Escape Games 141: Unlock! – Short Adventures: Doo-Arann’s Dungeon

Maker: Space Cowboys
Title: Unlock!
Game: Doo-Arann’s Dungeon
Year: 2023
Price: $9.99
Language: English
Internet access req’d?: Need to download an app
Cipher types: Null letter
Players: 1-6
Difficulty: 1 out of 3
Rating: 4 of 5

BIG WARNING:
The Unlock games require a mobile app (Apple or Android) to play!
You can download the app from the Apple or Google Play stores for free. Install the app on your mobile device and then you don’t need internet access to play the actual game.

Repeat – If you don’t have a mobile device, you can’t play this game! You have been warned.

(Box artwork and story (c) Space Cowboys)

===== Caution – Spoilers =====

[Note: The Unlock games tend to be “prop-free,” where the full game is played with just the one card deck. There may BE props, but what matters are the cards. Red and blue cards are objects that combine together as Red + Blue. Green cards are machines that need to be activated, yellow are objects that require 4-digit unlock codes. Gray cards are “other.” Any other supporting elements (like machines, or entering door codes) take place in the mobile app.]

(The starting props: The deck and the app running on a tablet)

Story: Your team has heard a tale from a bard of a dragon living in the bowels of a fortress in a forest. What the introductory card doesn’t tell you is that the dungeon the dragon lives in belongs to an evil sorcerer named Doo-Arann. For the moment, your only goal is to find the dragon and take its treasure, like the good little treasure hunters you are.

All of the Short games are the same, in that the decks consist of 30 riddle cards, and two instructions/advertising cards. The game timer in the app is set for 30 minutes this time, and the story is very straight-forward. You get to the tunnel entrance of the dungeon and have to make your way past a locked door, a secret door, an arrow trap, and two monsters, to finally confront the dragon. All of the battles are single-attacks, but there is a bit of magic in with the (small amount) of fighting.

There’s only one special button on the app, and that’s for Machine. In essence, you have two machines, which act as magic scrolls for casting spells. You start with Attraction and Blizzard (later, you get Fire). When you enter the machine number, your device switches to your camera view. Aim it at one of the cards and draw the appropriate glyph on your touch screen. If the app recognizes the card, it will “cast the spell” and attempt to do something interactively with the picture on the card (such as attacking a water monster, lighting a torch, or collecting items from hard to reach areas).

Another machine app is used when you trigger an arrow trap. Here, you just have a bunch of arrows pointing in your direction on the screen, and while looking at a matching card showing both you and the arrows, decide which ones in the app to block. I hated this puzzle, because it took me so long to figure out what to do, and there’s one arrow that could either be a glancing blow or a near-miss.

I’d had about an hour-and-a-half break during work, and I decided to spend it at MacDonald’s. I got to the arrow trap about 15 minutes into the game, and then just started racking up penalties mistake after mistake. Pretty quickly, I ran out of time and effectively just lost the game. Eventually I did figure out one of my oversights (a set of boulders you can hide behind), but at that stage I needed to get back to work. I thought I’d paused the game so I could pick up where I left off later; however, when I returned to the game, the timer had gone to -59.99, and the game locked up.

(Example cards)

There wasn’t much point to taking a picture of the screen then, so I just started over again from scratch. The second play through, I just needed a lot of time to learn through experimentation what the remaining riddles required from me. There’s a cute little gimmick involving a “box of holding,” that’s reminiscent of Exit’s use of the game box. That took me a few minutes to catch on to.

That was followed by trying to understand the process of controlling the fire glyph. Finally, I got to the dragon, where I encountered a very simple null letter cipher. Combat is not challenging. First, you have to deal with a fire blast, then you need to shoot a weak spot on its body. Lastly, you have to figure out a unique magic glyph to banish the monster once and for all. After that, the game ends with you leaving with the treasure in your box of holding, and the lingering question of “where’s Doo-Arann?” You’re told that you may encounter him in the future…

The second play through took me just under the 30 minute limit, but two penalties from the arrow trap bumped me up to 31+ minutes and a score of 4 of 5 stars. Given that I did so badly on the first pass, I can’t take any consolation from my time here. The third play through, strictly from memory, took just under 15 minutes, with no penalties or hints, for a score of 5 of 5.

The null letter cipher is kind of fun, but nothing overly special. I do like the use of the touch screen for casting spells, and I always enjoy the Augmented Reality elements when the game includes them.

===== End of Spoilers ======

Doo-Arann’s Dungeon is a difficulty of 1 out of 3, but felt somewhat harder than the level 2 Awakening of the Mummy. There’s one puzzle that felt a bit like cheating by the designers, but otherwise the riddles are simple logic puzzles. We do get one null letter cipher that I did like.

(End status screen, play through two)

In the story, your party are adventurers investigating rumors of a dragon hiding in the dungeons of a fortress in a forest. The endstory makes a point of telling you that you never got to encounter the owner of the fortress, and that that may happen in the future.

Dungeon is a very short fantasy RPG crawl. You get a couple scrolls for casting spells (involving your device’s touch screen and camera), a sword and a bow and arrow for physical attacks. In effect, you have 3 monster encounters, a trap, a locked door, and a secret passage.

(Status screen photo close-up, “You look crunchy and good with ketchup.”)

In my first play through, the trap really messed me up, and I ended up having to scrap the game and start over again. The second time, I finished in just over 29 minutes, plus 2 penalty minutes to just barely go over the 30-minute limit for a score of 4 out of 5 stars. The third play through, from memory, took just under 15 minutes, with no penalties or hints, and a score of 5 stars.

The artwork is good, the BGM is good, and I liked the Augmented Reality magic casting system. What I didn’t like was the trickiness of the one trap, which felt out of line with the 1 of 3 difficulty rating. Unfortunately, what’s also going to come with the territory is that these short games are too short for the price.

(End status screen, play through three)

Is Doo-Arann fun? Yes, mostly
Is there any replay value? Maybe once
Can you gift the finished game to someone else? Yes
Does it have ciphers? Just a single null letter

I’m giving the game a 4 out of 5 rating because $10 USD for a 30-minute game is too expensive for what you get. The Short games are fine for a quick distraction with friends, but I’d rather play the full-length games at roughly the same price.

Recommended only if you really like the Unlock! games.