Dungeons & Dragons: Bedlam in Neverwinter Game, D&D Escape Room Game, Ages 12+

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] This game excited me from the moment I saw it. I'm a fan of the Dungeons & Dragons line going back to the original red box, and to the original Hardcover Advanced D&D books. As a board game fan and card game fan, this branding seemed like a sure fire hit. Add to that, this is a genre of game I have yet to explore, the mystery room board game. Needless to say, I was excited to take the dive. As this is my first dive into the genre of mystery room board games, my review is focused on the more familiar elements to me, the theme of D&D. I can't compare this to other mystery room games, having not played any. Thematically, this game feels like Dungeons and Dragons. It fits the bill. To start the game you have basic character creation that involves using cards to pick a character class and a race. Just like in an RPG you start at Level 1. Gameplay involves exploring and searching for clues, the answer to all puzzles will always be a number. In the end of each act(of which there are three), you as a team attempt to solve the mystery then look in the sealed envelope to see if you are right. And of course, there is combat with monsters as should be expected of a Dungeons and Dragons adventure. Things that I like about this game are first off the theme. I like the D&D feel, without being a stereotypical dungeon crawl or RPG. It was nice to pull out of the expected stories and try a mystery. I liked the mystery room concept, but I did not like the concept so much to want to explore another unless it was a compelling story environment that meets my interest(i.e. I would play another D&D themed one, but a generic one would not interest me). I liked that it used familiar D&D concepts such as character creation and combat. Lastly, the game components themselves were well made, and the figures were very nice. What I did not like is that it's got limited replayability. It is one story told in three acts. You carry your character over to each act, with each act being a seperate gaming session. You level up between acts. Each act should take you around 90 minutes to complete, so this is a nice long adventure. However, once you have explored the game and know the answers to the mystery, you really can't play it all over again, because you know the answers. It would be more enjoyable if you could re-explore with new characters. What you CAN do, is "reset" the game, back to its starting state(the cards go back in a certain order, as do the game boards.... all are numbered to accommodate this), and you can then pass the game on to a friend for them to play next. Overall, if you are a fan of fantasy or mystery games, you should enjoy this.