Monthly Archives: September 2021

Wizards Against Lizards Online | Review

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Wizards Against Lizards Review | You are invited to join the Wizards Against Lizards Remote Intelligence Agency. Teams of WALRIA agents are working together online to investigate, infiltrate and finally defeat the Annunaki Menace! You are welcome to join WALRIA as a passive observer but your team will require at least one active agent, as there are mysteries to be solved, and challenges to be met.

Date Played: 23rd August 2021
Number of Players: 13
Difficulty: Easy
Time Taken: 1hr 45 minutes

I absolutely love finishing an immersive experience and thinking “Woah, what the heck was that?!”

You know the ones I mean… Those once in a lifetime experiences that are met with blank expressions from your friends after you confusingly try to explain them the following day.

“Well err, you know how so many world leaders are actually Lizards hell bent on human suffering, well last Saturday I teamed up with some Wizards on Zoom and we basically infiltrated the Lizard HQ and…”

Okay so maybe it’s better I let the trailer do the talking:

I couldn’t wait to play the cult classic Wizards Against Lizards after picking up a Play Pass at RECON 2021. As part of the fun of the annual Room Escape Convention, there’s an optional Play Pass upgrade which gives you access to a number of live escape room events. Honestly, it was worth it for Wizards Against Lizards alone and I’ve still got heaps more games to play on the Play Pass!

Absurdist, Surreal, Immersive Theatre… On Zoom!

How to describe Wizards Against Lizards? It’s totally bizarre. In a good way. For sure it’s not your typical escape room game, but in amongst the conspiracy theory fun are plenty of puzzles to keep you on your toes. There’s also one theatrical sequence that is very close to an escape room at heart, making it a pretty well balanced game for all audiences.

The story goes that you join the ancient secret wizard organisation WALRIA (Wizards Against Lizards Remote Intelligence Agency) to go up against an equally ancient, but very evil lizard enemy: The Annunaki! Since you yourself are not a wizard (awwww), you’re able to successfully go where wizards cannot and infiltrate their top secret organisation. The first plan of order, pitch a brilliant business idea to one of the lizard leaders and get them on your side. Once you’re in, stop the sacrifice!

Sounds simple? Well, not so fast. Our team ended up with a little more danger than we bargained for – but a no less hilarious and fantastic experience nonetheless.

Our Wizard guides Mildred and Leanne

How to Stop the Lizard People

To stop the lizard people, you have three easy tasks:

  1. Complete your training
  2. Infiltrate the lizards
  3. Stop the sacrifice!

In terms of how the game plays out, it’s all drive via a series of actors (shout out to our host Leanne) on Zoom. The game requires a lot of active audience participation – so many not be the best for a smaller team who prefer to keep quiet. Have at least one person on the team who loves improvising, or some Dutch Courage to help. You never know when being able to talk yourself out of a stick situation with the lizards will come in handy!

In terms of puzzles, hardcore enthusiasts probably won’t be challenged by the game. There are a few very puzzle-y moments in the story but they’re there to serve the narrative and won’t take too long to crack. With the exception of one part that felt very close to a remote avatar escape room, largely players can expect to scour documents and read source material in search of clues.

I particularly enjoyed the moment where we took to Google Maps to discover something new. There’s also one meaty logic puzzle that our sub-team didn’t quite crack in time, but overall nothing too challenging!

The real Fun Factor to Wizards Against Lizards isn’t the puzzles, but it’s those moments of brilliant improvisation and how the actors react to what you say! Early in the game your team needs to come up with a suitably lizard-y pitch to get you in their good books. We got to think of the worst possible business idea, create a presentation, and then pitch it on the fly. Hilarious!

Wizard Training: Perform our best “Lizard Awkward Waving” impression…

The Verdict

Wizards Against Lizards is such a hidden gem and an all round hit escape room experience that’ll go down as a cult classic for sure. What started as a real life adventure played in and around the UK can now be played online via Zoom and the world is a lot better off for it.

It plays on pop culture with just a dash of light-hearted conspiracy theory to create a surreal romp around the lizard world, hosted by several fantastic wizards (and one sinister lizard).

We’ve decided to award it the Badge of Honour (right) for ticking so many boxes and is an absolute “must play” while you still can!

Wizards Against Lizards can be booked directly on their website here.

Ratings

Colour Zen | Review

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Colour Zen Review | A new kind of puzzle game. One that invites you to put on your headphones, relax, and find your way through an abstract world of colours and shapes.

