Low Memory - Escape Tales: the review

Low Memory - Escape Tales by MS Edizioni is not just an escape room: it is a compelling story in which puzzles must be solved.

“The next morning Elizabeth wakes up on the sofa with an unbearable headache. The room is upside down as if thieves have entered. Can't remember anything from the day you were, what could have happened? Elizabeth decides to use the memory analyzer ... but everything has a price. "

(from the back of the box)

NB: this review, given the nature of the game, is totally spoiler-free. It can be read without fear.

What is an escape room?

An escape room is a puzzle and puzzle game in which the participants must search for an "escape" from a room set up according to one specific theme. Normally the time made available to competitors is one hour during which riddles and puzzles will have to be overcome and it will be necessary to interact with the environment. Low Memory - Escape Tales, however, distances itself from this "basic" mode and proposes an "escape tales" characterized by salient and original points.

The narrative frame at crossroads

In Low Memory - Escape Tales are the puzzles to serve the story and not vice versa. The narrative frame presents some topical moments in which the players (or the player) will be able to make dual choices. These choices, accompanied by memories that will soon be accumulated, establish the progression of the story along the tree structure of the plot. Twelve different endings are possible and the story is full of twists and turns and adequately written for the target of the product. In Low Memory - Escape Tales, players will face three different intertwined stories.

All night long

Low Memory - Escape Tales provides that the game can be "saved" simply by keeping cards and tokens, and then completed at different times. Each story (of the three included in the box) will take at least two hours, bringing the duration of this title to six hours, even nine, based on the speed possessed in solving the various riddles, puzzles and mathematical games present. If one of the intrinsic criticisms of tabletop escape rooms is the possibility of “using them” once or in a single “run”, Low Memory - Escape Tales offers an interesting compromise. For an affordable price, the title guarantees at least three evenings of fun or a whole night of puzzles. On balance it is an excellent quality / duration / price ratio.

Cards, markers, locations and paragraphs

Low Memory - Escape Tales offers a story book (divided into paragraphs) as a narrative frame. Based on the areas explored and "activated" on the map, a specific paragraph must be read aloud. The paragraph in turn, narrative aside, will tell you which cards to draw or discard. On the cards there is a drawing (often depicting the enigma itself) or a relevant clue and the reference to the web page of MS edizioni on which it will be necessary to insert the solution to the enigma. On the specific online page, you can find out how many cards players must find to solve the puzzle (usually from one to three) and possibly open a curtain dedicated to the "required clues". If a group of players can't solve the puzzle, these extra clues help get you back on track. It is not possible to play Low Memory - Escape Tales without an internet connection.

The power of clues

Online clues offer different (progressive) levels of information, first partial and then total. The first clue is usually basic and relatively useful, the second leads to the solution, the third is the real solution, often written clearly. If even with the third clue it is not possible to proceed, the "read the answer" button will come to your aid.

The difficulty of the puzzles

The puzzles have varying, not necessarily progressive, difficulties. Some will surely give even experienced players a hard time. Some enigmas are characterized by being more original or better successful than others. Personal taste, resistance to frustration and the ability to brainstorm are among the variables that will influence the positive perception of the puzzle just overcome.

The basic mechanics

In Low Memory - Escape Tales players will have to carefully observe the image of an environment, interact with it deciding which actions to spend (and in what sequence) in order to find the puzzles and / or cards necessary to overcome them. Every time these "action" tokens run out, it is necessary to draw a dear stress that offers a new narrative content but which, at the cost of new action signals, can force you to discard previously obtained "fragment of memory" cards.

Read, fish, put

The mechanics of Low Memory - Escape Tales are simple and intuitive and it is almost possible not to read the rules (however very clear and quick) and learn how to play with the first tutorial. However, a frequently forgotten rule is fundamental: if, after exploring an environment, the players have action tokens left, they will also be kept in the next environment.

Read the paragraph, draw the relative cards, open the site, place the markers is an easy sequence, albeit slightly more complex than the “classic” table escape room composed solely of decks of cards to be turned over. Even novice players, after a few moments of running in, will be able to deal with the product without problems.

Observe, reason and calculate thanks to the illustrations

Many of the puzzles encountered provide that the cards are observed carefully. For this reason, if you face the game in a large number of players, we advise you to arrange their position in the best way so that everyone has a good view of the materials on the table. The illustrations and drawings of the environments are at times not very Cyberpunk (we will return to this point soon) and immersive (unlike the excellent cover image) but have the advantage of being easy to interpret and rich in details.

The Cyberpunk setting

The back cover states that Low Memory - Escape Tales “is set in a dystopian cyberpunk future”. In the first story, this setting is hard to hear, and perhaps the game seems to veer more towards a dystopian inspiration like "Black Mirror". Subsequently, the story will become more cyberpunk, also by virtue of some topics covered. If the father of the Cyberpunk narrative movement is the brilliant William Gibson, using this sacred monster as a term of comparison (a little with impunity, but so be it) Low Memory - Escape Tales does not come out bad at all: the three stories pay homage, for example, to the structure a Chinese box from Gibson's novels. Obviously, the visionary and innovative aspect of the famous author is missing, given that Low Memory - Escape Tales offers us classic stereotypes of the genre in escape room sauce.

The new and the old

Low Memory - Escape Tales is the second game in the series and follows “The Awakening”. If "The Awakening" was more dreamlike and horror and at times the story seemed to adapt to the need to find a new enigma, here, on the contrary, the puzzles help the story and are logically inserted in it and "well set". This is an important improvement that favors immersion and guarantees a further excellent result to the already good series.

Conclusions

Low Memory - Escape Tales is an excellent and long "table" escape room with amusing and feasible puzzles especially by small groups of more experienced players. For all other aspiring "escapers", clues and solutions on the MS Edizioni website can get in the way. The narrative aspects at crossroads, almost reminiscent of a game book, are original and fun, as well as interesting is the story told. MS Edizioni proposes with the usual care lavished in its work an excellent title, well translated and with very accurate components.

The materials

The dimensions of the box are perfect for the content and the price, the papers have a good weight, are canvas and for the use that will be made of them they must not be wrapped or protected. The cover illustration attracts the eye and is well done. Less exciting, albeit clear for the purposes of the game, are the illustrations on the cards / dedicated to the environments.

Game suitable for

Low Memory - Escape Tales is indicated for average experienced players, who already have successfully passed escape room live or table, a minimum literate to the world of boardgames. Low Memory - Escape Tales can also be appreciated by those who are beginners and is an excellent opening range useful for thrilling, but in this case it requires a close-knit group resistant to frustration especially in the most difficult and beautiful puzzles.