50 Clues: Escape the Blast Zone
50 Clues: Escape the Blast Zone Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
Escape the Blast Zone is played in the 50 Clues format: an escape room-style puzzle game played at home, with no app to install. The game is pure fiction, and names, individuals, companies, events, places and incidents are either results of the designer's imagination or used in a fictitious manner.
The game uses 18 cards. Cards are oversize, measuring 70 x 120 mm. Play is for 1 to 5 players, ages 16 and up, and takes about 20 minutes. The game is not for children: the story is brutal and unsuitable for children.
Contents
- 18 cards (oversize, 70 x 120 mm), printed as a print-and-play file
- A reference card (card 2), which explains the number notation used across the game
Setup
Separate the cards and put them in order so that the card marked 1 is on top with this side facing up. Then turn this card over. (This is the printed instruction on card 1; "this side" is the face with the instruction.)
Go to 50clues.com and start the game "Escape the Blast Zone". This game can be started without using a serial number. (Printed on card 3's back.)
The game only needs a browser. No app installation is needed. The game's state is preserved if the browser is closed or you need a break (printed as "Auto save" feature note).
Card Instructions
The front of each card carries a short instruction for when to turn it over or how to use it. These are transcribed exactly as printed.
- Card 1: "Separate the cards and put them in order so that this card is on top with this side facing up. Then turn this card over."
- Card 2: "Turn this card over."
- Card 3: "Turn this card over when you have watched the 'How to play' video."
The back of card 1 carries the "Free mini game" information box: Number of players 1-5, Age 16+ years, Duration 20 minutes, Contents 18 cards. It states that 50 Clues is an escape room-style puzzle game, but in a format that can be played at home, and that the game is pure fiction.
The back of card 1 also carries an IMPORTANT notice: "You must watch the 'How to play' video on 50clues.com/en/qr/intro". The "How to play" video is the only play instruction the publisher provides beyond the card text; it is a video, so it is not transcribed here.
Reference Card (Card 2)
The reference card explains the notation used on the cards.
- Card number. Each card carries its own number in the corners of its face. Card numbers are the references used by codes and by "look at card" instructions.
- Removal marker. A number in the top right of a card's face (for example, "62" on the reference card, or "3, 5" on card 6) lists the cards that can be removed from the game. "Cards that appear at the top right can be removed from the game."
- Discrete, framed numbers. A discrete, framed number refers to a card which you are allowed to look at immediately. The reference card gives "68" as an example of this notation.
- Red-box numbers. A number in a red box (for example 631 or 711) "can only be combined with another number in a red box using the app. Some numbers will be used in several contexts."
- Black-box numbers. A number in a black box (for example 635) "can only be entered as a code in the app. This means that you investigate or do something with it."
- Codes. "Codes can also consist of the card number followed by a code that you find. How this works will appear from the individual card."
The back of card 3 reads: "Go to 50clues.com and start the game 'Escape the Blast Zone'. This game can be started without using a serial number." It carries the note "Look at card 4".
Card Texts
The text printed on each card back is transcribed below, with the card's removal marker (the number in the top right, which lists cards that can be removed from the game) where one is printed. Numbers printed in the card art (for example 071, 081, 101, 121-124, 151, 161, 162) are codes that the card text tells you to use; they are not separate rules. The card art and narrative flavour are not reproduced.
- Card 4. "It looks like a coded message from your childhood friend that you were in the boy scouts with. Last you heard from him, he was in the military, but that was many years ago. You go and find your old notebook. See card 5." Removal marker: 1.
- Card 5. "A table of contents with symbols. Guess what code he used this time? Enter code 05 followed by the page you want to take a closer look at."
- Card 6. "It must be this table, but how in the world do you do it? Enter code 06 followed by the top line from the postcard after deciphering." Removal marker: 3, 5.
- Card 7. "You run down to the docks to escape by boat. You are greeted by a gruesome sight of a dead soldier infected with a mysterious fungus." Removal marker: 6.
- Card 8. "You find a package of soft C4 explosives with a detonator and remote control."
- Card 9. "The skin on the soldier's left hand is covered in a fine layer of mycelium."
- Card 10. "You find a key in one of the soldier's pockets."
- Card 11. "Someone sabotaged the ship's engine and unscrewed the diesel injection pipes."
- Card 12. "Enter the code next to the thread that pipe 3 should be fitted onto."
- Card 13. "A page in the manual shows the diesel engine."
- Card 14. "The harbor is blocked using a heavy chain and behind it something sloshes around in the water." Removal marker: 11, 12, 13.
Features and Publisher Notes
The publisher's feature panel, printed on the card sheets, lists the following. These are product notes, not additional rules.
- No app installation. The game only needs a browser. No need to install an app.
- Auto save. The game's state is preserved if the browser is closed or you need a break.
- Immersive story. 50 Clues is a game where the story and the puzzles are connected.
- Play right away. It does not require any preparation to play 50 Clues. Watch a video and get started.
- Not for kids. The story is brutal and unsuitable for children.
- Oversize cards. The cards measure 70 x 120 mm for a better experience.
- A social experience. 50 Clues works with up to five players.
- Multistep hint system. You can ask for help wherever you are, so you never get stuck.
The publisher's overview on the back sheet of the print-and-play file (PDF page 6) reads: "50 Clues is a series of immersive puzzle games that offer the experience of an escape room, but in a format that can be played at home. You combine objects, solve puzzles and decipher codes to complete the stories. A smartphone or tablet keeps track of the solutions and provides multistep hints if the need arises." It adds: "Escape The Blast Zone is a short introduction to the third trilogy of 50 Clues: Sunshine Island. It features a completely new storyline and is expected to be released in 2023."