Eltham, May 2021
Asked to describe Temple of the Lost Spirit, I might use words like compact, well-decorated, or entertaining; but first and foremost would be Too Dark. What lighting level is reasonable for a game varies a lot, by theme, types of puzzles, and by who’s playing, and I’ve enjoyed plenty of games that were darker than this one. However, the low lighting was a frustration for the majority of the game, and wholly unnecessary – a choice to prioritise aesthetics over gameplay by keeping lights dim and providing only one lantern.
That aside, it’s a nice little game. You are entering the temple in search of a vanished explorer, to discover his fate, with the first task being to actually get in. Although fairly small, the game area looks great – the venue have put plenty of effort into set design and it not only looks cool but has an effective, story-based progression to it.
As with many lost temple games, puzzles often revolve around placing objects in the right places to trigger the next mechanism, giving an appropriately physical feel to it. No squinting over scrawled journal entries, I’m glad to say; though a couple of pictorial inscriptions were a little hard to make out in the low lighting. A couple of times the electronics were a bit fussy, needing us to adjust items until they managed to set off the detectors correctly. Conversely, I liked how more than once it managed to reveal secrets that seemed like they had been hidden in plain sight all along.
I recommend a small team for several reasons – the single lantern and small starting area are better suited to a team of two, plus it’s a fairly linear game. I enjoyed it and would recommend it – it’s just that I’d recommend it more enthusiastically if they’d provided more lanterns, or (preferably) made it a little less dim. 