Developer: Large Animal 
Console Played On: Nintendo Switch 
Number Of Players: 1 
Touchscreen Compatible: Yes 

Would you like to chill whilst being challenged? Check ✅

Do you like trip-hop music? Check ✅

Do you like touchscreen controls that give you a sense of power? Check ✅

Well if so, this puzzle game might just be for you. 

“Russ, Have You Seen This?”

I came across this game from an article my wife sent me, on Switch games that were currently free (or freemium). Most were action/FPS-based, however this one stood out for me. Curious to know more, I downloaded it and tried my hand at solving Colour Zen’s puzzles. 

Relax and Immerse Yourself 

You’re probably wondering why I’m reviewing this game. One, its 8 years old and two, it’s freemium (initially free, but then can incur potential costs when the player is drawn in). That out of the way, if you haven’t played this before it might be worth a visit, particularly when mindfulness is a large tool for functioning well as a human being. 

There is no story or narrative, it is purely a vehicle of 120 puzzles to solve, using the game’s rules which ultimately revolve around; combine matching colours to fill the screen. To progress, your final move must fill the screen with the same colour that the boarder is. There are a couple of variances that come into play as you progress but on the whole it is deceptively simple. Of course, it is far from that. 

Simple But Effective

The visuals are simple, but they are attractive and the filling of the screen of differing colours are pleasing for the player to witness. They serve the game’s greater purpose very well; to create a relaxing environment whilst your brain is being challenged. Additionally, the music; another simple, implemented concept, has this major trip-hop vibe which again, fits the overall concept highly appropriately. It’s the kind of soundtrack that I would be looking for on Spotify to listen to whilst at work, or just before I go to sleep. 

Amazingly, with all these (minimalistic) parts coming together, there were many times that I lost myself in the game, becoming fully immersed. Not immersed in a conventional escape room sense, but more so that I forgot everything else around me whilst I was fixated on the challenges presented. Again, considering the game’s mantra of mindfulness, it’s a great triumph.  

Swiping Never Felt So Good 

Colour Zen is primarily suited to touchscreen consoles ie: Switch and Mobile. There are non-touchscreen options for the Switch but they are not finely tuned and do not present any options for differentiation. That being said, I’m certain everyone would choose to go touchscreen, given the choice. The touchscreen controls are in a word, majestic. The flicking motion to manipulate the coloured shapes on screen; simple but oh-so effective. It’s certainly one of the many factors that draws you into the overall immersion. 

 

Colour Me Puzzled! 

The puzzles are not overly innovative past the core game loop and they do not present any large amount of variance. What they do offer however, is a puzzle-set with a steady learning curve, and something that is balancing on the verge of challenging without being frustrating, which again, fits the objective of Colour Zen appropriately.  

There is no hints system, however you can skip a puzzle if it’s too difficult to solve. The first two skips are free, however from then on, any further ones do incur a financial cost. That aside, there are plenty of video walkthroughs online to bypass this cost. 

A Controversial Or Smart Decision On Price? 

So as previously mentioned, the download of the main game is free and presents 120 puzzles. There is a cost to skip levels if stuck, however as said before, video tutorials exist to quash this. They cost 89p for 3 in case you wish to do it old-school. 

If your appetite goes further than the 120 puzzles presented, you can purchase one of their many other Colour Zen puzzle bundles, that can be bought for 89p each. 

Aside from the freemium stigma, I feel that with the bypassing method as a remedy towards paying for level skips, this can be a very cost-effective method of getting your puzzle fix in. 

For A Shape-Thrower Or A Shapeshifter? 

Because of its easy-to-pick-up-difficult-to-master style gameplay and lack of price, this game is suitable for practically everyone. For children however, I’d advise adults to block any form of auto-payment, to prevent unwanted purchases. 

Rating 

This is a game that is simple but effective. Yes, it’s freemium, but it’s easy to look past that; based on what is actually offered for free. If you are looking for a cost-effective game that promotes a simultaneous cocktail of challenge and mindfulness, then get it on your download list. 

Color Zen can be downloaded here.

Wild Hare Escapes: Legend of the Labyrinth | Review

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The Legend of the Labyrinth Review | Some may have heard the legend of Theseus—the brave warrior who entered King Minos’ labyrinth, found his way to the vicious Minotaur, fought and killed the creature, and then emerged from the maze victorious… ​Baloney. The guy just has a killer press agent!

In reality, Theseus (a close personal friend of yours), has always been a total screw-up. One night recently he got hammered and volunteered to go into the labyrinth to kill the Minotaur. Classic Theseus.

