Mystery Games: Hack by Arazar

This mysterious escape game that can be played over and over again signals a real breakthrough in the genre. Through several playthroughs I've been able to see if Inka and Markus Brand's Outbreak from Arazar, published by Ravensburger in 2023, lives up to that expectation.

Mystery Games: Hack by Arazar – that's what it's all about

The game reminds us of the good old point-and-click adventures. We as prison inmates move through exactly that and try to figure out the missing piece of a former prisoner's escape plan through inference so that we can follow him out of prison through this weak point.

In the cells of other prisoners or the offices of the guards we find all kinds of useful objects and clues. Outbreak from Arazar cleverly combines a variety of game mechanics – some chance, some tactics and some luck seem to be the recipe for a successful gaming experience. Due to the ever-changing game structure, each game is different and there will always be something new to discover.

In terms of replay appeal, the game promises a lot. The built-in special effect brings the gaming experience closer together through touch and from a tension perspective. However, this wears out and unfortunately can only be done three times.

Mystery Games: Breakout from Arazar – How good is Escpae?

In the end, Mystery Games: Breakout from Arazar does a lot of things right for me, but its main weakness is the many open rules questions. The game quickly becomes too shallow and one-sided for experts and expert players, and family players will feel discouraged by these gaps in the instructions. The instructions themselves are written in a comprehensive and easy-to-understand manner, but as we played, questions came up throughout our rounds that we unfortunately couldn't answer even after reading them several times.

This is a bit unfortunate, because it means that Mystery Games: Breakout from Arazar isn't interesting enough for family players in the later rounds, and the house rules that have been put in place can't change that. In order to create these house rules, at least a certain amount of gaming experience is required. And so we are back in the circle of expert players, who, however, constitute the wrong target group due to superficial game mechanics – a miserable vicious circle.

Unfortunately, the outbreak of Arazar could not convince us. We prefer to stick with classic escape games, even if it just means a unique gaming experience.