Lucardo Manchester: Gem Runner

Clearly one of Lucardos older rooms - Still enjoyed the game and the few surprises along the way. 

Worth a play but not one of their best. 

#19

The final of 3 games we played in a day at Lucardo, and easily the poorest. The set was a bit lacklustre, and uninspired puzzles, loads of padlocks and a disappointing/stressful finale puts this room towards the bottom of our rankings so far. It didn’t help that it as just an office building with windows to the outside world that broke the immersion. Try UoM or The Orphanage instead as they are both great.

Bank Burglary

As I’d enjoyed my previous visits to Lucardo, it was soon time for another!

Story

Steal a big shiny diamond from a bank. Heists may be like the most common escape room scenario ever, but hey, some have got to be them!

Puzzles

There were many visuals, and lots of things to be implemented. We all really liked one of the last tasks…just like a calculated criminal, be mindful of what could be of use around you!

Mise-en-scène

The big counter almost entirely contributed to making the surroundings feel like the inside of a bank. The other furniture and props were good and right, though.

Final Comments

Escaping with three seconds to spare meant for a very stressful final challenge, but we made it! A team of three to four is ideal for this one.

Very fun room, worked well as a 2, no clues required as all was logical and made sense. One particularly nice puzzle in terms of using the environment. 

Although this room has now been closed at Lucardo Rawtenstall, we had a chance to play it a fee months back. Like all the games we have played at Lucardo Rawtenstall this didn't disappoint, very well thought out theme and puzzles, and the hosting as always was great.

We did get out with 26 minutes to spare, but that is mainly because we were a team of 5 pretty experienced escape enthusiasts. If it ever comes back I highly recommend!

Rawtenstall's bank theme is really well done, you do have the feeling to enter a town bank. The owners later told us that the props and decorations are coming from a real bank, which clearly explains why the room looks so authentic. The soundtrack was really good as well, really made us feel like bank thieves. 🙂   The puzzles are quite enjoyable and some of them I've never seen before. The escape though, felt a bit anticlimactic as two locks were left open by mistake when resetting the room. Our host had to send us the message "You have all you need, escape!" despite us still having two unfinished puzzles but holding the loot we were looking for. Overall, it's a very good room with one big surprise and loads of small interesting ones (that I don't want to mention to keep the surprise) that kept us laughing. Not to the same level as their two other current rooms in my opinion, but still one to not miss! 🙂

Another good room from Lucardo.  My least favourite of all their rooms but that's just because I enjoyed the others so much.  I wasn't a fan of a couple of the puzzles as I felt there were obvious ways to make them better. But still a lot of fun.