Voynich Reviews The Vandermist Dossier!

 Review:  The Vandermist Dossier (spoiler free)



You are the one who can help solve the mysterious disappearance of Abigail Vandermist!


You receive a desperate letter from her sister, Helena, in the hopes that you are the one who will help her solve this personal disappearance...a case that has yet to be solved...a case that will take your special set of skills to crack...


The Vandermist Dossier is the first part of a planned trilogy of Mystery Puzzle Games by Diorama Games (formerly known as Puzzlepost).  I received an early release review copy.  The final version is expected to be functionally the same, but with some upgraded artifacts.


Bottom line

The best praise I can give this game is that I will be first in line for the two upcoming sequel games! From the story, to the puzzles, to the quality of the components, this is the exact type of game that I love!


The Vandermist Dossier


The game comes in an actual file-box filled with documents and items from the case, including an old folder, a map, and many more documents.   The immersion is strong right off the start as I feel I’m digging into actual files and materials versus opening a game box!  


As I read through the intro letter from Helena, I was immediately drawn into her world, her mystery, and her family.  The letter felt authentic, felt well placed in time, really nicely set up the goals of the game, and it provided an inventory list that felt natural and not forced.  Between the box, contents, and the immersion of this first letter, I was extremely excited to get into the mystery!


I spent several hours across several days piecing together the mystery of what had happened, where it had happened, and why.  The momentum kept pushing me forward, as each clever puzzle led me naturally to the next part of the game, yet it never felt forced.  Even though it is mostly a linear solve, it felt as if I were going through this process and uncovering each step naturally along the way!  Through the text of the letters and documents, I actually felt that each character was unique, real, and I cared about this world and the people in it.  In fact, I would love to find out more about many of them and revisit this area and the characters in it!


The wonderful map included with this game is a delight in both the tourist-map quality and in the in-game functionality!  I enjoyed peering over the map, using it with the story and even several puzzles...it felt part of the world, natural, and integral to the experience.


Vandermist contained great “A-ha!” moments, occasional frustrations, a wonderful flow and some of the best [redacted] puzzles I have ever seen...the cleverness of [redacted] blew me away!   The hint system (yes, I admit to being stumped a few times) was nicely done and led me to my answers without being overly spoiler-y.  I do recommend playing with a friend who has difference skill sets, as there was a puzzle I *never* would have ever gotten, however for my bride, it was a good solve (saying anything else would spoil it).  I felt that all but perhaps part of one puzzle were completely “fair,” in that they were nicely sign-posted, possible, and even plausible.  I say “perhaps” because it could just be the way I interpreted the in-game clue and perhaps it was completely fair, I’m just not sure my ego can handle that.  For the record, just that fact that I am still debating that in my head shows how much I really enjoyed this game and these puzzles as I am still thinking about them a week later, and not in a frustrated angry way.  Overall, they are really, really great!


The Vandermist Dossier was a pleasurable experience, with a few bouts of fun frustration (funstration?), but in a good way.  I enjoy a challenge and this game has a nice mix of puzzles and degrees of difficulty, but also provides a nice hint system if you do get stuck. 


Who will like this game?


If you enjoyed a Tale of Ord, or if you love a game that is primarily tricky, ingenious, and fun puzzles naturally embedded in a mystery, then you will want to play The Vandermist Dossier.  This game will give you fun well worth what you spend on it, and set you up for the next in the planned trilogy!  Enjoy!


You can find the Vandermist Dossier on Kickstarter by clicking this link.


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