Escape the Room, 3d- 3-Storry Dollhouse, ThinkFun

Think Fun is back with the third entry in their “Escape the Room” series. “The Cursed Dollhouse” is their 2020 new release, with a larger box and a grander vision of how to make an escape room experience from paper and cardboard pieces. This is a step up from their previous two games (Secret of Dr. Gravely’s Retreat and Mystery at the Stargazer’s Manor) in scope, impressiveness, and price.

In this game – you get to explore all 4 rooms (and the attic) of the paper dollhouse that you’ve built – our favorite part was that the exploration of the dollhouse actually felt like exploring an actual room (rather than 2d illustrations of other escape room board games). There are three puzzles associated with each room.

While it is pricier than their two earlier entrants, this does feature a good amount (about 2-3 hours) of play, and ThinkFun does provide the materials to be able to “reset” the game and replace all of the materials that you might have destroyed during the process. Setup is not too bad. We recommend this – the ideal team size is probably 2, for both players to be able to fully explore the room.

• Dollhouse Hints and Answers:  https://www.thinkfun.com/escapetheroom/dollhouse/hints/ (please don’t read before starting!)
• Materials: Cardboard and paper. Quality of materials is quite good.
• Replay Value: No replay value, although ThinkFun gives you the resources to “reset” and replace any items you may have destroyed, to pass it along to a friend to play. Repacking instructions are provided.
• Difficulty: Hard
• Players: 1-4 players, but we recommend 2 players. 2 players makes it easier to share the dollhouse.
• Duration: Officially 2.5 hours.
• Age: 13+ (official recommendation)