Timed Trap – Treasure Theft

Timed Trap – Treasure Theft.
Location: Preston
Game Date 14/07/2017.
Team: Amy & Ian

THIS GAME HAS NOW CLOSED

So, a short drive to Preston from Blackpool and we were onto our 2nd game of the evening at Time Trapped. Set above a snooker club, once you find your way inside the waiting area is spacious and inviting with lovely signage. We were greeted by our host, and the manager and chatted for a while before getting into the room.

Theme:
“During the cold war, Russian agents watch professor Billy Jones when a young man brings him a coded message from an aged, demented colleague; Harold Oxley. Led by the brilliant Irina Spalko, the Russians tail Jones and a young man ‘Mutt’ to Peru. With Oxley’s code, they find a legendary skull made of a single piece of quartz. If Jones can deliver the skull to it’s rightful place, all may be well. Ageing professor and young buck join forces with a woman from Jones’s past to face the dangers ahead.

You and your team follow Jones’s clue to hunt the treasure. Will you get to the treasure before it’s too late…”

Indiana Jones… Russian Spies… PIRATES? The decor in the room was clean, and tidy but I feel the theme was a little bit misguided, there was a lot of reference to pirates in the theme and puzzles, and little to do with the crystal skull, and I only noticed the spy aspect when Ian pointed it out in the story (there was nothing spy like in the room)
That being said, the room was spacious and inviting with a decent amount of props and decor to look at and not a lock in sight! It wasn’t the most immersive room but the lack of padlocks left you searching round the room for what just automatically opened. A nice room overall, but I think just settling on one theme would benefit the theming and immersion.

Game Play:
A strictly linear game, without any padlocks what so ever.
The game flow was a little stuttering in places and it felt like some puzzles were there purely to slow us down and increase the difficulty level including a ridiculous search using a blacklight.
Now, I don’t hate blacklights when used in a creative way, but the way this was used was frustrating, insane and clearly designed to trip people up and make the game “hard”. Up until this point I was enjoying the game and save for a couple of massive logic leaps (one where we had to call a clue) it was a decent game. The blacklight search just killed it for me, and excitement I had was lost, and I honestly thought we weren’t going to escape and for the first time ever, in 87 rooms… I wasn’t bothered (that happens when you spend over 15 minutes on a single search)
The first half of this game I did enjoy, as it was hands on and fairly “searchy” – even though searching is not a forte of mine!
Newbies would find this room VERY, VERY hard, enthusiasts would most likely get enraged by the blacklight use.
A few tweaks in this room would make it a much better experience, and less frustrating game over all.

Clue System:
Clues were delivered via the host coming into the room and giving very cryptic hints (limited to 4) – I am not a fan of this method of clue delivery, it breaks the flow of the room, breaks immersion and wastes time!

Game Host:
Our Game hosts Megan & Kal were very friendly and whilst not experienced players themselves they did seem to enjoy their jobs and enjoyed chatting to us about the games we’ve played.

Did we escape?
Yes, with 2 minutes to spare.

Website: http://www.timedtrap.co.uk
Price:
2 Players £44
3 Players £60
4 Players £76
5 Players £85
6 Players £90