Breakout Malacca: Capsule

The premise of the game as stated on their website is: in 2044, terrorists are planning to time travel back to overthrow the government. A USB that was created by a scientist hired by the government to prevent time travelling went missing shortly after. Hired by the CIA, our mission was to break into the terrorist lair, retrieve the USB and time travel back to stop the event within 55 minutes. The convoluted backstory didn’t quite make sense and the briefing by the game-master didn’t enlighten us any further, but it’s a game, let’s go with it.

The year 2044 predominantly felt like 2007 and you time travel by walking through a nondescript door, colour me bemused. One puzzle was creative, but the rest involved frequent points of frustration. With the game being linear, any group bigger than three will have players twiddling their thumbs.

Puzzles were labelled with a white sticker numbered one to nine, taking signposting to the next level. The hint system for Breakout is one I personally did not care for. You scan the QR code with your phone prior to entering the room and for each puzzle, you have one standard pre-set hint or the solution.

Any respectable time travel story needs a shock twist or a mind-bending paradox, and this has both. However, it shoehorns them in at the expense of the last shreds of plot coherence.

If you don’t try to rationalise the storyline, and are playing purely for an activity with friends or team bonding, Capsule could be fairly enjoyable. If you’ve played a good selection of games elsewhere, you’re more likely to find it a bit underwhelming and lacking in immersion.