Cryptology Swindon: The Tortured Soul

The Tortured Soul is the newest room at Incarcerated (which is currently partway through turning into Cryptology Swindon). It’s a supernatural horror game involving the ghost of a child; for calibrating whether it’s a scare level you’re comfortable with, the set is creepy but there are no live actors, and only one jump scare to speak of.

Befitting the theme, there’s a greater emphasis on atmosphere here than in other Incarcerated games present or past. It manages to genuinely feel like old rooms in the upstairs of an old house. The puzzles use an array of familiar horror-theme tropes, but also link into a narrative that slowly emerges over the course of the game.

An ambitiously complex final task seemed like a potential pain point, if a team struggles with it or makes a mistake near the end, but went smoothly for us; and it benefited from some very nice hefty props. While that works well as a concluding puzzle, the experience deserves something a little more dramatic to signal the end; we had a moment’s uncertainty looking around not quite sure if the game was over. Nonetheless it’s an atmospheric and enjoyably spooky puzzle game that’s well worth dropping in for.