Ukiyo at Home - The Birdcage (Virtual)

 

Hi all

Back in September 2020, I heard from other enthusiasts that Ukiyo, a Melbourne-based escape room business, was running another play at home experience, entitled Bird Cage, that would be played out online over a period of 4 days.  

The story, which was inspired by Stranger Things, was set in the Aussie outback and saw players trying to contain a specimen that had escaped from a remote laboratory.  

Firstly, I really loved the start of the game.  It involved the use of a university/lab online bulletin board system, where players took on the roles of students.  The level of immersion and interaction with NPCs was excellent (and often at times hilarious).  It was nostalgic and so much fun.

Some of the earlier puzzles were quite interesting - some were challenging and they were quite varied.  At that point, I was enjoying Bird Cage far more than I had enjoyed Ukiyo's earlier play at home game, Stawk Pine Falls.

However, the wheels completely fell off for me when a particular puzzle required players to download software.  The software just did not work for me (and I understand, many others).  I tried downloading it and playing it on 2 different computers, but no dice.  It was incredibly disappointing and the only way to progress beyond that point would have been to rely on other players telling me the solution, which is something I wasn't really interested in doing.  So I simply stopped and never finished.

Like Stawk Pine Falls, I think Bird Cage needed more playtesting before going live.  I think a major improvement in Bird Cage of Stawk Pine Falls was that the former did not contain so much unnecessary information/red herrings that players had to wade through.  However, not being able to complete the game because the software did not work was really pretty crappy.  I appreciate the amount of wor that would have gone into this experience (especially during a pandemic lockdown), but I found it really frustrating that due to a lack of playtesting, the game was broken.

As with Stawk Pine Falls, the cost of Bird Cage was only $5 per player, which was objectively great value for the content.  I just wish more work had been put into playtesting the experience before it went live.  

Ukiyo at Home have since run a sequel to their Stawk Pine Falls play at home experience.  However, based on my experiences with the first instalment and then with Bird Cage, I decided to give the sequel a miss.

Thanks

Scott

 

Escape One Algarve - Final Call Review (Live Avatar)

Hi all

In September 2020, I played a Live Avatar room in Portugal.  The game was called Final Call and it is run by a company called Escape One Algarve.  

I played Final Call with 3 other escape room enthusiast friends of mine from across Australia and NZ.  This was my 155th escape room (and my 12th virtual room).

The room theme is as follows:

"You’re down to your very last hope. Desperate, you’ve gathered your surviving friends and family and brought them here. Here, to this… bridal shop?? Yes. Here you’ll find someone who will give you a chance to end this madness. You can prove that you are worthy to live on. And this bridal store is the unlikely testing ground. Face the challenge to win your part in ending the zombie threat."

That's right, Final Call is set in a post-apocalyptic, zombie-filled war zone.  The plot revolves around players completing a series of challenges to prove that they are worthy of joining a new civilisation being established by a vigilante group on an island somewhere.  Those who pass are gifted a boarding pass for the flight.

Final Call was a fun escape room.  I recall there being an interesting mix of puzzles, of varying difficulty levels.  I also recall that Final Call adopted a separate inventory system (in addition to the live feed from our avatar) - this worked well. The experience also contained some snippets of videos that were cheesy but which suited the room well. 

The game contained some nice humour and some interesting decisions that players had to make together.  The room is non-linear, which is always an extra challenge when playing virtually.  

Overall, we all had a fun time playing Final Call!

Where:                                  Virtual room (online)

Virtual Room Type:               Live Avatar

Duration:                               60 minutes

Themes:                                3 rooms

Cost:                                      20 Euro per person 

Overall Rating:                     A cheesy zombie apocalypse room - what's not to like?

More details:                        https://escapeonealgarve.com/en/final-call.html

Ukiyo at Home - Stawk Pine Falls Review (Virtual)

Hi all

Back in August 2020, I heard from other enthusiasts that Ukiyo, a Melbourne-based escape room business, had designed a play at home experience that would be played out online over a period of 10 (or so) days.  

The story, which was inspired by Twin Peaks, revolved around a small town and the disappearance of a number of young women. 

I remember SPF being quite exciting in the first few days, with new characters being introduced, emails being received with further clues and information, newspaper articles appearing on the SPF Facebook page and a live radio show on Youtube that took place every night or two.  

There were some interesting puzzles that players were able to solve that would in turn provide more information about the storyline.

Whilst I thought some elements of SPF were really enjoyable, there were 2 aspects that I did not enjoy.  The first was the complete overload of unnecessary background information throughout the story, which often led to red herrings and many loose ends at the conclusion of the experience.  I also reallly did not enjoy the final act, which seemed to me to have been put together in a very arbitrary and inelegant way, requiring a bit of guess work to solve.  Others really enjoyed the ending, so each to their own I guess.

Stawk Pine Falls was only $5 per player, which was objectively great value for the content.  I just wish more work had been put into the flow of puzzles (and perhaps some serious editing of the many different story arcs that just weren't necessary).

