Wardrobe for Sale

During our Escaparium marathon we played Wardrobe for Sale which I had heard good things about. We start the game by being shown down a rather empty hallway with just one item… a fairly mundane wardrobe. We were then invited to inspect this nice, but unremarkable, piece of furniture and were given two hours to do so.

This had me thinking… “is this it?”, but within a few steps my confusion turned into wonder.

I don’t think I’ve ever used the word ‘wonder’ to describe an escape room before, but its the perfect description, the environment we entered filled me with wonder and the opening scenes had me grinning with delight. I dont want to give spoilers, but I will say that it felt like I was living in a Jim Henson (or Disney) movie.

The narrative is a classic story with clearly defined characters and is carefully woven into the puzzles. The characters were engaging, lovable and funny, and are great to interact with. The gameplay is open to allow everyone to solve puzzles, with a variety of puzzles and missions, and the transitions are beautifully executed and again left me grinning with delight.

We did need a few hints, but this was due to us missing the signposting, it was not due to any issues with the puzzles themselves. Everything is there to allow you to complete the tasks, and I loved the system if showing your progress. There is so much detail in this world that you can sometimes overlook the clues, but here that really isn’t a bad thing, as this world really is worth taking the time to explore and discover.

If i was being really picky then I would have to admit that I found the latter part of the adventure a little less wonderous than the first section. The gameplay was more linear, and there was alot of standing watching and less to do. But this did allow the narative to unfold and the story completed.

I would love to tell you more, but this is a world you need to experience for yourself rather than reading about it from me. Let me leave you with my lasting impression, this is not an escape room… its a world where you can escape to…. and i would happily escape to that world again.