Date Played: 20th September 2021
Number of Players: 4
Difficulty: Medium
Time Taken: 43 minutes

An escape room tournament based on the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur… AND there’s a prize for the fastest escapist? Don’t mind if I do!

Actually, in honesty I picked up Legend of the Labyrinth with two colleagues after being very intrigued about how they’d used their online gaming platform – Telescape. Rather than the traditional point-and-click, or 360 degree views of real life rooms, Wild Hare Escapes have quite literally built out the whole Minotaur’s labyrinth for you and your team to explore.

It’s got stylised graphics, clever puzzles, and buckets of humour. It’s their fourth game of this time, and an all round brilliant and unique play-at-home experience!

Theseus’s Story so Far

Legend of the Labyrinth is a modern retelling of the classic Greek myth. It takes the legend of Theseus – a brave warrior who journeyed to the centre of the labyrinth to kill the Minotaur. The problem is, this legend isn’t strictly true. Theseus is your friend and he’s just gone in there to drink with his girlfriend and got lost along the way. Its up to you to journey into the maze after him and rescue him.

If you come across the Minotaur while you’re in there, well you’ll just have to deal with it as best you can! But the Minotaur isn’t the only thing to worry about. In our game we also encountered nymphs and cyclopses and all manner of familiar faces from the legends.

To navigate (and escape) the maze, you’re armed with only your wits… And of course anything you manage to find along the way too!

How to Escape the Labyrinth

The puzzles in Legend of the Labyrinth are varied and unique! For starters, you need to first navigate the maze itself! I counted at least three separate areas of maze, each hidden door unlocking a whole new area to explore (and get lost into). Telescape is very handy in that it allows you to see the mouse pointers of your team mates. However, in Legend of the Labyrinth you’re encouraged (and will need to at some points) split up and look at different areas. Being spatially aware and about help your team mates navigate to your position after finding something exciting is the first part of the puzzle!

In the live environment, the whole game could probably be solved by one player – but there are clear moments when two or three players at different points in the map are more helpful than not. After all, team work makes the dream work.

There are also fun moments where different players need to be in different locations at once, working simultaneously to solve riddles, or logic puzzles, and so on. It also helps to keep an open mind and click everything – you’ll never know when it’ll be interactable! And if nothing else, clicking everything reveals the humour!

I mean, I definitely clicked on a statue’s butt because the caption made me laugh about 30 times

*cough cough*

Where there’s a labyrinth, there’s a Minotaur!

As a whole, journeying through Wild Hare Escapes’ labyrinth was a joy! It’s a very funny game and packed with fun puzzles and moments. Our team of three would often spend a long time looking for a certain item, expecting one outcome – only to have the game turn it on it’s head with a very humourous twist.

At launch, Wild Hare Escapes announced a competition to win an exciting $300 USD to the fastest team to escape. In September this team was announced as Burning Prospects. Kiss Babies came in second place and took home $100. It’s a really cool touch, I just lament playing a few days too late to take part in the competition!

The icing on the cake of an already great game however had to be the illustrations! There’s this distinctive style that’s a cross between hand illustrated drawings, photographs, and video game 3D renders. Added together lends an iconic style to the Legend of the Labyrinth game.

The Verdict

Overall, great fun! It’s a light-hearted retelling of a classic Greek legend, through the medium of an hour long point-and-click adventure. For the best experience, play with at least a team of 3.

The Legend of the Labyrinth can be booked on Wild Hare Escapes’ website here.

Hourglass Escapes: Evil Dead 2™ Dead by Dawn Official Remote Escape | Review

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Evil Dead 2™ Dead by Dawn Escape Room Review | Seems your leader decided to break into the old Knowby cabin and can’t escape…You and your team must guide him via his ghost gear technology through this misadventure so he can escape and find a way return the evil dead to their realm and escape before the cabin is sucked into the time-space vortex forever.

Date Played: 19th September 2021
Number of Players: 4
Difficulty: Medium
Time Taken: 55 minutes

The nights are getting longer and there’s a definite chill in the air… You know what that means? Spooky season is almost upon us! 💀

I’ve had Evil Dead 2™ Dead by Dawn: Official Escape Room on my to-play list since way back in Spring. But somehow playing a game based on one of the most iconic horror movie franchises in the world didn’t feel right on the eve of summer. So here we are, kicking off the beginning of autumn as we mean to go on: playing a brilliantly chilling game!

