The infamous Professor James Moriarty has finally been detained by none other than Detective Sherlock Holmes. Whilst Moriarty was being detained, the evidence linking him to his crimes – his revolver – disappeared. Sherlock believes it to be hidden in Moriarty’s office.
Rating: Fun
Completion Time: 25:45
Date Played: 13th December 2020
Party Size: 6
Recommended For: Beginners
Moriarty: The Last Stand by Escape Live was a classic Zoom escape room. An avatar, a room, and a series of puzzles to solve with a clear ‘end goal’ in sight. In the case of this game – you’re looking for evidence to link the dastardly Moriarty to a series of crimes: A revolver!
The room is a re-imagining of Escape Live’s real life escape room Dr. Wilson’s office. Whilst it’s set in the same location, the puzzles differ quite a lot – so definitely replayable if you’ve already given the real life escape room a go.
First, you enter the Zoom room and are greeted by an enthusiastic and enigmatic escape room host. In our game, we had the lovely games master Chloe (shout out to her!). First, the scene is set, then you get a sweep of the room with the various locks identified, then (to quote Sherlock Holmes) the game is afoot!
For me, the Games Master was easily the best thing about this game. Ours had buckets of enthusiasm and acted swiftly and efficiently on our every request as we rummaged through drawers and looked underneath things.
In terms of difficulty my team of 6 absolutely smashed it in 25 minutes – so I want to put this around the ‘beginner’ level of difficulty. For sure, it’s very accessible (and probably one of the best games to introduce your non-escape room friends to), but a veteran will probably whiz through it!
The game also relies strongly on locks. You’ve got your 3 digit, 4 digit, 5 digit, colour locks, directional locks, and word locks. Locks, locks, locks. Good job I actually (guilty secret) love a good lock or two in an escape room. So largely most of the puzzles will give you a numerical answer, or a word. Making it slightly easy, and again very accessible.
Overall, good fun for a Sunday afternoon.
Moriarty: The Last Stand can be booked for £10 – £25 per player on Escape Live’s website.
