Disclosure: Meeple Mountain received a free copy of this product in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. This review is not intended to be an endorsement.
Exit: The Game has been synonymous with “escape room” in my circle, and though there are many similar contenders (just look at your local Walmart/Target games aisle!), Exit continues to be the gold standard for the experience.
Amazingly, so many can be cranked out so quickly with various themes and still keep the puzzles fresh. At least, I would assume so. I can’t say I’m an Exit die-hard; I’ve only played a few of them, so I can’t attest to every iteration’s uniqueness, but I’ve felt that each puzzle was wildly different from all the others I’ve played.
EXIT: The Game – The Circus Mystery has players solving a string of heists, with the common denominator being that a certain circus is in town. The components immediately jump out at you as you assemble a number of 3D trapeze artists, strange swords, and a foldable magician’s assistant. The premise sends players on a quest to explore the different circus performers’ wagons in hopes of solving the ultimate whodunnit.
Without going into spoilers, I had a great time with the puzzles. It follows the same formula of figuring out a three-digit code and then using a decoder wheel to search the answer deck and test your theories. Like past iterations, all parts of the game box are used in some way, including a magnificent finale that’ll smartly capture the imagination. This puzzle is part of the “advanced” series, meaning the puzzles aren’t necessarily solved in the order in which you receive them.
The puzzles themselves are smartly crafted, and we felt proud that we had to use very few hint cards. I felt like the deduction struck a healthy balance between abstract configuration and measurement/arithmetic. As always, there are plenty of red herrings mixed into the box to keep you on your toes.
My last Exit play was EXIT: The Game – Adventures on Catan. I found the writing to be bland and uninspired, but here I felt the storyline was convincing and full of fun twists. Since these games are translated from German, it’s common to find misprints or mistranslations that require an errata search, but I only found (or noticed, at least) one typo that was easy to figure out.
Perfect for any kind of night that calls for some sleuthing, this is a mystery worth solving, full of plenty of “aha!” moments that make players feel like Sherlock Holmes.
I’m always curious about the consistency of each Exit title, but if you had to pick one of this year’s releases, you won’t go wrong here. EXIT: The Game – The Circus Mystery succeeds because its physical puzzles make the circus theme feel integral rather than pasted on, resulting in satisfaction all around. I also recommend using the official KOSMOS app, as it adds some nice mood-setting music, perfect for a romp under the big tent.
EXIT: The Game – The Circus Mystery details
- Designer: Emely Brand, Inka Brand, Markus Brand
- Artists: Claus Stephan, Martin Hoffmann
- Publishers: 999 Games, IELLO, KOSMOS
- Release Date: 2025
- Player count : 1 - 4
- Age range : 12+
- Time range : 45 - 90 minutes
- Mechanism(s): Cooperative Game
- BGG Geek Rating: 7.88468 - converted to Meeple Mountain scale: 4.0.
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