Bury, Apr 2022
Visiting Compendium to binge all four of their games as part of a larger schedule, we started with the insane asylum theme, which I guess is rather suitable for anyone trying to do eight escape rooms in a day. All the rooms in the venue looked good, and Bedlam made an immediate good impression: rather than clinical bare white decor or being derelict and dirty, it uses padded walls to great effect, and lighting that’s low enough to be atmospheric without being a problem.
We got off to a slightly bumpy start: ten minutes in it seemed like we had two or three codes that fitted none of the four or five locks available, which was a little disconcerting. However, that turned out to be due to us failing to notice that one lock did in fact open with the code we’d tried. Similarly with a point where we got stuck later on, which was due to an observation failure. So although the flow felt somewhat stop-start while playing, that was on us, not due to problems in the game design. Still, having fewer of the same padlock type available simultaneously would reduce potential frustration.
Our team size of two seemed ideal, at least for experienced players – it’s not a huge space and has some narrow corners.
All of the games at this venue were strong experiences. Like the others, Bedlam featured solid puzzles, and it set them in a cool and interesting space, for a game that’s easy to recommend. 