Evil Dead 2™ Dead by Dawn Official Escape Room is real life room converted into a remote avatar hosted escape room by the creative geniuses at Hourglass Escapes. One of the common threads in other reviews of the two versions are along the lines of “this was amazing but it would have been even better played in person”. Honestly? I agree! But since we’re not likely to visit the United States any time soon (thanks global panini!), playing wonderful escape rooms from all corners of the globe via Zoom is the next best thing.

The Story of Evil Dead 2™ Dead by Dawn

It is highly recommended you watch the film(s) before playing this escape room! Don’t get me wrong, it absolutely can be played as a standalone spooky experience, but you’ll get so much more out of the experience – such as spotting all the brilliant Easter Eggs – if you watch the film first.

No time? No worries! Here’s a 5 minute version to catch you up:

Unfortunately none of us had watched the films beforehand (heyy, I’m no good with horror!), but this didn’t hinder our enjoyment of the experience in the slightest. Our host, Seth, was kind enough to give us the full run-through of every hidden detail after the game. It’s evident a lot of love and care has done into making Evil Dead 2™ Dead by Dawn Live Escape Room as true to the original film as possible. Speaking of the story…

Way back in 1987, Ash Williams and his girlfriend visited an abandoned cabin and accidentally summoned a troupe of Kandarian demons (of course!). After one of them swallowed the soul of his girlfriend, Ash went to awesome lengths to defeat the demons using the Book of the Dead. Unfortunately this obliterated the whole cabin and himself…

…Until now! The cabin mysteriously resurfaces in Hourglass Escapes. It’s up to you to help Ash get home. Remotely. Via Zoom of course. It’s Shemp, our funny yet slightly clueless ghost-busting host, doing all the heavy lifting.

Image (c) Hourglass Escapes

Welcome to the Gnostic Research of the Occult, Omens, Vampires, and Yetis… GROOVY!

To get ready to play the Evil Dead 2™ Dead by Dawn live game, you first need to get into character. Yep, just like in The Rise of the Mad Pharaoh, your booking email will contain a link to some character sheets for you and your team. It’s up to you to decide who you’d like to play as, get all dressed up, and perhaps even mix a cocktail or two (yep, your handy pre-game cheat sheet also has some recipes and drinking games to play).

For this challenge, we went as the following:

The Kandarian Historian – Played by Grace, the Kandarian Historian has discovered some information on the Cult of Kandar in her most recent archaeological dig. However she was contacted by G.R.O.O.V.Y. Ghost Hunting company to deal with some Kandarian demons before she could take her research further.

The Psychic – All week the cards were telling me (Mairi) about a foreboding future of hellfire and undeath- but tbh, when aren’t they?! This morning I felt a chilling shift in the integrity of the veil between the worlds. Being a certified medium, of course I followed the trail and discovered a team of ghost hunters.

The Skeptic – Whilst bored at work, Nick found himself scrolling through Craigslist. One day he discovered a job posting that claimed to guarantee interaction with the paranormal. “This ought to be good for a laugh”, Nick thought!

The Ghost Hunter – It’s been three weeks since Rebecca informed everyone online whom they should call if there are preternatural happenings within their community, and yet the business’ phone has never left the proverbial hook. After investigating, Rebecca realised she was being outshined by G.R.O.O.V.Y. ghost hunting company… But hey, they are hiring!

There were two further roles that were available, but since we played as a team of 4 we left them un-claimed: The Detective and The Realtor. Whilst there are 6 characters available, it’s worth knowing that you do not need to play with a party of 6. The benefits each character gets (such as specialist equipment) will actually all be handled by your trusty host, Shemp. So really, these are just for fun!

An Escape Room for Halloween

In terms of scenery, no attention to detail has been spared in the construction of this room. It takes place over several large spaces, closely mirroring (though slightly smaller) the original cabin from the movies. I counted at least 4 unique spaces, and that’s not even including puzzles hidden inside walls, beneath floorboards and so on! Impressive all round!

Since the game unfolds in a non-linear way (meaning any puzzle can be solved in any order), you’ve ample time to explore your surroundings. Supporting the live avatar in Zoom is a simple online interface that allows you to take a closer look at any object. When our avatar found something of interest, he instructed us to input a code, allowing us to view (or manipulate) the object further.

It’s fairly clear the game has been built for a real life audience – so if you ever get the chance to visit in person, you absolutely should! However it’s been converted well for the at-home audience. The more tactile puzzles have largely been simplified to make sense in the virtual world, and any jump scares were slightly numbed by playing the game over Zoom. Despite the changes, it’s still a brilliantly immersive experience and a must-play for any Evil Dead fans.

