A board game with the concept of escaping a room.
A game that can only be played once, with no elements of probability.
It was a concept even the Archmage Olfin had never heard of before.
Of course, it was natural. Whether you were an archmage or not, the only board games in this world were things like Chess or Kill the King. Even if I made a few more board games, they wouldn’t be entirely different from Kill the King in the grand scheme of things.
A game where multiple players participate, rely on luck, and play with their own strategies.
The Escape Room Board Game was something that completely shattered those stereotypes.
“Even I felt like I was experiencing a new world when I first tried it.”
Famous escape room board games like Unlock and EXIT.
They come with timers or dedicated mechanical devices to track time limits and solve all sorts of puzzles.
It could be as simple as solving puzzles in a given order, or as complex as solving multiple problems to find and combine clues, or even requiring mechanical devices to progress.
Compared to other board games that can be played repeatedly, the overall playtime is much shorter, but the fun you can experience in that one playthrough is truly overwhelming.
The Escape Room Board Game was like a piece of firewood that burns brightly just once.
“I don’t know why someone would want this kind of game to relieve boredom, but…”
Anyway, it was what the Beggar Archmage wanted, so there was no need to overthink it.
And making it wasn’t difficult at all.
“There was one that stuck in my memory.”
The very first Escape Room Board Game I played. Moving around various locations on the game board of a trapped room, finding clues, combining them to get hints, and solving puzzles.
It was the most classic progression, but that’s what made it the golden standard. It was perfect for beginners to the Escape Room Board Game.
It was the game that greatly expanded my perspective on board games, so even though I knew all the content, I played it a few more times and remembered most of the puzzles and hints.
Of course, I didn’t remember everything, but as long as I remembered the big picture, the rest of the clues and hints could be pieced together or newly created.
Since I had played all the Escape Room Board Games on the market, I could just borrow elements from other board games and combine them.
And so, after working through the night, I handed the prototype of the Escape Room Board Game to Olfin.
“What’s this?”
“It’s still rough, but the overall framework is complete.”
“Already? Did you really make this overnight?”
“It wasn’t difficult.”
“Huh… I guess I’ve been underestimating your abilities all along.”
The game board and puzzles were just hastily drawn with a pen and shaded in black and white, with no coloring, mechanical devices, or 3D tools.
It wasn’t a finished product, but it was enough for a newbie trying an Escape Room Board Game for the first time.
Holding the timer handed to me by Sally, I smiled at Olfin, who was looking at the Escape Room Board Game with interest.
“The time limit is 120 minutes.”
“Isn’t that a bit long?”
“It’s your first time, and it’s a completely different game from what you’re used to, so it’ll take time to adjust. Plus, the amount of story and puzzles included is substantial, so it might even feel insufficient.”
“I see.”
An experienced player who’s already tried other Escape Room Board Games could finish it in under an hour, but for a player encountering the concept for the first time, 2 hours might not even be enough.
The difficulty level had me struggling for over three hours. I mean, I actually went through it, so I know.
It’s hard to compare on the same standard, but if Olfin, who’s also an Archmage, plays it and finds it fun, then that should be enough, right?
Thinking that, I placed my finger on the timer’s button.
“Alright, let’s begin!”
“Good. Let me try escaping once…!!”
And then.
“…Creator.”
“…Yes.”
“This is…fun. It’s completely different from any game you’ve made before, a totally unique board game, and it’s really enjoyable. However…”
The timer showed 7 minutes and 21 seconds.
Olfin, who had solved all the puzzles and escaped in less than 10 minutes—far from the 2-hour time limit or even the 1-hour expert benchmark—looked at me with a somewhat bewildered expression.
“…Isn’t it too easy?”
“……”
It seems.
I was caught off guard in an unexpected place.
*
The issues I overlooked with the Escape Room Board Game were threefold.
“Multi-Casting…you mean?”
“Those unfamiliar with magic might think of it as a technique or a kind of talent. But Multi-Casting is indeed a type of magic, and a highly difficult one at that.”
“It allows you to use multiple spells at once, right?”
“To be precise, it’s ‘splitting your thoughts.’ Rather than using multiple spells simultaneously, it’s about dividing your thoughts into several parts and using magic for each thought.”
“What does that…?”
“Didn’t you see the battle between me, Shisha, and Stella? At that time, I operated illusions in dozens of ways. That’s because I actually split my own thoughts into dozens.”
“……”
“However, splitting thoughts is a very dangerous act. Carelessly, one’s ego can split, leading to multiple personalities. While Multi-Casting itself can be learned by anyone, how much one can split their thoughts depends on the magician’s capability.”
“So, with that Multi-Casting…?”
“I simply solved all the puzzles of this Escape Room Board Game simultaneously.”
First, the existence of the magic called Multi-Casting.
Thanks to that magic, Olfin was alone but not thinking alone. By splitting his thoughts, he simultaneously solved and pondered over the puzzles and clues that should have been tackled in sequence, solving problems at an absurd speed.
Considering that out of the 7 minutes and 21 seconds, about 4 minutes were wasted adapting to the rules of the Escape Room Board Game, the actual escape time was just 3 minutes.
Being able to split his thoughts into dozens, it’s as if dozens of Olfins were solving the problems simultaneously.
“And about these puzzles, overall, they’re too easy.”
“…What do you mean by easy?”
