What Are We Playing? [September 2025]
- PostCurious
- Sep 18
- 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 September edition, which includes a variety of puzzle games in different mediums.
The Shackleton Series is a 6 chapter puzzle game that unlocks the mystery of how Ernest Shackleton and his crew stayed alive while stranded in Antarctica for two years. We tackled chapters 1-3 so far and really enjoyed them! Each chapter comes in its own envelope that is chock full of surprises—like a little clown car vessel, bursting with ephemera—and the envelope itself is not just packaging material either.
Chapter 1 took about 70 minutes to complete, and we felt it was a good introduction to the game. The onboarding was well done and the puzzles were very approachable. We particularly enjoyed the meta puzzle in this chapter.
Chapter 2 took us a little longer as a few details sent us down the wrong path, but we did manage to solve most of the puzzles without hints. We found that we had to use the “flow” cards because, in most cases, it felt like it would have been hard to tell if we had everything we needed for a puzzle without them. The puzzle difficulty of this chapter felt a bit uneven overall, but we did appreciate the puzzle variety.
Chapter 3 took us about 90 minutes and had some really fun aha moments! While some points were a little finicky, they led to an ultimately rewarding construction. We did not need any hints for this chapter, which speaks to how well it was thought out.
Overall, the first half of the Shackleton Series was intriguing and we look forward to playing the second half.
Difficulty: 2.5/5
Time: 1-2 hours per chapter
Escape Academy is a puzzle video game where you study to become an escape room master. While there is not a lot of narrative to this game, the puzzles are enjoyable, and we appreciated that, in co-op mode, they are designed to require collaboration.
In the context of video games, Escape Academy felt more like a challenge arcade than a fully conceived escape room, in that it focused on speed and tasks rather than atmosphere or story. The time limit provided urgency, but the puzzles felt achievable, which I appreciated. Additionally, the task-focused approach made it light enough that newbies to the genre should be able to get the hang of it quickly.
While I would personally lean towards a game without time pressure and with a narrative that keeps me motivated, this game accomplishes its purpose. It's a great way to scratch the itch if you want to do some puzzly cooperative gaming without too much of a time commitment, or have newbies in your life to introduce to the genre.
Difficulty: 2/5
Time: ~5 hours total but easily split over shorter missions
Office World: Book One is a graphic novel and, while you can just read the book, it is embedded with puzzles and codes that unlock deeper story mysteries. With the eerie vibes of the show Severance, this book was nice quality and allowed the black and white illustrations to shine.
I do wish that there had been clearer sign posting as far as what to do and how many puzzles could be found. I really enjoyed the design and illustrations though—the book was clearly made by someone who has worked on comics before. While I hope they implement a hint system in the future, I am excited to see where the story goes next!
Difficulty: ?/5
Time: <1hr for reading, ? for puzzling
We played another one of the Scarlet envelopes, this time tackling Game IX: Ashes of Persepolis. In this game, players are transported to an ancient world to solve the mysteries of the city of Persepolis.
The puzzles were fair, but felt a little uneven in terms of difficulty. Getting started was a little hard because the first puzzle was a tricky entrance point, but we enjoyed many of the others. One puzzle in particular eclipsed our expectations by culminating in a really fun aha moment. There was also a nicely layered puzzle, though it could have been made more user friendly with some tweaks.
There were also story videos that served as an interlude between each puzzle. These sometimes felt a little long, but we appreciated the addition of the storytelling. While this was not our favorite of the Scarlet Envelope games, we still enjoyed playing it and appreciated the variety.
Difficulty: 2.5/5
Time: ~1.5h
It’s rare to find jigsaw puzzles worth a write-up but Summer Day on the River is one. This puzzle depicts a winding river and, fascinatingly, is made up of almost entirely all edge pieces.
Overall, this puzzle was quite fun but was definitely a challenge. The art was pleasant, though I think it could have used a little more variety in the hues and textures as it was a little difficult to differentiate between all of the river rocks. I usually avoid using the poster or box cover when assembling a jigsaw puzzle, but I did use it along the way this time to find my bearings. My favorite part of the artwork was discovering all of the cute little animals!
All in all, I really enjoyed putting together this puzzle. The “mostly edges” format is novel and full of potential, and I look forward to seeing more innovations like this in the jigsaw puzzle space.
Difficulty: 4/5
Time: 🤷🏻♀️
What have you been playing lately?