Scarlet Envelope: Killer Wedding

Review

Game Description

“In the nostalgic backdrop of 1980s Maine, the town’s most coveted bachelor weds a picture-perfect orphan woman. Their wedding rehearsal is set along the breathtaking Atlantic coastline. Yet, the happily-ever-afters are cut short when the groom’s lifeless body is discovered at the base of a cliff, with the toxicology results beyond anyone’s darkest imagination…”

Personal Experience

I’m nearing the end of my push to catch up on the Scarlet Envelope series before they send out the final chapter. This week’s chapter is the final anthology chapter before the two-part finale. This time around Scarlet Envelope is dipping back into a familiar well: the murder mystery.

While it’s (somehow!) been four years since I played Breakfast for a Serial Killer, this game immediately evokes that earlier chapter with some very familiar components. Constantly reinventing your narrative scenarios has to be creatively exhausting, so it didn’t bother me that the bones of this experience was similar to that previous experience. It was a solid all-around outing from Scarlet Envelope and I had fun playing through it. All told, it took me about 90 minutes to solve the puzzles and solve the murder.

Narrative

This time around we’re heading to late 1980s Maine, an appropriately spooky environment that reminds me first and foremost of Stephen King. There are the appropriate 1980’s touches—mix-tapes, old clunky cellphones, an in-car fax machine—but thankfully it resists the temptation to lean hard into a bunch of 1980s pop culture references. Though, in what is a puckishly provocative decision, the murder victim whose death you’re investigating is a wealthy bachelor named Epstein. It’s likely intended as an Easter Egg, but I did find it a bit distracting from the actual story.

The story, though, is a good one. It does an impressive amount of world building and character building in an efficient manner, giving the experience pathos and heart. It does this mainly with the subject interviews and the little bits of character ephemera that you unlock throughout the experience. While much of the media and components initially feel similar to Breakfast for a Serial Killer, once the game gets going, the setting and characters really make it feel like a new and different experience.

Puzzle Play

The puzzles throughout this experience were pretty good. As usual for Scarlet Envelope, they trended on the difficult side of things. But, aside from one particularly fiendish puzzle, I didn’t need to spend much time on the hints site this time around. I’d put this overall as difficult, but not very difficult.

The puzzles themselves are varied, with some taking place interactively in a web browser (using tech very similar to what was used in Dinner With Anonymous) and some taking place exclusively using the physical components. The answers for the puzzles were integrated into the narrative in a really satisfying as well.

Fixing a problem I had with Breakfast for a Serial Killer, if you want to solve this case successfully, you’ll need to put your thinking cap on and really review the details of the case. Satisfyingly, there is one right answer to the question of “Who had the means, motive, and opportunity to kill the victim,” but it’s not an obvious one.

None of the puzzles required being able to distinguish between colors, so I’m pleased to say that this experience is completely colorblind-friendly!

Recommendation

This was one of Scarlet Envelope’s better outings and an exciting way to cap off the anthology portion of their experience. I’m really looking forward to starting the two-part finale next!

I still recommend that most people start with Scarlet Envelope’s first experience Newspaper: Intro to Mysteries to get a taste of what they’re all about and then play through the whole experience if they enjoy it. In that linked review I also discuss whether you should go for the Starter/Regular or Experienced track.