29-30 Morley St, Swindon SN1 1SG
2-6 players
Languages: EN
60 minutes
currently unavailable
Despite travelling the world over to lead excavations, Oldervik usually finds time to keep in touch. However, it is has been almost six months since you received his last letter.
Strangely, after enquiring at the Ministry it appears that nobody knows of Oldervik’s current whereabouts. All you can find out is that he had been tasked with locating and excavating the tomb of an ancient ruler. According to legend, the burial chamber contains priceless artefacts including a mysterious statuette, which the Ministry is keen to acquire.
When a letter from Oldervik finally arrives it is unusually short and to the point, requesting that you attend his study to look after his cats. As far as you know, Oldervik does not have any cats; something is definitely wrong.
And so it is that you venture to Oldervik’s private residence in search of answers…
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Overall rating
based on ratings from 32 users
combined with 6 pro reviews
Your review
Player reviews
LR experienced rated this:
Team size: 4 Outcome: Successful escape!
beautifulquite difficult
I preferred the other two rooms offered by Co-Decode but this room was still beautiful and fill of strong, interesting puzzles.
spbc expert rated this:
Played: 4 May 2019 Team size: 4 Outcome: Successful escape!
story-drivengreat hostingepic
Ability to add in extra difficult puzzles - which of course we did!
EmmaSmiley rated this:
Played: 1 Jul 2023 Team size: 2 Time taken: 65 Outcome: Failed 🙁
cleverimmersiveintensequite difficult
Loved this escape room. It was very challenging for two people. We played the game on difficult. The room was very puzzle dense with some very well thought out puzzles.
Emma Macedo experienced rated this:
Played: 4 Jun 2023 Team size: 2 Time taken: 58:36 Outcome: Successful escape!
value for moneycleverstory-driven
Had heard only good things about Co-Decode's rooms so I was glad to finally get to see for myself. My mum and I played Professor Dunstan and the search for the Ancient Statuette which was another successful mission to us relatively experienced players. The good thing with this company is you can adjust the difficulty level to give you more puzzles to solve in the room. We played on medium difficulty as there was only 2 of us and thought that was a safer option. Our host and games master Alex was very friendly and we agreed that he would only give us help or hints if we asked or if we were completely heading in the wrong direction with something. This worked out well and we only needed help on a few ocassions. The puzzles in this game were very unique which I always love, especially as I've played 60 games now, so it's nice to see new concepts. The game had good themeing throughout and its clear a lot of time and effort has gone into building the room and setting the scene. We completed the game with 1 minute 24 seconds left so again, I'm glad we didn't go for the harder difficulty setting!
I look forward to going back in the future to try out the other 2 games on offer and would definitely recommend Co-decode to anyone looking to play a game that stands up to it's positive reviews.
I look forward to going back in the future to try out the other 2 games on offer and would definitely recommend Co-decode to anyone looking to play a game that stands up to it's positive reviews.
Thomas James rated this:
Played: 3 Jun 2023 Team size: 2 Time taken: 59:32 Outcome: Successful escape!
value for money
matt_keds expert rated this:
Played: 15 Apr 2023 Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!
beautifuloriginalintricate
Alwaysablast rated this:
Team size: 5 Outcome: Successful escape!
cleverimmersivegreat hostingquite difficult
Showing most recent only - see all ratings & reviews
Reviews by escape room review sites
Professor Dunstan and the Unfeasibly Long Room Name Search for the Ancient Statuette is buried an industrial park on the east side of Swindon, and it took some searching and a couple of calls to the operator to find our way through the maze of business units to find it. (We visited when it had only been open for a few weeks, so it'll likely have more signposting by the time you read this!)
As a very broad rule, that type of location isn't a very promising sign for an escape gam...
One of the very best games I've played in the UK - easily in my top 10. Good decoration, interesting storyling, strong puzzles and amazing craftmanship. A game with no real weaknesses and plenty of strengths.
Don’t wait to be passing by Swindon to do this room. Make it your destination, it’s worth it!
When a new form of media comes along, such as escape rooms, someone will inevitably ask: “yes, but are they art?” My answer to that is that they probably can be art, but no-one has managed it yet. Co-decode comes the closest I’ve seen so far. Even if it cheats by just filling the room with tons of actual mechanical art.
Lists
This game is part of the following user-created game lists:
- Best UK escape rooms 2022 by Escape the Review virtuosoThese are the 100 highest rated escape rooms in the UK, as of 31st Dec 2022, based on combined ratings from enthusiasts, bloggers and experts - every game here comes highly recommended.
- Best UK escape rooms 2021 by Escape the Review virtuoso
These are the 100 highest rated escape rooms (out of 1600) in the UK, as of 31st Dec 2021, based on combined ratings from enthusiasts, bloggers and experts - every game here comes highly recommended.