Deadlocked – The Testing Chamber

Deadlocked – The Testing Chamber
Location: Reading
Game Date: 25/08/2020
Team: Amy & Ian
Duration: 60 minutes

Theme:
“Defeat the rogue AI before she can take over the entire room.

The Wexell Corporation has developed an artificial intelligence, designed to create bespoke escape rooms. This exciting technology of tomorrow is not yet ready for widespread use, because of… incidents in previous tests. You will be tasked with testing the system to it’s limits and defeating whatever the AI throws at you; that is, as long as nothing goes wrong in the process..”

Theming was great in The Testing Chamber, the game started out in a fairly sterile space, which really leaves you wondering “what on earth is going on” the room simply comes alive throughout the game, revealling more and more. The latter part of the game make use of the natural space of the building to create a built in atmosphere and so much personality. The exposed circuts and computer feel give this room an almost dystopiean feel which is subtle yet very unnerving.
What Deadlock do to perfection is story. Story is so important in their room, and the interactions throughout the game are not to be missed, this brings a sense of realism and immersion to the game that is lacking in a lot of rooms. The world building is cohesive and though through and the passion in the game design and storytelling pours through into the experience.
The testing chamber was large, airy and lit well. There are a couple of dimmer moments but nothing that effected gameplay.

Game Play:
A mixture of linear, open and meta-puzzle for this game, all woven into a succulant escape room sandwich.
Puzzles were a fantastic mixture of logic, physical, observation, task-based, teamwork, searching, word, math… all puzzle types were well and truely covered!
Puzzles were incredibly interesting, and perfectly on theme, once the main goal was recognised the puzzles all fit together perfectly, and made so much sense in parallel with the story of the room.
The puzzles in The testing chamber were smart, with wonderful Ah-ha moments, that seemed to be hidden at first, but once realised were fun and engaging. In fact the enitre room was!
The logic behind the puzzles was perfection, and upon solving this was a game that made you feel accomplished and clever!
The signposting was excellent, and always in theme perfectly. This was a running theme to Deadlock’s games, the worlds are so real and the signposting is part of that real world.
Flow was excellent, with us moving slickly through the game and making the connections seamlessly to complete the game.
This game is a unique take on an escape room, with it being a lot more of an interactive story, than a bog standard “you’re locked in, get out” situation. We felt fully embroiled in the world of Wexell and honestly, it was hard to leave!

Clue System:
Clues were delivered via the AI within the room, who is incredibly sassy!

Game Host:
James was our game host and met us fully in character, with great acting skills he delivered an energetic introduction. Full briefing was done on a screen (starring Charlie & James, the owners of Deadlocked) and set the scene really well with a great introduction to the Wexell corporation. Clues were delivered with impeccable timing.

Covid19 Safety:
We felt incredibly safe at Deadlocked. Hand Sanitizer was required on entry, the room was scrupulously clean, masks were mandatory and social distancing was carried out at all times.

Did we escape?
Yes, in 59 minutes.

Website https://deadlockedrooms.com
Price:
2 Players £20pp Adult £15pp Child
3 Players £19pp Adult £14.50pp Child
4 Players £19pp Adult £14.50pp Child
5 Players £18pp Adult £14pp Child
6 Players £18pp Adult £14pp Child