The Panic Room – LOOP

The Panic Room – LOOP.
Location: Gravesend
Game Date: 18/04/2018.
Team: Amy & Ian

LOOP originally started out as a popup game in London by a company called ClockWork Dog. I never had the pleasure of playing the original, but was excited when I heard The Panic Room had bought it and installed it in their newest location in Gravesend. I will try to keep this a spoiler free as I possibly can… as there is a lot about LOOP you shouldn’t know before you play it!

Theme:
“A game that totally redefines the meaning of ‘against the clock’.

Step into the laboratory of Frontier Engineering, a research company tackling the unknowns of science, one paradox at a time. They are seeking teams of 2-6 to undertake a one hour trial of a mysterious and powerful device they call ‘The Unit’. They won’t tell us what it does, but they assure us that it is completely safe.

In this weird science fiction adventure with strong undertones of Portal , you will be transported to impossible places and experience one of the craziest twists in escape room history. Seriously, this game will blow your minds!

Prepare to enter….The Loop!”

Theming starts before you’re even in the game, with the initial briefing video being held in the game-masters space, which was themed very well and had lots of little details that just added to the story of Frontier Engineering and even puts the gamehost into character and into the story.
Once in the room, the feeling is clinical yet almost like Frontier is a home grown research company and maybe not all is as it seems. The decor is as immersive as it can be, with white washed walls and nothing to distract or deter you. It’s a cool space, very fitting for the theme, and this continues on throughout the game
I can imagine the space being a little cramped with 6 player, but not uncomfortable. The lighting as you’d expect is bright.

Game Play:
An fairly open game that has some great puzzles and hidden tech, logic, observation, a small amount of searching and some aural puzzles make LOOP a stand out in its puzzles.
LOOP’s puzzle are clever, cerebral, challenging but all perfectly logical and all exemplary in their ah-ha moments. With some unique twists on the use of some everyday objects that work to give outstanding, clear results.
The flow was wonderful, and whilst we stalled at the beginning of the game and didn’t open ANYTHING until 20 minutes in, we weren’t really stalled as we had been unknowingly putting a lot of leg work in to get through a lot of puzzles in a short amount of time.
LOOP is very much a game of 2 halves, and the latter half of the game had us flabbergasted, amazed and under so much pressure.
I do try hard to not talk about our personal feeling and experiences in games and just outline the puzzles/flow/logic etc – but in LOOP it’s IMPOSSIBLE to not talk about how we felt, as I feel the point of LOOP is to create these exact feelings of amazement coupled with immense pressure! (Those who have played will know exactly what I mean!) Needless to say, this pressure put it on us and the later half of the game flowed wonderfully again with exceptionally logical, solvable puzzles with wicked twists on the norm!
Loop is nothing short of a masterpiece in gameplay & creativity!

Clue System:
Clues were delivered via a nifty handheld device!

Game Host:
Our game host was Laurence and he was fantastic, a true enthusiast. It’s wonderful when hosts are passionate about their games, as this bubbles over into their hosting and it’s always a pleasure to chat with them before/after! Laurence also delivered us hints (OK… we had 1 hint) but that hint was delivered with utter precision at the perfect time! Brilliant hosting!

Did we escape?
Yes in 42 minutes!

Website: https://www.thepanicroom.net
Price:
2 Players £40
3 Players £57
4 Players £70
5 Players £80
6 Players £87.50