The Deadbolt Mystery Society – Asylum (Review)

Location: Your Home!

Players:  We recommend 1-4

Price: $24.99 per box, plus $4.99 shipping

We’re all mad here!

Theme:

The Saturn Hills Asylum has been shaken by the murder of the Judas Killer, Wolfgang Koch! The circumstances of his murder have police baffled, so the Mayor of Valley Falls has contacted you to help solve the case. This one’s a doozy, though, as most of the suspects are the manipulative and murderous patients at the Asylum! Sift through the evidence and find out what sort of insane plot caused the Judas Killer to be hanged!

First Impressions:

The sight of another fantastically designed Deadbolt Mystery Society box on my doorstep was a highlight of my day! Opening up this box revealed a much heftier second case from Deadbolt, which is always a great surprise! We enjoyed Deadbolt’s first case Murder in 3B quite a bit, so seeing that there was even more to solve this go round was excellent! Already our favorite subscription box, we were excited to delve into this twisted mystery.

Another crazy mystery begins!

High Points:

Asylum absolutely upped the ante with their second box! Not only does the mystery include more props and evidence to go through, the mystery itself is much more involved, including numerous side stories, online components, and great codebreaking to tackle. Though the side stories aren’t quite as humorous as their previous box, they are engaging and provide realistic clues that immerse you into the world and social dynamics of Saturn Hills Asylum perfectly. We were happy to see that hints and the solution document were separated from the in universe files, which kept us within the world of the Asylum. The puzzles are presented in a believable way, with hidden details pointing you toward each new breakthrough. The props are great, and fit with the theme well, intertwining with the mystery and becoming more integral to the story than in most other subscription boxes. One particular Easter egg was hidden in plain sight and provided us with a particularly interesting moment of realization, occurring just in time to begin unraveling a deeper conspiracy than we had originally suspected. The story is self-contained, and resolves with an excellent climax and explanation, while still hinting that we may not have seen the last of Saturn Hills and its colorful cast of characters. Except Wolfgang. You know, on account of the hanging.

Low Points:

Connections could feel a bit more vague during this investigation, and while we correctly determined the killer, it felt like it was due to our full elimination of other suspects rather than solid evidence pointing toward them. Though there are reasons for the suspect to be the killer, we weren’t as 100% sure as we were regarding the Murder in 3B case.

Verdict:

Asylum upped the bar for The Deadbolt Mystery Society and subscription boxes overall, further cementing them as the standard all others should be measured by! Crafting an excellent self-contained mystery that left us wanting more, I cannot recommend this box enough! I’m really hoping we get to see more from the cast of crazed characters residing within Saturn Hills in the future, and cannot wait for next month’s box, The Haunting of Indigo House! Join the Deadbolt Mystery Society here! Right now, you can get 30% off your first box with the Promo Code ESCAPE30! You can also see the rest of our Deadbolt Mystery Society reviews here!

9.5/10 (Excellent)

Full Disclosure: The Deadbolt Mystery Society provided a complementary box.