The Man From Sector Six

• Publisher: The Mystery Agency
• Players: 1-6 (we played with 4)
• Age: 12+
• Time: 1-2 hours; we solved in 48 minutes
• Played with complimentary review copy provided by publisher
• Website: https://themysteryagency.com/product/the-man-from-sector-six/

Enter a world of intrigue, solve the puzzles, and secure the future – “The Man From Sector Six” escape room games needs your detective skills. The Man From Sector Six is the fourth in the award-winning series created by Henry Lewis, the Olivier winning writer and star of internationally acclaimed ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ and host of ITV’s ‘Riddiculous’ quiz show.

When you open the box, you’ll discover a newspaper cutting and a locked, official-looking document portfolio that was left behind by a mysterious agent who suddenly appeared and then disappeared again. You’ll also learn that the agent left behind a dire warning about a monumental peril facing humanity, setting the stage for an urgent and totally immersive challenge.

Multiple brainteasers and locks, featuring a variety of puzzle types, will put your team of detectives’ problem-solving skills to the test. You will also need to uncover and hack into a hidden website to discover more clues about this secretive agency.

The inclusion of real-world objects such as a brass rotating cipher wheel and a complex data chip that serve as clues, ensures a truly authentic and engaging home escape room experience like no other. This meticulous attention to authentic design for all elements keeps players fully absorbed in the mystery all the way through.

Nothing gets damaged during play, making it fully resettable so you can share with others afterwards. Reset instructions are provided online.

The Man From Sector Six escape room is recommended for 1-6 players from 12 years to adult, encouraging entertaining teamwork or providing a thrilling solo adventure. If you do get stuck, help is available for each puzzle. The help is graded from very little ‘hints’ and “nudges’ through to giving you the full answer.

Enter a world of intrigue, solve the puzzles, and secure the future – “The Man From Sector Six” awaits your detective prowess.

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We were contacted by the super people at The Mystery Agency, and as soon as I heard that Henry Lewis was involved, I was sold.   The reason for this is that Mr. Lewis is one of the writers behind my all time favorite play, The Play That Goes Wrong.  Yeah, I know this has nothing to do with his puzzle writing abilities; but someone who can show that amount of genius surely can provide great entertainment in other media, right?  As I read the further biographies, one of the other members of the team was also the producer for SIX, another show I recently enjoyed.

Here, you get a superbly crafted set of materials to solve a case.  In this game, you get a pleather portfolio stuffed with clues; many of which are locked!  There is also a newspaper sheet found in the box.

As you unwrap everything, you’ll see instructions on the lid of the box which guide you to a website.  You will definitely need Internet access to play this game because the website serves as your moderator.  It will keep your solving time on the webpage, and it will also provide you the place to input your answers to progress along the mystery.

If you get stuck, there is also a nice set of tiered hints to help you along.  We did not require any hints while we played, but we did look at them afterwards and they should help you along in steps, leaving you much of the puzzle to work out on your own.  And, of course, should you get completely stuck, you can get the answer for any puzzle to continue through.

The quality of the puzzles is good to very good.  For a mass market audience, this is likely spot on the nose as far as difficulty goes.  There are a number of different styles of puzzles in this box, and it helped to have a number of people in our group as each had a chance to use their particular expertise to solve a puzzle.  

That being said, it probably merits mention that this is a very linear puzzle hunt.  For the most part, you are working on a single puzzle, and you cannot progress further until you have solved that puzzle.  If you have too many people in the group, there might not be enough work to go around – you can only have so many eyes/hands on a particular prop.  Having done a few of these Mystery Agency boxes, the sweet spot for me is probably 2 or 3 people.  That being said, I have given my copy to friends who solved it in a group of 5 (they are not overly accomplished puzzlers), and they felt that the larger group was better for them.  As always, YMMV.

While I didn’t count, my memory believes that there were about 12-15 different things to solve in this box.  As with many puzzle hunts, some puzzles were solved nearly instantly upon sight while others took a bit of time to work through.   Everything you need is provided in the box and on the webpage…    The computer interface is fairly well done, and it helps keep things moving.  You’ll need a password to get into the site, but the information you need is found on the inside of the box.  Be warned that you need to stay on the same webpage during your entire solve as the clock is kept on it.

The quality of the physical materials is amongst the best that I’ve come across.  Having actual things to read/feel/manipulate really elevates the experience.  For the price, I was definitely pleased at how nice everything was.  As an added bonus, nothing is destroyed, and you are given instructions on how to repack the game so that another group can enjoy it after you’re done.

There appear to be at least five adventures from The Mystery Agency, and I’m definitely interested in trying out other episodes – lucky for me, I have a few more here to play!  Just have to find the time and the right group; but I’ll definitely be trying to get them on the table soon.

In a genre which is becoming exceedingly crowded, The Mystery Agency stands out from the bunch with strong puzzles and high quality components.   While it appears that the folks behind the game got their start in theatre; they definitely have the ability to make great puzzle games too!

Until your next appointment,

The Gaming Doctor