SideQuest: 7th Sea Review

boardgamequest.com:

We review SideQuest: 7th Sea, an escape room style game published by Board and Dice. Based on the 7th Sea campaign setting, SideQuest gives you lots of challenges to overcome.

As you emerge from the swamp, you see the chapel in front of you. Inside, a special treasure that you are trying to steal before your enemies. Between you and the treasure, a plethora of puzzles that will challenge you to think outside the box, and if you aren’t careful the swamp demon will trap you here forever. Join me as I review the SideQuest 7th Sea escape game.

SideQuest 7th Sea is a three-dimensional escape game where you play as a treasure hunter looking for a dragonsteel shield that is hidden in a chapel located in a swamp. When you open the box you will be directed to build the exterior of the chapel and punch out the answer key pieces.

During the game, you use multiple cards to solve puzzles as well as punch out game pieces. Most of the puzzles are logic-based, with some abstract thinking for a few as well. The answer input key is a little clunky at first but once you get a hang of it, it becomes much easier to check your answers.

The initial puzzles deal with the exterior of the chapel and how to break into the front door. Once you get through the front door, the puzzles start to increase in difficulty. After repairing some windows and moving some statues around you can find the treasure of the dragonsteel shield. Then you will have a decision to make; do you enter the portal to fight the swamp demon, or do you retreat with your shield? If you decide to enter the portal, you will encounter the hardest set of puzzles yet as the demon tries to eliminate you. If you succeed you can escape and unlock 4 different endings.

SideQuest 7th Sea was okay, but it was lacking in quite a few places. During the game we found ourselves looking for more hints just to get clarification on puzzle instructions. While the puzzles had variety and were complex, some (such as the totem and glass puzzle)