Time to Float
Let me start by saying I’m not a fan of Horror Games as I’m not a fan of jump scares and don’t do scare mazes or fright fests (but I have had some intense experiences in Athens). This game has been moving up the charts for a while and was sitting at #2 overall based on every review giving in 10/10. It’s been noted that in over 600 reviews I’ve only ever given out 15 such scores. This is the 16th.
So why? Let’s look at my usual criteria:
Story: I’m not a fan of horror films but I remember watching the 1990s IT miniseries (with Tim Curry as Pennywise) so am vaguely aware of some elements of Stephen Kings Story. I don’t know how well this game follows those events but the story is well told from the initial (in character) briefing before the game starts to every scene transition. The story potentially gets a little lost in the latter stages when events take precedence but it’s always there and someone who is more familiar with the story could probably comment better on this.
Theming: The theming of every section of the game is incredibly well done (a couple of minor elements, involving an old piece of technology lets it down but I’m being incredibly picky there and some printed brickwork). Each scene is well done and is interesting on the eye and is also well decorated with some clever transitions between each scene.
Puzzles: In games like this, puzzles sometimes take a secondary place behind the overall ‘experience’, that’s not the case here. Puzzles are interesting and themed well so nothing feels out of place or a random puzzle breaks the immersion because it looks out of place.
Sign Posting/Flow: The game flows well and I can’t remember if we had any hints of even what the hint system was. More often we knew what we had to do and it was a searching fail that hindered us but never did did we stand around wondering what to do next.
Hosting: This game features multiple live actors at various stages of the game, all of these were done well and the actors and hosts were excellent both, before, during and after the game.
Value for Money: This is the elephant, this game is not cheap. It’s 90 minutes with multiple live actors. We played as a group of 3, I think the optimum size if 4 but the game caters for 2-8 (although I did see one person reviewed it here played it solo). For a team size of 2-4 there is a flat fee of £170 to play, so if you played it as a 2 then it would be £85 each! As to if it’s worth it then Your Mileage May Vary depending on your experience or what you are looking for in an escape room.
The Bottom Line is that I do think this is one of the very best games in the UK at the moment (and should be mentioned in the same breath as The Great Loudini and Loot the Lanes). As I stated at the top, I’m not a fan of horror games but I’m glad I’ve played this. The cost is high but so are the production values , this is not a cookie cutter game but something special and that’s to be celebrated. Had I played this back in October I would have nominated it for a TERPECA (and if I participate next year then I will do so).