Ukiyo at Home have since run 2 further experiences, which I will review separately.

Thanks

Scott

 

Space Race for Headspace - Review

 

Hi all

In August 2020, I played an online puzzle hunt game with other enthusiasts friends of mine.  The game was called Space Race and all money raised went to Headspace. 

Space Race was designed by students and recent graduates at Figment Labs, based in Melbourne.  Although more of a puzzle hunt than a true escape room, Space Race was my 153rd escape room (or escape room like experience).

I thought there were some interesting puzzles throughout the hunt, although not all puzzles quite worked for us (and a couple of puzzles needed some logic-jumps or a bit of extra effort to solve).

Overall though, it was a fun experience and it was great that the money went to a great charity. 

As always, if I hear about any further escape room, puzzle hunt or live immersive experiences that are coming our way, I'll let you know.

Thanks

Scott

 

 

Level Games - The Menagerie Review (Formerly Live Avatar)

Hi all

Back in July, 2020, I played a virtual, live avatar escape room online with other enthusiasts.  The game was called "The Menagerie" and was run by Level Games in North Hollywood. 

I am very slowly working through my long backlog of escape room reviews and I left this one a little too late, given that Level Games appears to have closed down.  However, it looks like Trapped Escape Room Inland has adapted The Menagerie, which is now available in person only at their Upland location.

The plot of the room is that you are given an assignment to look into some people that have recently gone missing.  The Menagerie was my 11th virtual room and my 152nd room to date. 

The Menagerie was an interesting game with interesting puzzles.  The live avatar and inventory systems that were used worked well.  

I thought there were some really interesting puzzles used throughout the game.  As far as live-avatar virtual rooms go, I thought The Menagerie was a strong room.  It's a shame that it is no longer available virtually, but at least it has been resurrected and can be played in person for those traveling to California.

Where                           Previously virtual (now in person only in California)

Virtual Room Type:       Live Avatar (at the time we played)

Duration:                       60 minutes

Themes:                        4 games

Overall Rating:             Solid live avatar room with interesting puzzles

More details:                https://www.trappedescaperoominland.com/the-rooms/the-menagerie/

 

TERPECA - Voting is open for the best escape rooms in the world

Hi all

It's that time of year again - the Top Escape Rooms Project Enthusiasts' Choice Awards, or TERPECA, is open for voting.

For those of you who have not heard of TERPECA, it is an enthusiasts-led initiative to nominate and rank the best rooms around the world.  Players who have played at least 200 game master-led rooms are eligible to nominate rooms and players who have played at least 50 rooms may then vote on those nominated rooms.

Many Australian rooms received nominations, but only 2 physical rooms and 1 online room have made it to the finals.  They are The Cipher Room's Marlowe Hotel, Next Level Escape's Ex Libris and Escape Room Melbourne's Isolation.

Many other fantastic rooms narrowly missed out on going through to the finals (this is largely due to there being so few Australians who have played more than 200 rooms and are therefore entitled to nominate).  TERPECA has pretty strict rules on becoming a nominator (despite having played so many rooms, I narrowly missed out on being a nominator this year).  I should be able to nominate rooms next year though, which will hopefully assist in ensuring that more Aussie rooms make it to the finals. 

So, if you have played more than 50 rooms, head on over to the TERPECA website and sign up and vote for your favourites.  

On behalf of the various escape room owners, they would really appreciate the support.  You have until the end of November to vote.

Thanks

Scott

 

 

Christmas gift vouchers

Hi everyone

I hope everyone is doing well (and no doubt glad that Sydney is finally out of lockdown).  I have a number of escape room reviews that I haven't got to, so I will finally pull my finger out and try and get them all written up in the next few weeks.

I thought it was worth doing a quick post to remind everyone that if you're thinking about Christmas gift ideas, escape room gift vouchers are an excellent option.  Not only do they really help escape room businesses (who have clearly had a tough year (or two)), but most vouchers can be printed from home immediately (so you don't have to worry about the shit show that is Australia Post at this time of year). 

I am pretty sure that all of the escape room businesses in Sydney offer gift vouchers on their websites.  Some of my favourites are listed below (in no particular order):

https://eludegames.com.au/

https://escaperoom.sydney/ 

http://www.nextlevelescape.com.au/

http://www.narrowesc.com.au/

http://www.cipherroom.com.au/

http://www.socialescape.com.au/

http://www.labyrinthescaperooms.com.au/

http://www.paniqroom.com.au/

http://www.missionsydney.com/

https://www.expeditionsydney.com.au/

http://www.scramescaperooms.com.au/

Also, if you're looking for a map that shows you all of the rooms in Sydney, a while back Elude Escape Rooms put together a map, which you can find here.

Imagine being the person that introduced a friend or family member to this amazing, puzzley world! That's a pretty cool (and lasting) gift.

Thanks

Scott