Unlock! Scheherazade’s Last Tale is the second scenario in Asmodee‘s Exotic Adventure Series following Night of the Boogeymen. Scheherazade’s Last Tale is an intriguing scenario with genies, magic lamp, flying carpet and evil sorcerers. Here’s the plot… Scheherazade is in danger and she has one hour to tell one last story to the Sultan, but she’s out of ideas. The scribe she asked to help her come up with a story has gone missing! You have to find him and bring him back as soon as possible with a tale to please the Sultan.
For those who are unfamiliar, the Unlock! series is a cooperative card game inspired by escape rooms that use a simple system that allows you to search scenes, combine objects, interact and solve puzzles. Yup, all with a deck of sixty cards! Unlock! utilize only cards and a companion app that provides clues, check codes, monitor time remaining, etc.
SETUP
The card backs feature (at first glance) random numbers and the face cards are color-coded: yellow cards need a four-digit unlock code, grey cards are informational, green cards require manipulation and interaction with the app, blue and red cards combine to open/discover new things. The basic idea is, you pair the blue card and red card, add their numbers together and reveal that card if it’s in the deck (hence the number on the card backs).
I would recommend a calculator handy to help with the addition if you are playing with kids. Also, the deck order out of the box is random. Considering you have 60 minutes on the clock, I would re-order the cards sequentially (numerical and alphabetical) to save on time when looking for cards as you discover new clues.
GAMEPLAY
The scenario starts off with a sense of impending danger and almost immediately you are out exploring the surrounding of the palace looking for clues as to the whereabouts of the missing scribe.
In general, the game mechanics are relatively simple- in each room, you look for clues, hidden objects, and information. Pair them up by combining the blue and red cards and reveal the next card for more clues/information, solve the combination code and progress to the next room.
The puzzles on this adventure are truly unique and creative! Remember the ‘choose your own adventure’ books from the 90s? Basically, you have to make choices to determine the plot’s outcome. Initially, we were confused when presented with different paths to take but when we realized this was the unique element in the adventure, we really got into it and wanted to see how the game plays out. Once again, this game mechanic exemplifies the uniqueness of each Unlock! adventure that continues to surprise!
The puzzles Scheherazade’s Last Tale is probably one of the most diverse and utilize the app a lot more compared to the other Unlocks! that we’ve played to-date. Some are fun and clever but a handful is frustrating especially when interacting with the puzzle on the app.
If you get stuck, you can call for hints on the app to keep you moving. Each card is associated with a number, input that number into the app to get help for the card. The hint system is very well done. It has 2-3 levels of reveal without giving too much away initially. Once you get to a yellow card and obtain the 4-digit code, you type the code in the app to progress (or not) to the next room.
OVERALL
Scheherazade’s Last Tale is very engaging and the art is absolutely gorgeous! We didn’t manage to find the scribe in time as we collected quite a number of penalties for incorrect answers when interacting with the machines. We feel some puzzles are a little vague and we had to ‘guess’ our way to progress to the next room, which was frustrating. This isn’t one of the best we’ve played but the storyline is very engaging and the use of the app is very clever.
