Exit The Room: Murder

Exit The Room: Murder.
Location: Manchester
Game Date: 26/04/2018.
Team: Amy & Ian

Theme:
“In this part of the world, Spooky Town is not mentioned on any of the well-known travel sites. The one and only hotel is not only run-down and shabby but has become infamous over the last few months as many of its guests have disappeared without a trace. As unsolved cases continue to pile up at the police station, the locals whisper rumours of possible murders at the hotel. So far no bodies have been found and until they are no investigation will take place. Your mission is to enter Room Number 9 where the murders are rumoured to have taken place. This is your most important case yet. Your team has one mission: Explore and expose the secrets of Room Number 9.”

A large, sparsely decorated room that didn’t scream “hotel” as you delve further into the room theme got darker (figuratively and literally) and the space got smaller and tighter.
Theme was cleanly done, with no red- herrings but there was a lot of empty, bare space.
The room was big enough to accommodate the max group. There was little immersion.

Game Play:
A strictly linear game with mostly logic based puzzles, observation, searching and busy work.
The puzzles ranged from simple to having massive logic leaps with ambiguity that could possibly make your head hurt.
The puzzles were loosely on theme (as loose as possible) and were very “puzzle for puzzle’s sake” and there was little story development throughout.
A couple of the puzzles would have been a lot better had they not been such a “process” puzzle, doing the same thing fairly long winded mechanic over and over for each digit of a code…
The ah-ha moments were there for a few puzzles, and when they happened they were good!
The flow was sticky, as is the problem with linear games, when you hit a block there is nowhere else to turn, short bursts of activity compounded with long times of head banging.
This room will surely suit some teams, more brains to spot the logic leaps… we sure would have benefited from an extra brain or 2!

Clue System:
Clues were delivered via a walkie talkie, and you have to ask (which I am NOT a fan of!)
We did have a problem with the Walkie fading in and out a lot so couldn’t hear hints sometimes.

Game Host:
Jessica was our game host and was fantastic, for it being her 2nd shift, she was great! friendly, cheery and always on hand when we asked for hints. She was astute and obviously has an interest in escape games and the groups that she hosts.

Did we escape?
Yes, with less than a minute to go, it was a close one!

Website: http://www.exittheroom.co.uk
Price:
2 Players £39
3 Players £54
4 Players £68
5 Players £79
6 Players £89