December Solo Fun with a Pair of 2022 Advent Calendars
Uncover intriguing puzzles and discoveries behind the doors of the Exit Advent Calendar and Advent-ure Dice Calendar.
Onward with my puzzles! I eagerly opened up the cardboard doors of the Exit: Advent Calendar – The Golden Book and Advent-ure Dice Calendar on my quest to save Christmas and collect a whole bunch of new dice. As the days progressed, I enjoyed every new reveal… Even if my deduction skills were murky at times. Such a fun time!
Spoiler Alert
No actual solutions are presented here, nor is there enough information to know what each puzzle is about. But please note that I do show elements of each day, including the rooms themselves, along with all of the dice. Although these might not be spoilers in the true sense, I recommend stopping now if you want to find these surprises for yourself!
Game Overview
Game Name: Exit: Advent Calendar – The Golden Book
Publication Year: 2021
Designers: Inka Brand and Markus Brand
Artist: Uncredited
Publisher: KOSMOS
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Daily puzzles sit behind unlabeled doors as solutions point the way through the village. Some rooms contain extra cards or components to help arrive at a solution… All sorts of clues can be found in a myriad of puzzles! The race to solve it all is on… Christmas must be saved!
First Play
December 6, 2022
Complexity
2
Latest Play
December 24, 2022
Expansions
0
Setup Time
Almost None
Lifetime Plays
24
Play Time
15 Minutes
High Score
N/A
Game Area
24" x 24"
Low Score
N/A
A Fancy Invitation
Oh, what fun! I discoered a lovely invitation to attend a dance. Not exactly the fancy sort of mail I expected for such an occasion, but wait… This was a puzzle!
When I first opened up the box, I took a look at everything that I could see. So I was a little ahead of the curve…
In that I knew where to look to put these clues together! It still wasn’t obvious, yet I was pretty happy with my early discovery. Solving these puzzles was working!
The ongoing story wasn’t exactly connected, although that didn’t detract from the enjoyment or fun.
Helpful Clues
One of the important aspects of solving these sorts of puzzle games as a solo experience is just that… Actually reaching the right solution! How to do so here?
Simple: The help book! Each day has its own sheet with 2 clues and the final solution. No shame in admitting I used some clues here and there. They were excellent!
Rarely did I check the solution to move forward. I was happy with the fairly low complexity and difficulty.
Imagine taking over an hour each day to solve a small puzzle… Not for me! 5-20 minutes here was just right.
Ahead of the Herd
Not such a Stealthy Elephant! Since I wanted to preserve as much of this Advent calendar as possible to pass along, I avoided writing on the doors to label each day.
I had some help from this Calico Critter, who helped mark the next day’s puzzle. He was absolutely thrilled!
That’s actually an interesting thought: How much of this is destroyed? I’ll say that aside from gently popping open the doors and folding some paper, it’s all reusable now.
Things might change during the last days, but I’m trying my best to pass this onto my parents for the holidays!
Jingle, Jingle, Jingle!
As soon as you pick up this box and move it just slightly, it should be clear that there’s some sort of bell inside. I was delighted to find it inside one of the doors. Lovely!
I had to do some outside research to figure out what was going on here, yet I had a lot of fun with this puzzle.
Granted, maybe I was just really excited about jingling a tiny bell over and over. Lucky for my husband that I did this while he wasn’t home… It was nonstop jingling! Ha!
I wanted a daily dose of fun, and that’s precisely what I found. This continued to live up to my high expectations.
Baker Street Scenes
Sherlock Holmes mysteries are always a hit with me, and what did I find inside one of these doors? 221B Baker Street itself! A fun little mystery was sitting right there.
I’ll also note again that I’m not including the story and extra components for each day… No direct spoilers!
This puzzle was a little more complex and had me scratching my head for a bit. Things didn’t quite seem to make sense, until I grabbed a clue and saw something.
I know it might sound repetitive to say I enjoyed each day, yet the puzzles were anything but monotonous.
A Starry, Starry Night
A-ha! As I worked through another day’s story, the solution wasn’t so obvious. I had an idea of what I was looking for, and something told me I had spotted it.
These little scenes added so much to each day. Not all of them were as expansive or detailed, of course. But looking all around at every side was a whole lot of fun.
