House of Frankenstein – Victor’s Lair

House of Frankenstein – Victor’s Lair
Location: Bath
Game Date: 22/10/2021
Team: Amy & Ian
Duration: 60 minutes

Theme:
“Welcome to Victor Frankenstein’s miserable attic quarters strewn with insane equations, strange artefacts and miscellaneous body parts.

Victor is close to unlocking the mysteries of life and requires just a few key components to fulfil his maniacal quest. Having coerced you into his quarters with promises of “riches beyond your wildest dreams”, it’s actually your vital organs he’s after!

You have just one hour to unravel the ramblings of a madman and discover the equation that not only reveals the mystery of life itself but more critically your way out to freedom.”

Victor’s Lair was decorated well, with a good “steampunk” feel to it although at times it did feel a little bare. The biggest challenge in the room was the darkness, it was quite dimly lit in this room and this served to frustrate us for the first part of the game at least.
Once the lights were on, the lighting was adequate and served to emphasise the slight dark tone this room had.
The props in this room were of excellent aulity however, with the various body parts having weight and gravitas.
There was a decent sense of exploration throughout the room, with interesting spaces being discovered which are sure to excite the more casual player (and I feel this is the demographic that they’re going for, with the escape room being an addition to the House of Frankenstien exhibit)
One thing to note is that the escape room is on the top floor, so there are a lot of stairs to climb to get up there.
A visually fairly appealing room, that hits on some points of a mad scientists lair, but doesn’t deliver thoroughly on immersion.

Game Play:
A fairly linear game, that had a fair array of puzzles, mainly leaning towards searching, code breaking and teamwork.
The logic throughout was fair, there were some small logic leaps, but nothing too obtruse.
Ah-ha moments were decent but not forthcoming in every puzzle. The puzzles fitted nicely into theme. I feel with a few minor tweaks and clarity this could be a very satisfying escape room.
Signposting was bare and we really had to work hard to come to the puzzle conclusions in quite a lot of the game.
Flow, despite the flaws was good once we got going, there weren’t too many sticky spots.
This is a game that I feel is clearly designed from a mass market perspective, targeting the more casual player and people will book for the theme and to extend their visit to the House of Frankenstien, and in that respect, it delivers. For a family or group of friends this is a decent room, from an enthusiasts POV this game is a little rough round the edges, but we’re not the target audience for this game!

Clue System:
Our game host came into the room to deliver hints. Not the best clue system.

Game Host:
Our game host was great, friendly polite and gaves us subtle yet pointed hints when needed.

Did we escape?
Yes, in around 45 minutes

Website:
Price:

Minimum 3 players.
Adult – £30
Child – £25
Student & Senior – £27.50