Sleuth Kings: Case 021 – A Book A Day (Review)

Location: Your Home!

Players:  We recommend 1-4

Price: $29.95 per box

Poor Bear.

Theme:

From the Sleuth King’s website:

Jen Hunker and Sullivan’s mom spent their lives creating a non-profit organization called A Book A Day. Now, the FBI has accused Jen of using the program to smuggle drugs and is threatening to arrest her and shut it down. Sullivan and his grandfather, Samuel, have agreed to work together in order to clear Jen’s name, but even that might not be enough. Unless they’re able to find the real smuggler – and fast – A Book A Day will be destroyed. Can you help Sullivan clear Jen’s name and save the organization that his mom devoted herself to?

First Impressions:

I didn’t quite know what to expect with this box, theme wise, but when we started retrieving the evidence from our Case envelope, I could tell we were in for another awesomely quirky Sleuth Kings case! We received what looked to be some pages from a cute pet themed children’s book (that involved the world’s most put-upon teddy bear,) an adorable bookmark, and some notes and flyers from A Book A Day, all of which peaked our interest. It certainly looked like a great time on the surface, but how did it play? Spoiler alert: It played fantastically.

High Points:

This might just be the cutest Sleuth Kings mystery ever, but it certainly does not skimp on the mystery and puzzles! The difficulty curve is one of the smoothest I’ve seen for the series, starting off with an easy win to start things off, and culminating in some of the most original and exciting puzzles we’ve solved with this subscription yet! The props are used in intuitive and creative ways, and parts of the game we figured were finished came back with even more layered puzzling to do. It was very satisfying to dig so many clues out of these items, and most of them were extremely well hidden until we had uncovered a piece of information that tied everything together. Though we ran through this one a little quicker than usual, it definitely wasn’t because this game was overly simplistic, rather, it just clicked for us through the game flow.

Speaking of the game flow, it kept a great pace throughout, leaving no real lulls or moments where we were at a loss for what to do next. One particular puzzle required a bit more pondering than the others, but the investigation didn’t feel stalled, rather, there was just a bit more sleuthing to do! The storyline for this case is a lot of fun, and Samuel, Sullivan’s grandfather, returns for more crotchety old man antics. Sullivan and Samuel’s interactions are great, and a light hearted way to progress the mystery. There are excellent easter eggs hearkening back to previous cases, as well as some literary ones as well during the Kings’ trip to the library. The climax of the adventure is fantastic, and reveals some information that might expand the Sleuth Kings Universe in the future, so I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next!

This case is the inspiration for the new book, Luna and Friends Take Down the Drug Smuggling Ring.

Low Points:

One clue requires a passing familiarity with a certain type of cipher in order to complete without the Clue Analysis, I feel. Luckily, we busted that one without the clues since we enjoy the slightly more difficult version, but some players may need to pop over to the Analysis just for this one if they don’t have this familiarity. It’s mostly obvious, but for newer players, it might present a bigger logical leap.

Verdict:

We loved working through Case 021 – A Book A Day, and always enjoy the quirky and splendidly put together themes that Sleuth Kings delivers! I think this one would especially be a great start for new players, as well as a solid entry for veteran Sleuths. I can certainly say you can’t go wrong with this case. You can purchase it from the Sleuth King’s archives here, and if you’d like to subscribe to upcoming adventures, you can use the promo code ESCAPEADVENTURE to get $5 off your subscription here! You can also read the rest of our Sleuth Kings reviews here!

9.5/10 (Excellent)

Full Disclosure: Sleuth Kings provided a complementary box.