Tunbridge Wells, Nov 2021
On a day of playing several very strong games, I had particular hopes for Temple Quest, the newest (at time of writing) game from Clue Cracker, having noticed the way it’s quietly climbed into the top bracket of the UK rankings; and was delighted to find that it thoroughly deserves its reputation.
In this game you’re on the trail of a missing explorer, and more importantly the Golden Monkey treasure he was searching for. Which is to say, it has a whole lot of Indiana Jones vibes with extra monkey jokes sprinkled in for good measure.
Clue Cracker consistently set a high standard with their constructions. Temple Quest is instantly atmospheric, and gets more so as it goes on. That’s more in a ‘theme park ride’ way than ‘trapped deep underground’; which is to say, it’s aiming for fun adventure rather than gritty peril or claustrophobia.
Still, be warned that in places it’s quite tight quarters. Well, one section in particular, where there was a wealth of lovely physical tasks for the whole team to get stuck into at once, and not so much space to shift around. Everyone dived into whichever mechanism was closest, and while I had a great time solving the bits nearer to me I’ll admit to a little FOMO at not being able to do everything in the room.
Expect a lot of hands-on puzzles, sometimes hefting around quite large components, often with a design aesthetic reminiscent of the Crystal Maze’s Aztec zone, and plenty of physical movement. There’s no shortage of game to solve, either. We completed it in a little over 40 minutes, but felt like we’d got through a great deal at speed, having hit little in the way of sticking points. Having had four players certainly helped – at many points it’s an advantage to have more hands available, so as to take a divide and conquer approach, and it could be quite a bit more challenging for a team of two.
Temple Quest is not only visually lush, it’s also funny from the outset. For me that’s a big plus for an already excellent room – it works hard to put you in a good mood and is highly likely to succeed. Much like an Indiana Jones movie, it doesn’t take itself seriously, and the combination of humour and adventure with a dash of mild peril is irresistibly enjoyable. Each of Clue Cracker’s three escape rooms has managed to be a step up on the previous one, and Temple Quest is the best so far. 