Unhappy Birthday at Castle Slogar
Unhappy Birthday at Castle Slogar is a solitaire gamebook, part of the Enigma line, written by Mark Larson and published by Atlas Games.
By Aaron T. Huss
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Unhappy Birthday at Castle Slogar is a solitaire, mystery gamebook played out in a series of puzzles. Each room within the castle, which resides in the Gloom setting, contains a puzzle needed to exit that room and enter the next one as you move closer to solving the overarching mystery. The game is augmented by a website from Atlas Games that contains all the Enigma games on it, each gamebook with its own portal. Each room has its own page containing hints, the solution, and a place to put your answer to the puzzle so that you can move on to the next room. Each puzzle can be solved by putting your answers in the book itself, because each room is a 2-page spread that contains the introduction of the puzzle and the puzzle itself (which is an illustrative puzzle with different features). You can try to put your answers on a piece of paper instead to allow someone else to play the gamebook, but some of the puzzles make it a bit tricky. Additionally, proceeding from room to room requires use of the website and you’ll be unable to proceed without that access.
My daughters and I really like to play the Exit the Game series of single-use games from Kosmos. However, those are really meant to be a team game and trying it alone is quite challenging and sometimes very difficult. The Enigma series of gamebooks got me really excited because it’s very similar in nature to Exit the Game, but it can be done without anyone else. The puzzles are varied, interesting, and fun, although I did find some of the entries to be overly ambiguous and potentially leading you to a wrong answer. My suggestion is to solve the puzzles with a pencil! I also don’t mind the use of the website, but it means you cannot play the game when you don’t have internet access, such as maybe when you’re on an airplane. I would prefer an app to run the Enigma series, but that’s an added cost that Atlas Games might not be ready to take on. It does not detract from the fun, but it’s just one of those things that would make it even better!
Overall I really enjoyed Unhappy Birthday at Castle Slogar. The theme is fun, the artwork is fantastic, and the puzzles were challenging. I was also amazed at how unique the puzzles were; designing a gamebook like this cannot be easy and I love how Atlas Games is branching off into new, fun territories!
