What Are We Playing? [June 2025]
- PostCurious
- 6 hours ago
- 4 min read
Periodically on this blog we highlight a handful of tabletop and digital games to spread the word about interesting experiences and support other creators. Here's our June edition, which includes a mix of tabletop games and video games.
Cryptid is a boxed puzzle adventure where you try to unravel the mystery of your uncle’s disappearance by exploring the contents of a chest he left behind. The materials of this game were good quality and the visuals were nicely designed.
Many of the puzzles had creative mechanics, and we appreciated that the answers were often self-confirming and relevant to the puzzle itself. However, the answers were frequently paired with underwhelming or confusing extractions, and there was a lot of unnecessary anagramming. Some of the puzzles had exciting concepts, but did not quite pan out the way we imagined once played through. Additionally, we wanted a more incremental hint system.
Storywise, the first half of the game focused on cryptids, but this theming unraveled in the second half, which involved looking though visually unique “cryptid realms.” While an interesting concept, this felt like a departure from a narrative standpoint, and the story ultimately felt more like a framing device, rather than something we could immerse ourselves in. Despite this though, there were a series of fun aha moments at the end when the meta puzzle incorporated new elements from previously used game materials. Overall, there were some novel features incorporated throughout this game, as well as a good variety of puzzle mechanics.
Difficulty: 3/5
Time: ~5 hours
Décorum is a 2-4 player hidden information board game - with the twist that it is played cooperatively instead of antagonistically. I could not stop thinking about this game after I played it at a friend’s house and just had to pick up my own copy. The goal is to decorate your house, but each player has their own secret objectives and the ultimate goal is to meet them all. In many ways, it feels like solving a puzzle together. There are 30 different scenarios provided, and the best part of the game is playing through the different scenarios with the same group to see how your communication style develops - you’ll find new ways to convey key information about your objective while still following all the rules.
While the scenarios are referred to as “campaigns”, that is a loose descriptor. I would be interested in seeing a version where the story is actually continuous and your decisions have consequences. But that is not a necessary addition and I definitely recommend this game for couples and groups that enjoy cooperative play.
Difficulty: 2/5
Time: ~30m-1h per scenario
The Vitalogist is a boxed puzzle experience from Owner Unknown. In this game, you solve puzzles to crack the secret of what is really happening to a mysterious patient at Reviresco Clinics. Owner Unknown is a Dutch company, but we did not run into any issues with the English translation.
We solved a majority of the puzzles in this game smoothly, and many had fun concepts. Still, some of the puzzles felt a little clunky or were tedious to solve. The chatbot was also a little clumsy, but we did not need it for a majority of the game so this was not a great hindrance.
We did appreciate the way the puzzles were color coded — this signposting was helpful and made the materials more manageable to work through. However, we wished all of the puzzles had enough extra materials so that they could be passed on to other players.
While the framing device of the game was fitting, we found that it lacked emotional resonance. Overall, this game had some fun puzzles and was an interesting twist on a familiar idea.
Time: ~2.5h
Difficulty: 2.5/5
Unravel Two is a well-executed, couch co-op platform game with cute characters and good graphics. The two Yarnys, each controlled by one of the players, must work together to solve puzzles and overcome physical challenges on an island. (There is also a solo mode where you play both of the Yarnys, but I only played the co-op mode so can only speak to that.) There is also a background narrative about two young boys told through a series of vignettes, but I found this element of the game vague and confusing.
The challenges in the game were not insurmountable, though I did find myself getting occasionally frustrated by having to redo a sequence multiple times. As far as couch co-ops go, this game overall ranks lower than It Takes Two for me, but if you like puzzle platformers and are looking for a way to spend quality time with someone, it’s still a great choice.
Difficulty: 2/5
Time: ~5 hours
Killer Wedding was a different style of gameplay than we’re used to from Scarlet Envelope, and it was refreshing to see their take on a deductive mystery! Set in 1980s Maine, this game centers around a groom-to-be who was found dead at the base of a cliff after his wedding rehearsal.
With the exception of a couple of puzzles that felt underclued, there was an enjoyable gameplay progression, and we liked the way that solving the puzzles gave us more details about the characters in the mystery. As usual, Scarlet Envelope packs a punch into a small package by utilizing web content to supplement the physical materials. While the website was interesting and detailed, there was a fair amount of narrative to wade through, and we wished there was an easier way to access all the different suspect testimonies and acquired documents. An inventory system, or some other way to see items side by side would have been really helpful in a game where you need to compare information between different sources.
Overall, the mystery was well conceived, and we appreciated the summary video at the end to fill in any gaps in what we had learned.
Difficulty: 3/5
Time: ~2 hours
What have you been playing lately?