Holiday Hijinx #16: The Pride Pursuit – Parade Preparations

Pride celebrations recognize the diversity, love, and acceptance that strengthen our communities. They also provide an opportunity to support and stand alongside members of the LGBTQ+ community. Holiday Hijinks #16: The Pride Pursuit captures that spirit through a lighthearted escape-room adventure.

Holiday Hijinks #16: The Pride Pursuit is an escape-room-style puzzle game by Grand Gamers Guild, designed by Danielle Reynolds with art by Josh Cappel. It plays 1+ players, takes about 60 minutes, and is recommended for ages 14+.

This review is spoiler free!

Setup

Unfold the box, set aside the 18-card deck, and read the directions. Grab a pencil and paper, then scan the QR code to access the game webpage. You’ll use it to enter puzzle solutions, access reference guides and hints, and track your progress. When you’re ready, click Start to begin the timer.

Gameplay

If you’re not familiar with the Holiday Hijinks series, each is an 18-card escape-room experience. Flip over the top card of the deck to begin the first puzzle.

Many cards include narrative clues that help with each puzzle while also advancing the game’s short storyline. When you see a magnifying glass icon on a card, you’ll need to enter the solution into the website.

Tap Enter Answer, type your guess, and submit it. If correct, you’ll receive additional narrative and instructions to draw cards. If incorrect, you can use hints to help solve the puzzle.

Continue working through the deck, solving puzzles until you’ve completed the final one. The web app gives you a star rating at the end, based on your time and the hints you used.

Hint System

If you get stuck, the hint system offers progressively detailed guidance to help you solve the puzzle. It may point you toward relevant reference information or offer advice on how a particular puzzle works. If you need more help than that, it offers extra explanations, often with images, to guide you to the solution.

Impressions

The Pride Pursuit is another great entry to the 18Escape series from Grand Gamers Guild. As always, their theme aligns well with the puzzles. Nothing seemed way out of place or generic: as you play, you complete tasks to get ready for a pride parade.

The game’s artwork is excellent, and the puzzles are easy to read, even for older eyes. We’d played several Holiday Hijinks titles before The Pride Pursuit, so we knew what to expect. But if you’re new, the instructions and first card will guide you.

As with any escape room game, look for clues in the art and the text. Turn cards around and try combining them with others to paint a full picture. Think outside the box, and remember that the backs of cards often contain clues too.

The game indicates a 1 out of 3 difficulty rating, but I think it leans closer to a 2. One puzzle really tripped us up due to unclear directions, and we had to use all the hints to get through it.

The remaining puzzles flowed more smoothly, though they still demanded close attention to detail and solid logical thinking. That’s fairly typical for this style of game: we’ve encountered similar moments in Unlock! and Exit titles. It’s very rewarding when a puzzle finally clicks and you’re able to move forward.

Fun For Most Families

Holiday Hijinks #16: The Pride Pursuit is a great way to spend time together at the table with family and friends. The cooperative nature of the games keeps everyone engaged. There’s a puzzle for everyone, and some players will excel at different ones. Everyone can contribute at different stages. Having played other 18Escape games before, I already had insight into references the webpage uses, such as common codes and ciphers.

The Pride Pursuit works best as a solo game or with a small group: I’d recommend no more than four players. Since the puzzles are linear, each clue card must be shared. With a smaller group, everyone can sit close together, see the cards, and collaborate without constantly passing them around. As you add more players, the extra card handling slows the game down.

The 14+ age recommendation feels appropriate. Like others in the series, The Pride Pursuit includes challenging logic puzzles, though the hint system keeps them accessible. It requires strong reasoning and reading skills, and even the smartest adults I’ve played with found the puzzles tough.

Younger players may find it complex, but they can stay engaged by recording answers, using the web app, or helping distribute clues.

The Pride Pursuit is family-friendly, with no mature themes. While many games in the escape room genre center on crime-solving with heavier storylines, Holiday Hijinks always keeps things light.

Prideful Thoughts

I’ve played many escape-room-in-a-box games over the years, often with 50–75 cards for a one-hour experience. What stands out here is that Grand Gamers Guild delivers that same hour of gameplay with just 18 cards. Despite the smaller deck, it still feels just as rewarding – and less stressful!

The companion app likely helps by handling hints and answers, cutting down on the need for extra cards.

Like other games in the Holiday Hijinks series, Pride Pursuit is fully reusable—no cards are destroyed during play. Pro tip: sleeve the cards and use dry-erase markers to make solving puzzles easier.

Celebrate Pride year round with your crew with this fun 18-card escape room experience. Pick up a copy from your friendly local game store or from Grand Gamers Guild.

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The Family Gamers received a copy of The Pride Pursuit from Grand Gamers Guild for this review.