We played the clever Benry Island Escape Room by MoniRae & Stewie36. This is a fully automated virtual “escape room” playable for free anytime within the “Dream World” feature of Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Note – The Museum Heist escape room has been retired. As of February 2021, Benry Island is currently operating Muffy’s Party Surprise, which is available to play! Send MoniRae a Facebook message for the dream address + starting instructions, and (optionally) let her know that EscapeRoomTips.com sent you!

Quick Facts

  • Game Name / Creator: Benry Island Museum Heist by MoniRae & Stewie36
  • Theme: Museum Heist Whodunnit
  • Dream Address: Note – The Museum Heist escape room has been replaced by Muffy’s Party Surprise escape room, opened February 2021! Send MoniRae a Facebook message for the dream address + starting instructions, and (optionally) let her know that EscapeRoomTips.com sent you!
  • Prerequisites: You’ll need a Nintendo Switch, a copy of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and a subscription to Nintendo Online. Have your smartphone handy as well, as you will need it to complete the game.
  • Players: Playable with as many friends as you want, but we recommend keeping it to 1-3 IRL players, split between 1-2 devices. The best configuration is probably 2 players on 1-2 devices. Each device can load up a parallel copy of the dream to play.
  • Price: Free!
  • Launched: September 2020
  • Duration: ~60 minutes.

Story

An invaluable artifact has been stolen from the secret vault of Blather’s museum, and the thief is still on the island! You and your team (of expert detectives) arrive at Benry Island to start on the case, reviewing an incident report complete with witness testimonies.

Can you investigate the island, identify the criminal, and recover Blather’s priceless artifact?

Your intro document contains important witness testimony from Tom Nook, Isabelle, and Blathers.

Review

This Dream Address felt like a real “escape room” recreated with Animal Crossing: New Horizons. While there’s no host or game-master, that’s actually a plus within ACNH since that lets you play this anytime for free.

Some elements of the “escape room” experience that are replicated well:

  • Team: This game works for multiple players to explore the island together and share in the puzzle-solving. We recommend 2 players on 1 or 2 devices, although it’s reasonable to do with anywhere between 1-3 people.
  • Environment: This is a lovely, detailed 5-star island, complete with neat areas such as a cafe, a residential area, a beach house area, a diner, and much more. Despite being full, the island isn’t cluttered – there’s plenty of space to walk around, explore, and enjoy.
  • “Unlocks”: MoniRae & Stewie36 achieved this making some areas of the island inaccessible unless you had the right tool. These unlocks are clever and feel like the true equivalent of solving a puzzle and opening a door in a physical escape room.
  • Puzzles: There’s a good mix of searching, observation, deduction, and code-breaking puzzles, adapted well to an Animal Crossing medium.
  • Storyline: The arc of the game involves you hunting around the island in order to identify the thief. There are some real stakes involved with a 1-use Flimsy tool. The storyline resolves with a cute bit of closure, a fun treat for those that finish the game.

We would still love to see more puzzles and content if this game gets developed more in the future, but for now there is a bonus puzzle to whet your appetite.

Bonus Puzzle

MoniRae and Stewie36 hid four “decoy ducks” out-of-sight on the island. Can you find them all? These ducks are not related to the Museum Heist, but are a bonus for anyone looking for more things to do while enjoying the island. Remember you can press X to open up your inventory, which will adjust the camera to let you peek behind objects.

Tips

Once you arrive on the island, immediately check out the announcements board for your next step.
  • Hints: Read the witness testimony carefully and refer to it often. It gives you a lot of information that will point you in the right direction as you approach the game. If you’re still stuck, you can message MoniRae for guidance.
  • Flimsy Tools: They will BREAK after ONE use! Decide where to use them carefully, as if you get it wrong, you will have to restart the game. This is one reason why playing as 2 players on 2 devices could be advantageous.

Note – The Museum Heist escape room has been replaced by Muffy’s Party Surprise escape room, opened February 2021! Send MoniRae a Facebook message for the dream address + starting instructions, and (optionally) let her know that EscapeRoomTips.com sent you!