Photo (c) Hourglass Escapes

The Verdict

It’s a real stand out in the escape room world! With October just around the corner, I expect this one to book out quickly – so if you’re planning on a spooky night in with friends from afar, definitely include the Evil Dead 2™ Dead by Dawn room in your plans and book early to avoid disappointment!

We escapes with around 15 minutes left on the clock and no hints used – though our host’s gentle nudges were greatly appreciated!

If you’re not a fan of horror, check out Hourglass Escape’s Rise of the Mad Pharaoh, or The Navigators and the Call From Beyond games instead.

The Evil Dead 2™ Dead by Dawn Official Remote Escape Room can be booked directly from Hourglass Escape’s website here.

Ratings

Escape Hunt: Escape the Wild West | Review

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Escape Hunt: Escape the Wild West Review | You’ve struck gold but word got out and now the vultures are circling. Step into the Wild West, where the tiny frontier town of East Victoria is celebrating the discovery of gold.But the celebrations turn sour when news arrives that the bloodthirsty Bill French Gang are on their way to claim the gold – and kill everyone in East Victoria for good measure!

With no sheriff around and no cavalry riding to the rescue your only hope is a rusty old locomotive that hasn’t worked in years – but with just one hour to get it going and escape with your lives, you need to think fast and work even faster.

There isn’t a second to lose.

Completion Time: 53:21
Date Played: October 2019
Party Size: 3
Difficulty: Easier

Once upon a time, if you can believe it, the thought of going into a global pandemic was unimaginable! It is back to these innocent days I’m casting my mind to, in order to write about Escape Hunt’s Escape the Wild West. A day trip to Oxford in October 2019 with two colleagues and we were off to try out the Oxford equivalent of Operation Mindfall, the escape room The Fourth Samurai and to round off a perfect day – Escape the Wild West too.

Finding Escape Hunt Oxford

Whilst Escape the Wild West is available at many of the Escape Hunt sites across the UK, we chose to play at Escape Hunt Oxford due to it’s convenience from London – just a short train trip away, and an even shorter walk up from the station. Escape Hunt Oxford is located within the Westgate shopping centre and surrounded by delicious restaurants and things to see and do.

A Classic Non-Linear Escape Room

On the day of the escape, I felt a little unwell (hey, probably ate too much for lunch! In any case, not recommended!), but the non-linear nature of the escape room meant that I could take a little bit of a step back and root around for clues in amongst the cowboy memorabilia whilst the meatier puzzles were solved by my team mates! We took on this whirlwind wild west adventure in a team of 3 puzzlers with varying escape room experiences under our belt.

Essentially, your goal is to escape on a steam locomotive! However, along the way you’ll find plenty of hidden gold bars. You can collect these as you go for an even more spectacular escape, or you could flee the scene of the crime with nothing at all. Collecting gold bars comes with a price however. The more gold bars you collect, the heavier the train is and the more coal is needed.

In short – its a delicate balancing act, and how you choose to escape is up to you! If you find yourself with too much gold and aren’t able to power your train, you can always throw them out. This means the escape rate, practically speaking, must be very high. Thankfully we found 100% of the gold bars, and 100% of the coal to fuel our train. All in a days work for these cowboys, eh?

Photo (c) Escape Hunt

Welcome to the Wild West

One of the room’s most redeeming features is how well it’s been themed! Escape hunt’s rooms are nothing if not well themed to their genres, and Escape the Wild West is no exception with it’s 3-room space. First players must break into the station, and finally must break onto an old rusty locomotive.

Yes, you heard that correctly! There’s a whole train in this escape room that from the very first moment you look at it, you can’t help but want to beak into it.

I’m not familiar with what the actual Wild West is like, but I reckon it’s a lot like this. There are barrels and boxes scattered everywhere, and of course a lasso and several cowboy hats hanging on the walls. With real wood walls, it felt authentic. Musty and full of life and tension.

Plenty of Padlocks to Keep the Gold Locked Up!

In terms of puzzles, Escape the Wild West involved a lot of padlocks. This is not common for Escape Hunt games, which largely involve more outside the box puzzle solving and remote GM activation. But the number worked really well in the Wild West setting. I mean, why wouldn’t the Bill French gang have locked up their gold behind padlocks? I believe it.

Besides the padlocks, there’s a range of fun puzzles to do and they can be done in any order. These include some physical dexterity puzzles, some switchboard puzzles, and one slightly frustrating logic puzzle inside the train, the solution trigger for which needs to be triggered by the GM. But overall, each puzzle made sense within the Wild West. Nothing felt too contrived, and there was a good mix of things that each member of the team could work on separately or collaboratively!

