Dispatch is a monthly subscription-based mystery from Breakout Games that "tests your detective skills each month with a new delivery of clues."
This is a review of the third series, which is called I, Spy:
By some twist of fate you have been mistaken for the top secret agent known as Wolf. Now you’ve been sent an assignment to stop the assassin known as The Raven from acquiring and using a nuclear device. You’ll track The Raven down with the help of a mysterious friend and use spy craft to ultimately sabotage the nuclear threat. Can you track down The Raven in time?
This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
About Dispatch: I, Spy by Breakout Games
The Subscription Box: Dispatch
The Cost: $24.99 a month + free shipping
ACTIVE DEAL: Save $10 off your first box!
CODE: dispatchsignup10
The Products: Physical clues to help solve a mystery.
Ships to: US
Dispatch I, Spy by Breakout Games #3 Review
I love that the boxes for this subscription are always so interesting and add to the mystery of the game!
We received a little intro card complete with a checklist on the back, which is incredibly helpful when there are clues everywhere and you never know what you might be missing.
The following items came in our first box, but are useful for each installment of this mission:
In case we need any help along the way, we received this card from Bailey Detective Co. with a link to their website that we can use for help if we get stuck.
Since we'll be traveling, we need a passport. This one looks authentic, and the pages appear to be blank, but with this box, you never know when a clue might appear.
We also received this envelope full of cash. Too bad it isn't real, although it does look and feel somewhat authentic—not of the Monopoly money variety.
We received this book on Code Systems that is full of information about Morse Code, Braille, Navy flag signals, and more.
They even included information on Baconian Ciphers and American Sign Language and left a space for notes.
The first item we received in our box was this stamp (sticker) to add to our passport for our travels to Russia.
We also received a nice glass magnifying glass and a decoder lens which came in handy!
The first item I checked out was this welcome note and thanks to our Secret Agent Kiwi Crate, I recognized something in the pattern and coloring of the front of the note.
I held my spyglass to it and it revealed a hidden message. This one warned us of danger and reminded us to make sure we visited all of the places in the note.
Next, I took a look at this postcard which said to look closely at the names.
Using our magnifying glass I was able to make out the names on the boats and I also noticed that each boat had a different flag. This reminded me of the page I had seen in our code book about International flag signals so I quickly determined that the signals meant keep clear, pilot on board, and desire to communicate, which was all information that would help us later.
We received this painting in our box and so I decided to check out the listed museum's website.
While checking out the painting on the website, this message popped up warning us that it was a trap and we needed to leave.
When we hit escape, we received this note and were prompted to enter in a four-digit code so that we could escape. Unfortunately, we didn't have this, so we had to go in search of it!
We received this news article telling us that our guide, Hazim, had been murdered.
This was the note that was found crumpled up and lodged in his throat (graphic!). I was able to translate this once I grabbed our codebook and got the hang of Baconian cipher (super easy once you actually figure it out!). The note informed us that the Hermitage was a trap. Oops! Too late for this I guess!
I had no clue what to do with this mysterious number code, but it was clear that it would lead us to a website. Somehow my husband was able to crack the code (he still hasn't shared how!) and it leads us to a chatroom.
We were speaking with Dimitri who was a name mentioned in our previous box and we had to translate all of his messages to English by a simple click of the button.
He asked us a series of questions, most of which was information that we had already uncovered. The information I uncovered from the postcard including the messages from the flags and boat names was very helpful.
I also was able to use Baconian cipher to determine what the message on this notepad we received said and it helped us at some point during the questioning. There were also additional questions that we needed to do some internet searching to answer and one question was actually something we needed from our last box.
This note that was left with near the body of one of Dimitri's unfortunate informants that could also be deciphered using Baconian Cipher. It leads us to our final clue.
We were given a passcode which we will most likely need next time and also this image which we determined to be Cistercian Monk Cipher. After consulting our code book, we came up with a four digit number. The code to escape the Hermitage!
After entering the code on the Hermitage site, we were taken to a video with a tape recording that featured a disguised voice giving us some advice on our next mission. We are headed to Hlewlai!
Verdict: My husband and I are having a lot of fun with our impromptu I, Spy date nights! It's just the right amount of stimulation and challenge to exercise our brains after a long day of dealing with work or wild kiddos without involving too much effort. I am loving using all of these codes to decipher clues, which is something that I've always enjoyed, but you don't get to do too much of in real life! I'm excited to see what our next adventure is like and can't wait to see how they challenge us next.
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? This is the third box in the I, Spy game series. Although everyone receives a new box each month, subscribers will receive different boxes depending on where they are in the story.
Coupon - Use code dispatchsignup10 to save $10 off your first box!
Value Breakdown: This box is the third in a series of five total boxes each costing $24.99 for a total of $124.95 for the series. Considering this box gave us a good solid chunk of quality entertainment time, I definitely think it's worth it!
Check out all of our Dispatch reviews and the Geek + Nerd Subscription Box Directory for more mystery and crime-themed boxes!
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What do you think of the first installment of I, Spy?
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