There's never before been a game like Mother of Frankenstein, an immersive puzzle game based on the life of Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein!
Enter the world of Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein
Mother of Frankenstein is a groundbreaking new puzzle game that combines the best of escape rooms, board games, immersive theater, and novels. Designed for 1-6 players, ages 13 and up, MoF offers 10-15 hours of puzzles to solve, 2D and 3D jigsaws to construct, gorgeous documents to parse, and mysterious artifacts to examine, all wrapped up in a shocking reconception of the true story behind Mary Shelley's famous monster.
The Story
You have just received “The Shelley Volumes,” a collection of hollowed-out books left by Mary Shelley (author of Frankenstein) to her son, Florence. In the first volume, you find a message from Mary:
"Contained within these volumes is a secret many great men have devoted their entire lives to unearthing, and always in vain. It is a secret I would have taken with me to the grave, except that it is, in more ways than one, our family’s legacy, and thus rightfully belongs with you..."
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. Prove your worth by studying the documents, constructing the jigsaws, and solving the puzzles... and you’ll be treated to a heartbreaking story that culminates in a shocking reimagining of the truth behind Mary Shelley’s famous novel.
What makes Mother of Frankenstein so special?
Unlike most puzzle games and escape rooms, Mother of Frankenstein was designed to be as welcoming and fun for newbies as it is rewarding for experts. Recommended for groups of 1-6, ages 13 and up, MoF combines the dense narrative complexity of a good novel with the physicality and interactivity of immersive theater, the brain-bending challenge of a puzzle-filled escape room with the accessibility and broad appeal of the best board games. Throw in a couple of clue-strewn jigsaw puzzles, and our game truly has something for everyone!
Each volume should take 3-5 hours to complete.
Volume 1 concerns Mary's teenage years. We learn about her education by her iconoclastic father and complete three assignments on the subjects she most loved as a student—poetry, music, and astronomy—each of which is presented in the form of a puzzle. Simultaneously, Mary embarks on a love affair with the dashing (but married) poet Percy Shelley. The course of their courtship is laid out over 15 love letters—complete with original poetry, gorgeous drawings, and some heavy flirting—but be warned, in Mother of Frankenstein, there are always secrets hidden in the spaces between the words, for those who know how to look... you'll engage with Mary's education in the fields of poetry, music, and astronomy and track her courtship with Percy Shelley, constructing a series of elaborate spinning rings you'll use to solve a set of ingenious riddles and puzzles.
In Volume Two, you'll follow Mary Godwin, Percy Shelley, and Claire Claremont to a ball at Castle Frankenstein (yes, Castle Frankenstein was a real place). You'll construct a 500-piece circular puzzle of the castle floorplan in order to work out just what happened that fateful evening. Afterwards, you'll need to solve the puzzles that alchemist Conrad Dippel set for Mary Shelley while educating her in the nascent field of "galvanism"--research that would one day inspire her famous novel.
In Volume Three, you'll return to Castle Frankenstein, which you'll build as a fully realized 300-piece 3D puzzle (which sits atop the 2D puzzle floorplan from Volume Two). Then you'll have to solve a set of fiendish puzzles in order to learn how to construct the elaborate origami roofs for the various castle buildings. Finally, you'll progress through a series of "advent calendar" style diary entries while searching out details in the castle, each time placing a new window into the 3D puzzle. By the time you've finished, you'll have finally learned Mary's terrible secret... and created a beautiful object you just might want to keep on your mantle forever.
Mother of Frankenstein was created by New York Times bestselling author Tommy Wallach and Terry Pettigrew-Rolapp. Tommy and Terry are the founders of Hatch Escapes, home of Lab Rat, the #1 escape room in Los Angeles (LA Mag, TERPECA), and the forthcoming The Ladder.
1–6 Players
240–480 Min
Age: 13+
