Manchester, Mar 2024
Honestly, my favourite part of Frankenstein is a section of the decor, which is exceedingly pretty but not actually part of the game. Which isn’t to say that Frankenstein is a bad room, but there’s not a great deal that reaches a higher standard than ‘pleasant’.
It’s an attractive Gothic sort of set, in keeping with the theme. You might find you get off to a slow start, at least if (like me) observation is not your strong point; fortunately I had teammates who were sharper eyed.
Much of the game consists of puzzles that felt like escape room bread and butter: put the things in the places, or do the thing it tells you to do and get a padlock code as a result. The two puzzles that struck me as most memorable and interesting were both earlier, and worked fine but with a bit of unwanted uncertainty between realising what we needed to do and getting the result from doing it.
Perhaps (okay, definitely) I’ve been spoiled by other versions of this theme, but a Frankenstein story deserves a build up to a dramatic climax. Breakout’s game has that structure, but the payoff is pretty muted. Some more theatrics there would go a long way to elevating the experience; as it is, it was a decent game that never really electrifies. 