Having reviewed a previous Puzzle Post escape-room-in-an-envelope, The Dupe, when I was given the chance to play through an upcoming new release from the same company, I jumped at the chance.

This time around, the experience in question is called The Secret Set, and it’s themed around a music festival goer trying to locate a legendary hidden stage, enlisting you to assist after he gets stuck. All of the instructions you need to get started and set up are on the envelope which the game elements arrive in; as soon as you open the package, the experience can begin.

Without spoiling anything, you’ll first read the letter in the envelope, which will lead you to your next clue, with each puzzle element giving you a two digit number to find. Overall there’s 9 numbers to discover, from 1-99, each of which needs to be correctly entered into an online ‘vault’.

You can also find clues for each puzzle if you’re stumped, and I’m pleased to say that, despite my usual lack of acuity when it comes to brainteasers in general, I only had to resort to a couple of clues throughout the entire experience, which cleverly judge you in the right direction if you’re truly unable to proceed.

Though this system can give you a puzzle’s answer outright if you really get stuck, I didn’t once need to do this, and I think that speaks volumes about how cleverly designed the puzzles are in general, as well as how thoughtfully implemented the clue system is.

With the theme of this puzzle being based around a music festival, there are some really neat touches involving music, but you don’t actually have to be musically inclined yourself to successfully complete the experience. I did find the theme really refreshing, and its low key mystery (not involving murder or money, just the hunt for a hidden treasure trove of music at a festival) gave it a charming, relaxed and fairly low stakes feel, which has the added bonus of being all ages-friendly too.

There’s good use of elements outside those included (a few of which are shown above, but many more are included; I’ve not spoiled anything in that image, I assure you!) which make the whole experience feel really immersive, and as was the case with The Dupe, it feels like, once you warm up those synapses and get into your stride, it doesn’t take all that long to get the vault opened (I think I worked through the whole experience in a little over the hour with my group).

Though it is relatively short lived, it’s a truly memorable and involving time, and it really does make you feel especially clever. The reward at the end definitely feels earned, and no doubt it’ll spur you on to trying out more Puzzle Post titles too.

One thing that was disappointing about The Secret Set was the prevalent, obvious use of AI art across many of the included elements. Though everything was well designed from a visual point of view, there was even at least one clue which was hard to decipher due to the AI artwork being somewhat murky and indistinct too, so it’s not just me complaining about its usage from a moral standpoint, but even when completing one of the puzzles it became a bit of an issue.

That aside, I had an absolute blast hunting down the hidden stage, and with many of the included elements also being thoughtfully duplicated, it is possible to play through the entire experience with a larger group than normal.

It’s a common problem with this type of home escape room that one person, or a few people in a group, takes over and doesn’t give everyone a chance to add their own thoughts or assist with the puzzle solving, but having more than one document to inspect or work through at a time really helped to ensure that this didn’t happen with The Secret Set.

Given that it’s a Puzzle Post experience, it’s also great that it can be posted through a letter box, and arrives as a complete evening’s entertainment, for as many or as few participants as you want (it’s perfectly possible to play through as a solo experience, for example, if you prefer to tackle puzzles alone!). Despite the questionable usage of AI art, I found The Secret Set to be a brilliantly designed, immersive and satisfying experience, and I’ll definitely be taking more of Puzzle Post’s mysteries for a spin!

You can find The Secret Set and many other Puzzle Post mysteries, even some aimed at younger groups (as well as personalised experiences, which is especially cool!) at the official Puzzle Post website.

Many thanks to Puzzle Post for sending me a copy of The Secret Set for review purposes.