Andy Lingua
I begin this review by thanking Atlas Games for sending us a copy of Unhappy Birthday at Castle Slogar, from the Enigma Puzzling Games publishing line. It is a gamebook that invites us to a castle, to a peculiar birthday party of a little girl. Obviously the situation we will find will be decidedly particular.
In case this review makes you want to venture into the halls of that sinister building, you can purchase Unhappy Birthday at Castle Slogar directly on the official store for $17.95 for a physical copy or $4.95 for a digital one.
Now let’s arm ourselves with courage and open the entrance door!
Analysis of an Alternative Birthday
When we open the book, we are immediately catapulted into the narrative. On one of the first pages we can read an invitation card written by Melissa. This sweet and disturbing little girl invites us to her ninth birthday, emphasizing how much she also awaits the gift we will bring for her.
We are then immediately directed to the initial paragraph, the one in which we read about our arrival at the castle. After opening the door, we find the foyer and, with it, the first puzzle. The governess tells us that the other children and the house are already in chaos and then disappears, briefly explaining how to proceed. In particular, she shows us some statues and their correlation with the floor tiles. It is up to us to decipher the arrangement of the latter to understand how to interact with the former and open a door to the inside of the castle.
This gamebook continues with the same approach in the following paragraphs. We enter a room, solve the puzzle it contains and the solution opens the passage to the next area. The elements we will find are all themed with both the castle and the birthday party, highlighting an excellent atmosphere. The feeling is that of being at Wednesday’s birthday party, in the Addams Family castle. It would have been even more immersive if some rooms had provided more exits, giving the possibility of approaching the exploration of the castle in a more personal way. However, I also realize that it would have been difficult to manage a similar approach with this type of work, which is still very engaging, despite the very simple plot.
Unhappy Birthday at Castle Slogar Mechanics Review
But in practice, what allows you to manage these mechanics? Let’s see it right away.
First of all, we will need to equip ourselves with pencil and eraser to solve the various puzzles. Sometimes they are classics that recall the format of crosswords or riddles, others are more original, but in any case they require us to take notes. If we do not want to “dirty” the volume, we can always take a notepad.
Once we have solved the puzzle (or at least have a solution to try), we will have to access a section of the publisher’s website. Here we will enter our attempt and, if correct, we will be told which page to go to and the name of the room we will encounter. This mechanism is extremely convenient because it allows us to check the solutions without an explicit list that could compromise the aura of mystery (and easily spoil some element). We will then just have to keep our phone handy, enter the words found and unlock the next room to explore (which we can write down on a useful map at the beginning of the volume). And don’t worry: if some questions are too complicated, in the same section of the site we can also ask for automatic hints!
Even though the mechanics repeat themselves in this loop, it never gets boring given the imagination used for the puzzles. They also prove to be a great mental challenge; their difficulty is classified with 3 points out of 5 on the scale used for this editorial line.
I would also like to point out that the protagonist has no characteristics to define and we will never have to roll any dice. It is a simple and constant mental challenge for us readers.
Conclusion of the Unhappy Birthday at Castle Slogar Review
The plot is simple, but told in an engaging way. Each room reveals some aspect of the birthday girl, her family, the castle or the guests. As we solve the puzzles, we will passively get to know the setting better and better, almost unconsciously entering Castle Slogar ourselves.
This is also possible thanks to a very captivating aesthetic. The volume is full of black and white illustrations, whose style combines gothic with a more cartoonish trait. They are not just aesthetic frills, but are an essential element of the puzzles. Their clarity and symbiotic work with the text facilitate reading and understanding the various mysteries. The text is very clear, laid out in a single column, with a font perfectly in theme with the style of the volume. The cover is the only element containing color: the red of the title and the balloons for the party immediately catches the eye.
If you want to immerse yourself even more deeply into the narrative, the store also offers stickers and a plush toy of a character from the story.
To conclude this review, I can say that I appreciated every element of Unhappy Birthday at Castle Slogar. The story is compelling for an adult even though at first glance it may seem designed for a different audience. This is also reinforced by the fact that not all the puzzles are easily solvable by a child. If you love atmospheres between gothic and fun, I recommend you pay a visit to Castle Slogar!
