If you’re not familiar with the Unlock series of games, they’re cooperative card- and app-based puzzle games, where you have to achieve some objective in a limited amount of time, somewhat in the style of escape rooms.
Now, I don’t normally play games with strong IP connections, figuring that the money spent in licensing the intellectual property comes at the cost of gameplay. However, I’ve got a bit of a soft spot for Star Wars, so I couldn’t resist Unlock: Star Wars. As with the majority of the Unlock boxes, this one includes 3 separate ‘adventures,’ i.e., 3 separate card decks: Escape from Hoth (rated easy), An Unforeseen Delay (moderate), and Secret Mission on Jedha (moderate)—you’ll have to look in a different Unlock box for games with a higher difficulty level.
Pick a deck, read its top card to find out what the mission objective is, and…
Actually, rewind a little: if you’ve never encountered an Unlock game, the box includes a short tutorial (10 cards)—play that first!
Playing the Game
In Unlock games, you have a deck of 60 numbered (some have letters) cards of various types:
- The starting card—gives a little background and tells you what your mission is (e.g., in Escape from Hoth, you have to figure out how to get a message to Echo Base);
- Advantage cards—I’ve not come across these in the other Unlock games I’ve played, but the Star Wars decks contain 6 of these, of which you randomly select 3 to use, each providing a small leg-up in the game, an extra clue if you like; hardcore escape artists may choose to play without any advantage cards, though conversely, you could use all 6 for a simpler game;
- Objects (actually, some might be people or locations, but they’re termed ‘objects’ for ease of explanation—these have red or blue jigsaw piece icons in the corner, and the idea is that you combine the appropriate pair of objects by summing their card numbers to get the number of the next card to look at (the example in the rulebook is a locked crate, card number 35 with a red icon, and a code cylinder, card 11 with a blue jigsaw piece; adding those together points you at card 46, an open crate with something interesting inside);
- Modifiers—these interact with objects to adjust the final sum;
- Machines—typing the card number into the phone app opens a mini game to play in order to make progress, usually making use of information on other cards, but beware: entering the wrong answer will punish you with a time penalty;
- Codes—similar to machines, these require the app, but this time just typing in a 4-digit code, which you’ll have to find elsewhere;
- Other—these might be locations which point you directly to another set of cards (e.g., items at that location) or hidden clues (helping you with machines and codes, or sneakily identifying other cards); and
- Penalty cards—if you take a stab in the dark with object pairs, sometimes you end up taking a wrong turn down a dark alley, and end up with a penalty card, costing you time in the game.
The Secret Mission on Jedha adventure also makes great use of a map, which you shouldn’t open until told to.
The other main component is the associated phone app; most Unlock games share the same one, but for some reason, Star Wars has one all to itself. You load the app, select the adventure you want to play, and after you’ve read the initial card, hit the start button.
The app immediately starts counting down from 60 minutes (though there is something in the game—I won’t say what—that gives you a bit more time). It doesn’t matter hugely if you don’t finish the game within the allotted time, as the app keeps on counting; it just affects your final score.
Besides counting down and providing the mechanism for codes and machines, the app can sometimes spontaneously give you a clue—I’ve not checked in detail, but it might be when it reckons you’re taking too long between interactions with the app. It also provides atmospheric background music, but I was extremely disappointed that it’s not any of the Star Wars theme music (maybe that was too expensive to license)—but you can mute the music while retaining the various sound effects, and fire up Spotify for the ‘right’ background music.
You turn over the starting card, which gives you the numbers of the next bunch of cards to look at, and off you go.
I won’t say anything specifically about the game to avoid giving spoilers, but here are a few generic pointers:
- Examine the cards closely, very closely, including the backs—some cards hide multiple clues
- Prepare to think laterally about the app—if something offers you a pair of binoculars, look through them (whether at cards or elsewhere), or if there’s something that needs to be mixed, shake it up;
- Be prepared to repeat some actions—sometimes you have to keep asking the same question; and
- Use the app’s hint mechanism if you’re completely stuck!
Assuming you haven’t given up in despair, the game ends when you solve the puzzle on the final card. The app says you’ve completed your mission, offering a few stats (such as time taken, number of hints requested and a ‘score’) and, um, that’s it—a tad anticlimactic. I’d have liked a bit more of a fanfare, but still, playing the game was enjoyable.
Verdict
I love the theming here, and the puzzles are a great mix of obvious and brain-taxing. The use of the app is inventive, very clever in places. I also liked the hints mechanism, to avoid total frustration and complete toss-the-table meltdown.
The box does say the game suits up to 6 players, but I think the upper end of that is just too many. While there can be several puzzles being tackled in parallel, there aren’t enough to keep everyone occupied, and you’ll likely be fighting for use of the phone. I feel that 2 or 3 players is optimal, though the game’s readily playable solo.
Unlike other escape-style games, such as the Exit series nothing is destroyed while playing the game, so although it’s not particularly replayable (you’ll remember too much!), at least it can be passed on to someone else when you’re done.
One small criticism I have of the game is that the box is too big. Since the game is ‘just’ cards (and a map), it could be made a lot smaller and more portable, ideal for travel.
Postscript
If you have access to a printer, the game’s publisher, Space Cowboys, has made a few short demo Unlock games available for people to try before taking the plunge.
Ratings
- Overall score of 90/100.
- Artwork: 5/5
- Complexity: 3/5
- Replayability: 1/5
- Player interaction: 3/5
- Component quality: 5/5
Likes
- Nice variety of inventive puzzles
- Clever app
- Great theme
Dislikes
- Lacks Star Wars theme music!
About the author
When not playing boardgames or blogging about them, L.N. Hunter keeps himself occupied writing fiction: a comic fantasy novel, The Feather and the Lamp, sits alongside close to 100 short stories in various magazines and anthologies, and on websites and podcasts (see https://linktr.ee/L.N.Hunter for a full list). L.N. occasionally masquerades as a software developer or can be found unwinding in a disorganised home in Carlisle, UK, along with two cats and a soulmate.
