Full disclosure: A review copy of EXIT: The Missing Hollywood Star was provided by KOSMOS.

Boy howdy, it’s been a week. I feel like when I write these it’s almost always after just having a week, but I remain optimistic that things will eventually slow down and be less hectic. Unfortunately, this week in particular was terrible, but we abide. Thankfully, I was visiting my Escape Rooms and Puzzle Friend, so we’ve been doing escape rooms, puzzle games, and watching a bunch of TV. Hence, bringing the reviews for these EXIT Advent Calendars to you, this week. It may not be Christmas yet, but honestly, you kinda want to know about these things ahead of time anyways, don’t you? So let’s find out what’s happening with The Missing Hollywood Star!

In EXIT: The Missing Hollywood Star, you’ve stumbled into a Hollywood situation! Sure, you were there delivering a pizza, but you know, there’s all kinds of action in Hollywood! Probably. This seems like a mystery that only you can solve, since you’re essentially the only person around. Adventure through movie sets both classic and current as you try to figure out what happened, what’s going on, and who’s going to pay for all of this pizza. That last thing is mostly what’s top of mind for you, because you’re sure as hell not giving out free pizza in Hollywood, of all places. Over twenty-four days, you’ll be opening up different rooms in this Advent calendar and discovering the mysteries within. As you solve them, you’ll get codes to direct you to the next room and the next puzzle. You’ve got until Christmas to solve this mystery; are you going to be able to?

Overall: 8.25 / 10

Regardless of whether or not powering through two EXIT Advent Calendars in a weekend was a good idea, The Missing Hollywood Star is another solid entry in this extremely venerable series! It’s a little on the silly side since it’s not as explicitly Christmas-themed as the others, but honestly, that might not be the worst idea in the world. The other ones lean heavy on the Christmas of it all, and if I’m doing this all in September or July or whenever I get to actually play them, it’s sometimes nice to get a little break from the holiday spirit when it’s not even Halloween. The ongoing tragedy of a board game reviewer; I’m sure you understand. But I imagine there are plenty of folks who don’t necessarily want to go all-in on Christmas, and if that’s the case, well, there are a lot of non-Christmas-focused EXIT games, but as far as the Advent Calendar set goes, this is the least of those.

This does make the plot feel somewhat incoherent, since you’re just popping from movie set to movie set, doing a loosely-movie-related thing, and then moving on. There’s no particular narrative throughline other than “a Hollywood star has gone missing and you need to find them”, and it does beg the question of why there are still movie sets erected for 40-year-old movies, but you kind of have to suspend your disbelief on that front to keep things fun. The flip side to that is that your puzzle themes can go anywhere, since they just have to be loosely connected to any movie in particular, and that gives you a lot of runway. If you like movies, this is your EXIT.

That said, I have a lot of questions about the rights and usage for the various movies referenced in here, but I’m not involved in brand or marketing stuff, so I wouldn’t really know. Just kind of felt on the nose at times to the point of my escape room game partner and I asking if The Mouse was going to sue for all the Star Wars references. Like I said, I don’t know anything about it. I do appreciate that they continue a semi-formal tradition in these by giving you some weird makeshift musical instrument to put together, though; that’s been a delight and it may end up being a delight elsewhere, as well. It keeps me engaged and forces you to think a bit outside of the box (sometimes literally) to actually get the thing working. The standard and ongoing problem for the EXIT Advent Calendars is one of construction, I’m afraid: while I think they very much got it right finally making the lid a formal cover, the rooms with the puzzles in them frequently have information inside of them and they’re not particularly well-lit, so you may need a flashlight. I’m aware that my friend’s dining room doesn’t have the best lighting, but the lights are still on and we can’t see everything that we need to.

I think it’s kind of funny to review these given that I’m (hopefully) playing them in a very different fashion than y’all are. You might spend the full 24 days going through them (in which case, good luck with some of the memory / backtracking puzzles), but I’m usually doing them in a day or two over a weekend. That said, it’s still a lot of fun! A bit fuller of an escape room experience than the smaller, standard EXITs, and something closer to a beginner-friendly version of a Postcurious-style game. I think Postcurious does more with narrative, theme, and component quality, but that’s also again a consequence of their audience. KOSMOS is looking to get this in a store and let families play with it; Postcurious is appealing more to the experts and the experienced. I’m glad both exist, and it’s just a great time to be a big fan of puzzle games. I think for the movie fans among y’all or folks looking to lock in for a Christmas binge session, EXIT: The Missing Hollywood Star might make a great backdrop to your holidays! I’m definitely a fan and I’d recommend checking it out!

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