I kept looking, and then remembered where I might find the answer. Clever! And I think I only needed 1 clue. Ha!
The overall mystery didn’t feel like it was coming together, but no matter: I had lots of fun puzzles ahead!
Perfectly Positioned
We all know how much I love Stealthy Elephants, which can also extend into related pachyderms, like mammoths.
I opened this little door and nearly fell over with delight! The snowy scene was dotted with mammoths, as was the story. Simply a wonderful and random surprise.
This puzzle seemed easy to solve, until I hit a wall with figuring out exactly what I needed to do. Hence the very useful help book… Never a bad thing to get a little hint.
On the right track, I solved this one and thought it was done quite well. Farewell, snowy mammoths!
Tales of Years Past
This puzzle might have been one of the neatest up to this point, although I would be hard-pressed to pick any favorites this early on! It definitely looked like a puzzle.
And yet, it was a very neat way to incorporate some elements. I liked how I almost knew what was required… But not quite. Just the right sort of daily difficulty level!
I’ll say again that I enjoyed how quick most of these puzzles were. Short and fairly simple worked nicely.
Looking at the more difficult puzzles out there, I usually fail miserably. This was always a positive part of the day!
A Little Computing
Another clever puzzle! It was another instance where I thought I knew what I needed to do right away, but just couldn’t exactly put the pieces together. Very neat.
I enjoyed the story chapter for each day. There was often a bit of humor sprinkled in there, and this one hinted at a very popular computer game to tie together the joke.
Being able to put together all of these different puzzles was quite the feat, and I wasn’t getting tired of them!
It likely would have been easier to create a set of puzzles that were all very similar. But nope: All different!
Gifts from the Witch
Don’t forget that I had another Advent calendar to enjoy! This delicious selection of dice came from the next set of doors. 3 of 4 dice sets can be spotted. So awesome!
The green set was easiest to see from far away, but the others didn’t photograph as well. Plenty of contrast!
Sparkles and swirls made up the witch’s hat set. So lovely! I enjoyed the thematic elements. These dice will always be known for coming from the witch’s brew.
Advent calendars can be pricey, but this one is memorable and has high-quality, large dice that I’ll be able to use!
Session Overview
Play Number: 5-12
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Outcome: 8 Wins
I ended this string of daily puzzles on a slightly lower note. This puzzle looked familiar and fun… Yet I found out I didn’t need to do something in order to solve it. There was a clever solution that I totally missed, too, although I didn’t mind that! All in all, this continues to be the highlight of most of my days. With a lot going on towards the end of the year, it’s also my only solo gaming most days. Always a fun time, and there are only 12 days left!
%
20 Plays
Affordability
Price & Value
8
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
10
Originality
Design & Theme
8
Quality
Components & Rules
10
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
8
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
4
+ Pros (Positives)
- Every day features a unique and different type of puzzle framed in a new chapter and room to explore.
- The help book provides useful clues and full solutions, yet it’s possible to solve each day without any assistance.
- Play time is typically under 20 minutes for each puzzle, allowing it to be a fun but not overly complex activity.
- Despite mostly being hidden, the artwork is quite charming with all sorts of scenes and little details.
- Opening a door at the start of a day is exciting and thrilling since it’s always unknown what might be in store.
- Clues can be hidden in various areas of the game’s components, and many of these placements are very clever.
– Cons (Negatives)
- With so many varied puzzles, some can be a little bit of a hit-or-miss depending on general preferences.
- The chapters are lovely, yet there isn’t an obvious connection from day to day in the overall storyline.
- For the price, treating this as a single-use item may be a bit costly, and reusing it is rather difficult.
- Although it didn’t affect my copy, there is a major error in earlier print runs that makes a puzzle impossible.
Victory Conditions
Complete the Puzzle
- Overall Goal Progress 100%
Goals and Milestones
Complete all 24 puzzles.
Continue the Conversation
Do you enjoy any holiday activities like the Exit: Advent Calendar – The Golden Book or an Advent-ure Dice Calendar? What other daily solo games do you enjoy? I’m already thinking ahead to how I might incorporate some type of quick activity to keep the fun going… Possibly a solo journaling RPG or other narrative adventure. But that’s after December!
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