“Most of the puzzles are mathematical problems, code deciphering, and wordplay. And their level isn’t high. Even if it weren’t me, any magician who has reached a certain level could solve them at a glance.”
“Really?”
“Do you know how intricate magic is? No matter how talented one is, without quick thinking, high achievements in magic are impossible. Apprentice magicians focus more on mathematics and logic than magic itself.”
“……”
“Of course, for such individuals, problems of this level are not challenging at all. Especially with Multi-Casting.”
The second issue was…
The level of the problem was…
If it were just an ordinary person or someone of average skill playing this escape room board game, it would be fine. But the person who requested this is none other than an Archmage. If Master Olfin solved all the problems in about three minutes, it was clear that Diogenes would do the same.
Honestly, it was only natural for the problem to be at this level. What I played was ultimately a board game, and it had to be at a level where anyone could escape. Since I aimed for a balanced difficulty, it was bound to seem trivial to someone like a magician.
And let me say it again—the one playing this is the Beggar Archmage, Diogenes. Not just any ordinary magician, but an Archmage. The difficulty had to be high enough to even challenge an Archmage.
And finally, the most important problem of all…
“…I can’t make something like that?”
In the end, it came down to the fact that my knowledge level for creating board games wasn’t that high.
There’s a saying: characters in a novel can never surpass the intelligence of the author. No matter how much you set them up as geniuses, if the author isn’t a genius, it won’t work.
This was exactly that situation. Now, I had to create riddles and clues that even an Archmage would find difficult and get stuck on.
But there was no way I could make something like that.
“After all, the only riddles I know are the ones I’ve solved in other escape room board games.”
And the fact that I could solve them meant they would be a piece of cake for an Archmage.
Think of something else? Sure, let’s say I racked my brains and came up with a problem that even an Archmage would struggle with. But an escape room board game isn’t a game that ends with just one problem.
Dozens of problems, multiple riddles, and even more clues than that.
Creating all of that at the level of an Archmage was simply impossible.
“The board games I’ve made so far… I could just take what was already made and use it as is.”
But this time, it was completely different.
No matter how much of an Archmage the player is, unlike other board games where another Archmage could be the opponent, a single-player escape room board game is essentially a battle of wits between the creator and the player.
In that sense, if Diogenes and I were to face off, the outcome was obvious.
“…What should I do?”
When I started making this late at night, I thought it would be an easy personal request to solve, but I ended up hitting a critical problem I never expected.
And that problem was overwhelmingly daunting.
“Should I ask for Olfin’s help?”
What a paradox. Asking for an Archmage’s help to create a problem that even an Archmage would struggle with?
Of course, with the help of Archmages like Olfin, Stella, Shisha, and Bantain, it might not be entirely impossible.
But a board game made like that…
Would it really be something made by ‘Kyle Byron’?
“…No, absolutely not.”
“The Creator?”
Also, if Archmages collaborated to create the problems, they would undoubtedly be complex and difficult. High-level math problems, logic puzzles, theories of magic—it would all require lengthy explanations.
Could I naturally incorporate all of that into the escape room elements and write them all on cards or props?
No, at that point, could you even call it a board game? It would just be a collection of extremely difficult problems. Could anyone have fun and enjoy solving something like that?
What Diogenes requested was a board game to relieve boredom, not a problem book.
‘Damn it.’
The more I thought about it, the bigger the problems became…
No matter how much I racked my brain, the answer just wouldn’t come.
……
And this.
……
It was a problem I’d have to face someday.
I, who had been drunk on the false reputation of being a genius creator, had merely copied a board game.
Because without borrowing from existing board games, I had nothing.
“……I’ll go back to the room. I’m sorry.”
“Uh, yeah.”
My head was a mess. No matter how much I thought and thought, all I could see were my own contradictions.
Am I really a board game ‘creator’? Or am I just a player who copied things?
No, let’s set aside those contradictions and self-loathing. Those are problems I can worry about and solve anytime.
The most important thing right now is…
Diogenes’ request.
‘Is there anything other than an escape room…?’
There are plenty of single-player board games that come to mind immediately. But none of them are completely devoid of probability elements.
No matter how much I thought about it, escape rooms or deduction board games seemed like the best options.
But even then, I couldn’t meet the Archmage’s standards.
“………….”
What should I do? Should I think of other board games? But what’s out there?
Holding my throbbing head, I scribbled down anything that came to mind.
The escape room board games I knew, the unique problems I’d seen there, other board games that might meet the conditions—all of it was chaotically written and overwritten on the paper.
How much time had passed as I filled the paper?
Suddenly, I felt someone tapping my shoulder. I lifted my head, which had been buried in the paper, and responded.
……For some reason, my throat felt dry and sore.
“Sally? Or is it Water Tiger? Sorry, but can you leave me alone for a bit………”
“……You.”
“………Ah, Adela?”
There stood Adela, who had been avoiding me since the first day.
Her eyes, usually expressionless, were now trembling.
“Is something wrong………?”
“……It’s nothing. More importantly, Adela, about what happened last time……….”
“That doesn’t matter. It was just my one-sided complaint. So, for now.”
With a quiet but warm touch.
She hugged me.
“Open your heart, and rest.”
“Why are you suddenly like this? Even if you tell me to rest……….”
“………It’s been three days since you sat in that spot.”
“……What?”
“Your body has already reached its limit. So please……rest.”
That was the last thing I heard.
After Adela’s words made me realize how long I’d been sitting at this desk.
My thoughts cut off there.
