Through this pandemic, friends and families have turned to all kinds of new hobbies to pass the time, from puzzles to baking bread. Now, friends and families can enjoy this recently announced puzzle game, Mother of Frankenstein from its creators, Hatch Escapes and Jagged Little Pill producer, Arvind Ethan David. This immersive game is based on the life of Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein, which has just been recently launched on Kickstarter. It has gone on to be fully funded in under 24 hours and is estimated to be ready by April 2021.
This new puzzle game is equal parts immersive theater, escape room, board game, and novel. Mother of Frankenstein was designed to be as welcoming and fun for newbies as it is rewarding for experts, combining the narrative complexity of a good novel with the physicality and challenge of a puzzle-filled escape room. Throw in a couple of clue-strewn jigsaw puzzles, and the game truly has something for everyone. It’s great for families and can be played solo or as a group of up to six people.
Mother of Frankenstein takes the player through the hidden mystery behind Mary Shelley’s iconic novel, Frankenstein. From the Kickstarter, the story starts “You have just received “The Shelley Volumes,” a collection of hollowed-out books left by Mary Shelley (author of Frankenstein) to her son, Florence. Beneath Mary’s letter, you’ll discover a treasure trove of gorgeous hand-written documents, 2D and 3D jigsaw puzzles, mysterious objects and artifacts, and devious challenges.”
A beginning player does not need any preexisting knowledge about Mary Shelley in order to enjoy the game. It starts with the assumption that you don’t know anything about either one. However, if the player is more familiar with either Mary Shelley or Frankenstein, the creators state that their game will be even more enjoyable, as Mother of Frankenstein plays some fun games with both her biography and the origin story of her famous monster.
Hatch Escapes was founded by childhood friends Terry Rolapp and Tommy Wallach, who met at a summer program for writing musical theater. Terry Rolapp spent the aughts in New York City racking up degrees and passing time as a playwright, a composer, a graphic artist, a high school teacher, and a professor of art criticism at NYU. Then he scored the MBA and ran a few companies. Tommy Wallach is the author of four novels, including We All Looked Up, which spent over 25 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list. Tommy adapted his second novel, Thanks for the Trouble, for film, and is currently attached to direct the project in collaboration with Confluential Pictures and UnbeliEVAble Entertainment.
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