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 #4 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 Hlewlai.
We received three newspaper articles, one of which mentioned that someone fitting the description of a woman from our last box was found dead with a black feather stuffed in her mouth. Things are getting serious!
We received several items from a Chinese restaurant including a fortune cookie, a menu and a napkin with a note written on it.
Upon looking closer, I noticed that there was a message to decipher at the bottom of the napkin and several of the words throughout the menu were underlined in red with a number written below them. I copied them all down and was able to figure out the message, but it didn't mean anything to me at this point.
The fortune cookie revealed another cryptic message and our lucky numbers on the back just like a traditional fortune.
We received this postcard that really stood out to me and then I recognized that it was a flag signal from our codebook and was warning us of danger.
I recognized the message on the postcard as being in Baconian Cipher so I got to work figuring out what it meant. It was another warning, but still nothing that meant anything to me at this point.
While I was figuring all of that out, my husband was busy working on this mysterious card we received. He was able to translate it and came up with what sounded like a pretty important hint that we would need later.
We received a message that these prints had been lifted off of a keypad and we needed to figure out the password. We simply laid it over the keyboard and came up with a bunch of letters to unscramble. But I also noticed there was some Braille at the bottom and got to work decoding that message which led us to a website.
The website led us to the mysterious lair we were supposed to stay away from! Now let me tell you, my husband and I worked all night trying to figure out what the password was, but tired parents are apparently not good at unscrambling words. We had to come back to it another night because we finally just gave up!
When we finally figured it out the next night after much more time than I'd care to admit, we were both slightly embarrassed at how easy it should have been, but alas, we were in the vault! We were asked to pick a briefcase and once we did, it asked us for the code.
While the code we entered was correct, we still got a message that we chose the wrong briefcase and would be responsible for the deaths of many. We also received a little bit more than this message, but I don't want to spoil the fun!
Of course, we received a very frustrating "to be continued" at the end, meaning we had to wait until our next box arrived!
Verdict: I really loved all of the detail that this installment of our I, Spy box included such as the menu, fortune cookie, and napkin. It was a fun and interesting way to get the clues and information to us. We had a lot of fun figuring out the clues using our codebook and progressing in the game. It was just challenging enough for us, maybe this time just a little bit more challenging since we were really overthinking that keypad code and had to come back to it! It was a good two nights of fun game playing for us and we are excited to see how the game ends!
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? This is the fourth 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 fourth 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!
Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!
What do you think of the fourth installment of I, Spy?
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