Shinobi: The Ninja Scroll | Fun Mystery Solving Game | Problem Solving Puzzles for Adults and Teens | Ninja Theme Interactive Puzzle Game, Story-Based Gameplay for 1-4 Players, Ages 15+

My wife and I finally got around to organizing a game night with some of our friends and busted this one out. I have been wanting to play it for months. All I got to say is that this was a lot of fun and you can tell the creators put a lot of thought into the game mechanics.I do not want to spoil any of the fun for anyone so I will not give away much details but it is a lot like an escape room kind of game with mystery and well, it's a board game! The graphics and instructions are pretty neat. My only issue is that I do not think it will have great replay ability. Maybe if I played it with some other friends, with some beers or something, but it is one of those games that you just hand off after playing it once, in my honest opinion. Much like those mystery puzzles, where you find out who the killer is at the end. Just not as fun after that first playthrough. So, with that in mind, paying $50 for a single playthrough, that's totally up to you! But it does make for a nice regifting option as well!Thank you for reading my review! 🙏

First and foremost, for context, I ended up doing this puzzle with a friend/acquaintance — and not solo — and while the two of us are both adults, it took us maybe four or so hours over the course of a few get-togethers to solve everything.That's both good *and* bad, though...Overall, let me preface this by saying it's a pretty good puzzle held back from a full five-star review because of a couple elements in the puzzles/packaging, but would be great for a group. The replayability is a nice touch, but I'll touch on that in my complaints.Pros: looks good, easy enough for almost anyone to play with, very well self-containedCons: absolutely *needs* the phone app to enjoy it fully, some minor printing issues here and there, some odd design choices...The cons are the most important part if you ask me, so let me expand on them.First and foremost, there were more than enough times that the phone app was absolutely necessary, and not in the normal way. The reason I mention this is because I'm concerned that if this company goes out of business for whatever reason, the phone app will disappear and the puzzle will become incredibly difficult if not impossible to solve.There are plenty of interactive elements (including the final prize) that absolutely require the app.The scroll seems nice at first glance, but as we worked through the puzzles, there were certain colours (for example) and elements (no spoilers) that were hard to distinguish or find... One puzzle suffered from being a little too true-to-life, and another made me question whether the elements present even fit in the historical setting of ancient Japan and Shinobis/Ninjas...There are paper components inside the tube that need to be put together, and the pieces don't fit together as well as if they were, say, plastic, or maybe thicker... A slight change in design for the shuriken would likely make the final constructed product a lot better.Speaking of the puzzle that made me question the setting, the listing for the product says ages 12+, but I worry that younger puzzle-solvers might not understand the reference(s) being made unless they use the app or have an adult help them out. While I managed to find the answer by chance while thinking out loud, there was a similar solution where a guess was made based on some of the evidence available and left me groaning instead of saying "ah ha!"Not the best sign when I found myself saying "The answer couldn't possibly be X, could it?" and then finding out that really was the answer...Of all the puzzles present, some were staples of the genre and more than welcome, one or two were simple once you did the one thing required to solve them — and by that I mean, the puzzle itself was quite simple and required just one key step before solving the entire thing, as opposed to another puzzle which had multiple steps before the solution could be found — so there's a decent difficulty spread, though the curve can be a tiny bit... unfair at times?Overall, I'd certainly recommend it. I think it lost a full star for good reason, but that doesn't mean it's a bad product per se... The price looks a tiny bit high to me, but I don't know where products in this category usually sit, so I'm not going to criticize it for that.If you give it a shot, good luck! 4/5 for me.

The game comes packaged in a pretty decorated tube, instead of a standard box, which gives it a unique quality. Included are a nicely designed scroll and other props which increase the feel of the story. The pieces are cool and add to its collectability. It’s fairly enjoyable, especially if you like a ninja theme! The only main issue for some might be that to play it requires access to the internet for use of the accompanying app. Otherwise it’s an entertaining, reasonably challenging game that you can play alone or with others.

Interesting take on a modern puzzle box/game. It's not an escape room - you can do the puzzles in any order, though they are meant to be done linearly, sort of from the "top down" on the scroll. I won't give away any more than that, but the puzzles are fun and many of them unique. Puzzle difficulty can vary significantly from "easy enough" to "what the heck?". I'll admit to having needed two hints from the app; for anyone who has done one of these puzzle escape-room-inspired games, you'll understand the feeling of seeing the puzzle answer and telling yourself "oof, that's a stretch." But that's all part of the game, so to speak. I'll also highlight one of the Tetroid-style puzzles as being pretty darn cool, and tricky, but very enjoyable to complete once you get around to it.Only reason I'm going to dock a point is because one of the early puzzles requires some material provided in the scroll tube that's VERY flimsy and, frankly, unusable. It's sort a compass/star made out of paper, but it doesn't fit together well at all and, if you do manage to put it together, it's flimsy as heck. Once you understand the puzzle itself, you don't really need the material as you can do it in your head, but it would be nice if the compass tool were designed a bit better.Despite this, I had a ton of fun going at this thing solo, and I expect it would go over pretty well as a one-shot for a small group of puzzle box fans.I recommend!

As someone who loves puzzles and have only played digital escape room games, I was up for a challenge to try my hand at a physical escape room puzzle.Phew! It really require you to think outside of the tube (har har)! The puzzle started off pretty standard, then as I proceed, it increased in difficulty. I had to go for hints for 3 of the puzzles. Every puzzle has varying tiers of hints for each step, like "nudge", "small hint", "medium hint" and "big hint", which I really appreciate. There is a lot of thought put into the hint system with players of all levels in mind. Say, if I got one part of the puzzle, but just need a small hint for the other part, I can easily find the right hint without risk of spoiling.The art is great. The scroll and key prop are of high quality and made to last. Other components are made from card stock which can be a bit fragile so I am not sure about how it would hold up being passed down to the next person and the next, especially since the tube is a tight fit. I am not sure if the pouch included is the best carrier for those components. Luckily you can find the files on the website and print them again (with specific instructions for scale).I really enjoyed it. It wrecked my brain and it did take me over 2 hours to complete on my own. The extra puzzle at the end was very satisfying to solve which leaves a very positive impression. I can tell the creators are very passionate about escape room games and I have so much respect for that. There is so much love put into it. I am definitely going to look into what else they have made! I want to get through another one without having to access hints! For my pride!