Photo (c) Escape Hunt

The Verdict

At the time of writing, I’ve played every one of Escape Hunt’s escape rooms and I can safely say that Escape the Wild West is my favourite, followed by Blackbeard’s Treasure. If you’re looking for a family friendly day out and are in one of the many cities Escape Hunt is located in, Escape the Wild West is worth checking out.

Finally, a shout out to our Games Master Chris who provided a fantastic American accent to get us into the theme of the game up front. Yeeehaw!

You can book Escape the Wild West at a number of Escape Hunt venues.

Ratings

Tickets for Swamp Motel’s “The Drop” Go on Sale Today!

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‘He who has one enemy shall meet him everywhere’.

Omar Khayyam, The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám

A past betrayal. A sunken fortune. And one moment that changes everything. Tickets for Swamp Motel’s new immersive experience “The Drop” are set to go live September 24th at 10am.

Following on from the success of the Isklander Trilogy (an online multiplayer mystery made of three hour long specials including Plymouth Point, The Mermaid’s Tongue, and Kindling Hour), Swamp Motel have announced that this November will mark the start of a whole new immersive experience in the heart of London. The Drop is their most ambitious production to date and will blur the lines between fantasy and reality as teams of up to 4 explore a hidden world.

It’s an ambitious and elaborate production that explores the rich history and tale of tragedy surrounding one of the world’s most famous texts, The Great Omar. Like all our work, audiences will be right at the centre of the story, a story we hope will leave them questioning what was real and what wasn’t long after they leave.

Creators Clem Garritty and Ollie Jones

The story goes that in 1912 two London bookbinders created a luxurious jewelled binding for “The Great Omar”. It was shipped off to a buyer in New York but suffered a great tragedy aboard the HMS Titanic along the way, sinking to a watery grave. Until now, the secrets disappeared with it.

Not much more is known about what players can expect in The Drop except that it is based on a tale of The Great Omar. One thing is for sure, we can expect the unexpected!

Home

Tickets for The Drop will go on sales at 10am on Friday 24th September 2021. The show will run from November 13 to December 31. Prices will start at £39.95 per person. Each experience will last 40 minutes for teams between 2 – 4.

https://thedropexperience.co.uk/

Hysteria Escape Rooms: Advent Avenue | Review

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A life-size advent calendar for all the family, 24 puzzle doors and windows to open, can you help save ADVENT AVENUE?

Completion Time: 60 minutes
Date Played: 2019
Party Size: 3
Difficulty: Medium

Hysteria Escape Rooms based in Rochester is a small, yet perfectly formed escape room location. Based between Rochester and Chatham, the exterior of the building with its blacked out windows and dark paint work, sets the scene for the adventure that is about to follow. 

Opening the door, you are met with a warm welcome with a small, yet practical reception area with comfortable seating, toilets and a handful of lockers. 

All games commence with a briefing from a member of the team, who are very clearly passionate about their customer service and the experience that is about to begin.

The entrance doors to all rooms are within the reception area – particularly impressive here, is the fact that even the entrances to each of the rooms have also been lovingly decorated to give you a taste of what to expect inside. These also provide for a good photo opportunity after your escape, without giving any hint of a spoiler. 

ADVENT AVENUE​

Feeling the need for a little Christmas cheer?! Doing this room in the middle of February might not be everyones idea of fun, however this room really hits all the right spots when it comes to seasonal entertainment! In terms of story line, the magic of Christmas has been lost and releasing the magic held only in Advent Avenue will send magic around the world! 

Walking through the door of this room, hits you with overwhelming festive cheer. The theme is brilliant and although clearly evident of what tasks lie ahead of you, this non-linear room can send you down multiple different avenues! (pun intended). Festive music, snow, robins, presents, candy canes, gingerbread men. You name it, its inside! For what is a small play area, the volume of puzzles contained within the room is phenomenal. Every puzzle is strong and varied, and a few puzzles we certainly hadn’t seen before. Most puzzles were relatively easy to appreciate with a couple that had some well placed curve balls. Im a big fan of more physical challenges within a room and this room has some really good ones. 

The room is highly entertaining and you wont stop smiling from beginning to end (even when you are hit with a few slightly more frustrating puzzles!). All in all, this is a great room, with brilliant use of space, masses of puzzles and a real sense of enjoyment. This is guaranteed to be an experience you wont forget – particularly the room finale which is a great addition, rarely seen at other escape rooms. 

Would I recommend this room?

Yes. Brilliant room. Great theme which is different to any other “seasonal” room, which are often too similar in nature

Who would I recommend it to? 

