season they'll include a papercraft and a little pewter figure.
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Post by chrisu on Apr 8, 2019 22:33:52 GMT -5
I tackled the deluxe experience Hawthorne Junction on the weekend and boy, was this a letdown. All the items are nicely done, except a piece of soap with a headache inducing smell. Had to throw it away, we couldn't bear the stench. My biggest quibbles are that there is no motivation. You are presented a lot of things. But why are you doing anything? What exactly are you investigating? And to make matters worse there are a few puzzles which are only included for puzzlers sake. These don't make any sense story wise. Like comparing a certain list to a certain other item. Why the hell would any one write end numbers from car registrations on the wall of a dirty public toilet? The person could have just written what she wanted to say. All in all this pales in comparison to Decoder Ring Society. Just save your money folks.
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Post by neutronstar on Apr 9, 2019 11:26:58 GMT -5
I tackled the deluxe experience Hawthorne Junction on the weekend and boy, was this a letdown. All the items are nicely done, except a piece of soap with a headache inducing smell. Had to throw it away, we couldn't bear the stench. My biggest quibbles are that there is no motivation. You are presented a lot of things. But why are you doing anything? What exactly are you investigating? And to make matters worse there are a few puzzles which are only included for puzzlers sake. These don't make any sense story wise. Like comparing a certain list to a certain other item. Why the hell would any one write end numbers from car registrations on the wall of a dirty public toilet? The person could have just written what she wanted to say. All in all this pales in comparison to Decoder Ring Society. Just save your money folks. I agree 100%. I found Hunt A Killer a big disappointment. Some puzzles were very time consuming, which would be great if it actually related to the crime, etc. But they were there just to add a puzzle to the box. I didn't to Hawthorne Junction, but two other seasons. Never again.
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Post by tetravus on Apr 9, 2019 12:47:44 GMT -5
I guess I'm in the minority here, but I've really been enjoying the HaK premium cases. They've always done a good job of immersing me, and cover a wide range of themes. The 1973 "FLUF" box is indistinguishable from a legitimate collector's album box set, and the 1968 "shoebox" made me feel like I was really digging through someone's creepy attic. Can't disagree about Hawthorne Junction though - it was a cheap purchase and it shows through in the puzzles.
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Post by dmikester on Apr 9, 2019 20:22:45 GMT -5
I find the quality level of regular seasons-based HaK to be significantly worse than their premium boxes. While I haven't loved the content of all of their premium cases, I think in terms of presentation and quality of materials, premium HaK cases are close to best in class, certainly on par with the MPC and in some cases better. 1934 remains my favorite unboxing of any experience from any company other than the deluxe offerings from the HPLHS, 1973 was a remarkable presentation, and their latest, The Melancholy Killer, ended up having a truly unsettling narrative.
With all of that said, both 1968 and Hawthorn Junction are clearly not as good as the others, though I'd disagree about the puzzles in Hawthorn Junction being subpar compared to their other stuff. In fact, I remember highly enjoying the language puzzle and finding it rather clever. I also thought the sheer amount of stuff you got in Hawthorn Junction was impressive, and the fake websites were well done. It was just that the narrative and resolution wasn't particularly satisfying.
Hunt A Killer is an odd thing for me; when I hear they're having a new premium case, I rush to purchase it, but I could not care less about their main product.
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Post by chrisu on Apr 9, 2019 23:01:30 GMT -5
Yes, the quality of the items was good. We were just let down by the way the puzzles were embedded into the narrative. For example the word puzzle. Why on earth would someone include ciphered passages in a letter for someone else? Or in official town meeting protocols? Especially when it is so balantly obvious that it is some kind of code. Decoder Ring did that better and had a better narrative. With Hawthorne Junction I got the feeling they were working with a checklist: Enough cool crafted material? Check! Some mystery included? Check! Websites? Check! Uh, we forgot to put in the puzzles! Wait, lets horseshoe some in with a crowbar. At least that's how this felt for us. Most of the places the puzzles were placed made no sense story wise. Next time we are going to tackle 1934. Hope that's more to our liking.
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Post by dmikester on Apr 10, 2019 18:15:51 GMT -5
Oh I completely agree that Decoder Ring did it better. That first season of Decoder Ring is I think my favorite puzzle narrative experience of any of these companies.
1934 is a bit hazy in my mind, but if I remember correctly, it’s much less about codes and more about piecing together strands of evidence to try and figure out what actually happened. There is at least one code-based puzzle, and it’s very well integrated into the narrative.
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Post by dmikester on Nov 22, 2019 0:07:22 GMT -5
I doubt that anyone here is keeping up with Hunt A Killer anymore, but I just completed their latest premium experience, Baker's Dozen. It's unlike any of their others in that it's arguably suitable for younger kids (I'd say maybe 10 and up as there's a lot of reading and inference needed). In it, you're actually trying to prevent a murder from happening as opposed to solving one, and there's no violence or explicit language to be found. There are a number of codes that are pretty easy to crack for seasoned puzzle veterans but would likely be a sizable challenge for someone brand new to these kinds of things. You also get some fun props, a lot of well-made items (twenty in all), and some pretty solid looking recipes. It would be a very solid gift for either someone you're looking to introduce to this genre or for a fun family night. The only caveat is that it is pretty expensive for what it is ($150) but if it's on sale and you're intrigued, you could do a lot worse.
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Post by barkona on Mar 28, 2020 18:54:47 GMT -5
We just got the episode 1 in the mail and it wants us to text HAK but the response says its incorrect. Not sure what to do...
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Post by craigrj on Jul 23, 2021 11:05:00 GMT -5
Quick check in here about Hunt A Killer 1968 and 1973 - I can still order 73 from their website (although Uk shipping is a bit) but 1968 seems to have disappeared. I know a few years ago some people here had it (and were disappointed in it, but I still wants it anyway!) - anybody fancy moving it on to this chap in the UK potentially please?
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