Escape London: Overthrone | Review

Escape London Overthrone Review: The King is dead, long live the King! With no natural successor to the King the throne is up for grabs. He who raises the legendary Sword of Britain will take the throne. Legend has it that the wily old King has hidden the sword within the castle. You are first onto the scene, explore the castle and retrieve the sword before the pretenders arrive!

Completion Time: 37mins
Date Played: February 2019
Party Size: 2
Difficulty: Medium

I’ve done a few Escape London games now, and I always have a great time. I booked this room for myself and one other friend, both of us fairly experienced, as it was the only one available (I need to stop booking rooms last minute!)

I always like Escape London, and think they’re a company you can rely on for a good room – enjoyable, light-hearted fun. I’ve never had a real brain workout or adrenaline rush, but have also never had a bad experience or left feeling disappointed.

The Set

Their ‘Overthrone’ room is a vaguely medieval, slightly mythical themed room – it’s like combining the legends of Arthur and Camelot with the Tudors. The brief we are given is that the king is dead and his nobles are out to kill you next – to stop them you need to find the crown and sceptre and sit on the throne.

I think this is a great set up – I haven’t come across many like it, so immediately I was sold. They already have a magic-themed room, so I was a little worried that it would be a similar set. However, they were very clever in skirting the line of “Wizard school” magic and instead focusing on the Arthurian elements. The hint of magic was really just a subtle nod, and I appreciated it.

The set was really nice. Like their other rooms, it’s obviously a plain rectangular room that they’ve decorated. However, it’s been done pretty well, with lots of nice touches. It’s one of the few rooms that actually managed to surprise me with it’s set.

My only comment would be that it wasn’t particularly big – it worked well for the two of us, but don’t think any more than 3 or 4 would fit.

The Game

The game was fairly multi-linear which was really nice. There were two of us, and we were never bored. Towards the end, it became more linear, as expected, but by that point, you’re just excited for the final puzzles!

The puzzles also perfectly suited the theme and were nicely creative. For the most part, we were able to figure out what we were doing – we only used one hint for the entire room! There were no annoying locks which didn’t work, and at no point were we left wondering if we were wrong, or if something was broken – which you can’t take for granted!

The hint system was also my favourite type – just a screen, although even this was perfectly themed to fit with the room. My only qualm with this was that there was no indication of a hint appearing.

The only other issue with this room was there were a few points where we felt a little lost, and unsure of what we still needed to do. However, when we did figure things out there was one puzzle in particular which combined a few different parts of the room into a satisfying solution.

Overall, we had a great time in this room – there was less going on than in many rooms we’ve done, but that allowed us to appreciate the set. I think seasoned professionals would breeze through it, but there is enough to keep them interested. Likewise, I would also recommend this to newcomers, as the puzzles were all really nice and I think it’s a great example of a room to get started.

Outside the room

We were greeted by one staff member, but ‘debriefed’ by another, which I don’t tend to like. However, they were both really nice and friendly. The brief before going into the room was fun and informative and got us excited to go in.

Afterwards, the GM was also really friendly, and from the way he was talking it seemed he was invested in our game, which I don’t often see. He commented that he regretted sending us that single hint slightly, as he felt we probably could have done without it, but he was very excited watching us. This was a really nice touch and shows they really care.

He took a great photo for us and gave us a discount code for a future visit (which I will definitely be using!). The venue itself had lockers to store your belongings, and are smart enough to assign each locker by room (rather than allowing a group to monopolise all the lockers). They also provide water (which I’ve stopped taking for granted now!) and have a nice waiting area.

Was it worth the money?

This room should have cost us £33 each, but we used a discount from a previous visit to take it to around £25 each. I think it was definitely worth the money for two of us, but I probably would have felt short-changed in a larger group, particularly if it was an experienced group.

Accessibility

Neither the room or venue were wheelchair accessible, and there isn’t anywhere to sit within the room. The room isn’t particularly big (as previously mentioned), but you won’t need to be physically agile.

The room lighting is a little dim, and partially sighted people may struggle to read.

TL; DR

Pros; Staff, Hint system, set design

Cons; Not enough puzzles/not clear, space

Overthrone can be booked at Escape London by heading to this link here.