Beginners and experienced player alike would all love it.

How many players would I recommend?

I would recommend this to be a 4 player game for optimum game play. 

Suitable for Children?

Yes. From around age 6 would love the theme, however some of the puzzles would not suit that age range so I would suggest from age 8/9 would really enjoy this. 

Unfortunately Advent Avenue has now retired, but you can check out and support Hysteria Escape Rooms here.

Ratings

Nauticrawl: 20,000 Atmospheres makes it’s debut on iOS Today

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In a grasp for salvation with sentinels closing in, you’ve stolen a Nauticrawl. You check the radar, turn a few knobs, press some buttons… then you realize: ​​ I don’t know how to move this hunk of metal...

It’s an exciting day for iOS users, as the critically-acclaimed escape room game Nauticrawl launches it’s puzzle adventure on the App Store today! Your mobile mission, if you choose to accept it, is to steal a mech and escape the strange planet… Or die trying!

Join, Try, Die, Repeat

It’s a fairly familiar situation for anyone who has started a new job with a whole new piece of tech or software to learn… In Nauticrawl, players find themselves on a hostile planet desperate for escape. They steal a Nauticrawl mech, but quickly realise they have no idea how to pilot it.

What unfolds is a puzzle game designed around experimentation: what happens if you pull this lever? How about pushing this button? Or perhaps twisting these dials to a specific combination? Set in an eerie, steampunk world, players must grasp the alien tech and successfully engineer an escape like no other.

Nauticrawl is designed by Italian game designer Andrea Interguglielmi, best known for adventure games for the GameBoy Color, and as a Hollywood effects artist, and it is published by Armor Games Studio. As such, Nauticrawl is a veritable feasts for the eyes!

“I’m super excited to be releasing Nauticrawl on iOS, it’s a journey that lends itself well to bite sized sessions of trial and error. I sincerely hope mobile gamers will enjoy experimenting with all the tactile controls and gauges scattered around the mysterious cockpit.“

Andrea Interguglielmi

Whilst we’re still puzzling our way through the VR version of the game, A Rogue Escape, this afternoon players across the world will be able to pick up Nauticrawl: 20,000 Atmospheres on iOS from the App Store for $4.99 / £4.99 / €5.49.

Don’t miss out!

Manifold Garden | Review

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Manifold Garden Review | Rediscover gravity and explore an Escher-esque world of impossible architecture. Witness infinity in first-person and master its rules to solve physics-defying puzzles. Cultivate a garden to open new paths forward, where an eternal expanse awaits. 

Developer: William Chyr Studio 
Console Played On: Steam 
Number Of Players: 1 

Do you like optical illusions? Check ✅

Would you like to manipulate gravity? Check ✅

Do the thought of digital trees, pique your interest? Check ✅

Well if so, this puzzle game might just be for you. 

Rediscover Gravity 

What is Manifold Garden about? It involves a nameless, voiceless first-person character attempting to cultivate a visually-inspiring garden through the power of mastering puzzles that defy and manipulate gravity. If like me however, you didn’t look at any blurbs and dove straight into the game; I wouldn’t criticise you for not being able to answer that question. 

The game straight-up, throws you into the fray with only some on-screen control pointers to assist you. Looking around, the first thing that comes to mind, is the art direction is simply wonderful. Heavily inspired by the artist M.C.Escher, it’s an absolute feast for the eyes and brain.    

Witness Infinity

The music is minimalistic yet fits the tone perfectly. It is a well-balanced blend of calmness and tension; which reflects the overarching ebb and flow of the gameplay progression.  

Whilst, the theming and visuals work together hand-in-hand, I was not all that immersed; I very much felt like I was in an art gallery, looking at pieces from the outside. I never imagined myself inside the environment. This is highly likely because there is ultimately no story or characters to bring the player into becoming fully immersed. I was constantly nodding my head at and buying into what I saw, but I was always conscious that it was me doing so. 

Explore Impossible Geometry

The controls work splendidly. On steam, players have full choice between using a keyboard and mouse combination or using their gaming pad of choice. The full customisations of button mapping and sensitivity controls are present to suit all player types. No complaints in this department whatsoever. 

Cultivate A Garden 

The puzzles are incredibly clever, especially when gravity is a primary factor in the mechanics. That aside, it needs to be said that Manifold Garden has only one major core game loop; you manipulate gravity to solve puzzles and progress further. The depth of the core game loop ie: the variance and freshness is certainly there, however many escape room fans might tire of the repetition.  

There is no explicit hints system, however the game does have one tool from the beginning that is a constant hint in itself; the dot/cross-hair in the middle of your screen changes colour based on certain aspects! It took me longer than I care to admit to realise this (at first, I was all “ooooh pretty colour change!”), but it is an integral part towards gameplay success. This alone however, is not always enough to prevent players from getting well and truly lost. Despite this, there are plenty of sectioned walkthroughs online, to navigate from any potential spoilers. 

An External Expanse Awaits 

The price point, is around the £16 mark for all consoles. Manifold Garden will keep players busy for around 5-10 hours based on a single playthrough. There is some opportunity for replay; less so for the puzzles, but more to revisit the stunning visuals. 

As always, because it is an indie games company, I feel the amount of content presented, justifies the price tag.   

For The Growing Seed Or The Established Tree? 

Fair warning; this game requires a fair amount of lateral thinking. The learning curve however, is well implemented; the difficulty increases on a fair and well-realised gradient over the course of the gameplay lifespan. 

I got caught by my wife on one or two occasions exclaiming “ooooooooooooooooh!” whilst wearing headphones, as I managed to solve certain puzzles presented that were particularly tricky. There are many opportunities here for headspace payoff and reward.  

Ratings

Apparently, this game took 7 years to develop. Now here, it is an aesthetic feast for the eyes. Aside from that, as long as you have the patience for it, there is a solid collection of puzzle set pieces that will be greatly enjoyed. If you are looking for a game with painstaking and breath-taking artistic direction, then look no further than Manifold Garden. 

If you want to purchase Manifold Garden on your platform of choice, head to their website here.

Meet Grace O’Keefe, our newest writer in London!

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We are absolutely delighted to announce that Grace O’Keefe has joined our team as our new writer in London, UK!

Grace hails from Baltimore, in the USA but finds herself writing, directing, acting and teaching over this side of the pond! You may know her as one half of the production company, The Queens of Cups, one of the organisers of the New Moon Monologues, or as the director of Saturn’s Return and Bad Teacher, coming soon to the Edinburgh Fringe!

Her favourite board game is Mysterium (*high fives from all the team*), and as a lifelong immersive theatre fan, we’re sure that Grace will fit right in at The Escape Roomer! Grace will be focused on reviewing all the fantastic escape room and immersive theatre events in London, as well as at-home puzzle games!

I know you’ll make Grace feel very welcome, and we’re all so excited to share more on Grace’s escapades in the near future!

Without further adieu, here’s Grace to introduce herself!

Introduce Yourself!

Hello! I’m Grace, I’m a theatremaker, TV addict, and self-proclaimed astrology expert originally hailing from the US. I currently live in London where I work as the Head of Community and Theatre at Greenlit, a UK-based crowdfunding platform designed by and for creatives.

Escape Rooms, Board Games, Immersive Theatre… What’s your poison?

I think as a theatre nerd, I have no choice but to say Immersive Theatre, but I like to dabble.

When you’re not doing Immersive Theatre, how do you spend your free time?

Watching and making theatre, unsurprisingly, does take up a lot of my time, BUT I also frequently indulge in trashy reality TV and an endless stream of YouTube videos on topics ranging from witchcraft tips to the Sims. I also love food and cooking and used to have quite the reputation for throwing parties with themed menus.

What are some of the most memorable immersive experiences you’ve had here in the UK?

The one that sticks in my mind was C-O-N-T-A-C-T, which was an outdoor immersive theatre piece that involved you following two actors around central London with dialogue happening in your headphones. It was the first theatre piece I saw after the first lockdown, and I loved seeing how theatre could be innovated in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges.

What are you most excited for, now that the world is reopening?

I really miss meeting new people and exploring new places! Also, it would be great if it were easier to see my family (that probably should have come first).

If you were given a blank cheque to create your dream immersive experience, what would it be like?

I really want to figure out a way to do an immersive musical. One that I think could be really interesting is Once Upon A Mattress, a retelling of The Princess and the Pea from 1959 with music from Mary Rodgers (really rare to have a female composer on a Broadway Musical) that is way ahead of its time. It features a loud, moat-swimming princess, a HBIC Queen, and a knocked-up ingenue, and it’s just buckets of fun. The structure of the show sets it up really well to allow the audience to become part of the court and I would love to give the musical (and Mary Rodgers) the credit it deserves.

Once Upon a Mattress (1958)

A huge shout out once again to Grace O’Keefe! You can keep up with Grace’s on Instagram, Twitter or at graceokeefe.com. Read Grace’s reviews and articles here.